Samhlíocht
IRISH · TO IMAGINE · TO ENVISION · TO DREAM
A six-month space for reclaiming and rewilding imagination.
Somewhere to practise dreaming otherwise, together.
SOMATIC PRACTISE COLLECTIVE STUDY IMAGINAL PRACTICE
The Invitation
A steady space for imagining otherwise together
Imagine a group of people who already sense what you sense. A space where the longing for something different is not treated as naive, but as necessary.
A place to dream out loud. To vision together.
Not by escaping the present but practising the skills to meet it differently. We do that slowly, gently together, and in the body.
SAMHLÍOCHT creates a steady, supportive space where we can meet the present moment and begin to practise imagining beyond it together.
Come and imagine with us.
“What is imagination? Strengthening that muscle of being able to see things other than they are now.”
What it is
Six months of dreaming, practising, imagining otherwise. We will read, move, listen, write, and notice, trusting ourselves, each other, and our bodies as guides toward new futures
Samhlíocht ( the Irish word for imagining) is a six-month programme dedicated to reclaiming imagination as a shared, political, and embodied practice. Drawing on thinkers like Adrienne Maree Brown, Bell Hooks, Staci Haines, Manchán Magán, and Rob Hopkins, it invites participants to dream beyond collapse and capitalism as a way of practising and shaping the futures we want to live into.
This is a slow, steady space to reclaim imagination not as a trait you either have or don't, but as a living skill that can be practised, grown, and returned to. We let imagination come back gently. We practise dreaming beyond the limits of what feels possible right now.
“The future must enter into you long before it happens.”
Why imagination?
We know what's wrong. We need people to imagine what's next.
If we want to create a different future, we need to allow ourselves to imagine differently together. That takes practice. It takes the right conditions — space, time, steadiness, and connection. It can be accessed through our bodies, through the land, through movement, through story and our ancestors, through each other. Most of us haven't had that space.
From here, a different question becomes possible: What if the world were different? , or as Rob Hopkins asks, “What if we could fall in love with the future?”
Not as wishful thinking but as a serious practice.
Samhlaíocht is about reclaiming imagination: the capacity to rehearse ways of living that haven't arrived yet, and move toward a future worth building.
“We’re living inside of imaginations that other people told us were true and told us were like, this is how the world is”
Something in you knows this can't be all there is.
And yet the days fill up: work, responsibilities, the constant stream of news arriving before you've processed the last thing.
We are living through witnessing ongoing genocides, climate collapse, and rising authoritarianism. Systems are unravelling. Violence is being normalised. Many of us can imagine the end of the planet more easily than the end of capitalism, and that does something to the body, to the nervous system, and to what we can bear to imagine.
Over time, the body tightens. Attention narrows, and imagination thins. The future can feel like it has disappeared; colonised by megalomaniacal billionaires, too frightening for the rest of us to look at directly.
But that thinning of imagination isn't neutral. It's something we've been shaped into, handed to us as "just the way it is" by systems that rely on us numbing out.
The world as it is was not inevitable. It was imagined — and it can be reimagined. Reclaiming and rewilding our imaginations together might be one of the most quietly radical things we can do right now. There are infinite possible futures still ahead of us.
Imagination isn't just personal. It's political. And it's not a trait, it's a skill, and a muscle. And it needs to be practised.
This six-month programme is a place to come back to yourself, to each other, and to the futures that are still waiting to be imagined into existence.
Six months, four portals
We begin with ourselves and slowly widen outward. The programme moves from the inside out, body, self, relationships, land, future, and from the personal to the collective throughout. Over the 6 months, we move from conditioned limits to collective possibility.
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What happened to our imagination?
We begin with the body and the self. How has your imagination been shaped, narrowed, and closed down — by culture, by capitalism, by the particular circumstances of your life? Somatic practices around contraction and expansion.oes here
Remembering how to dream
Before we can imagine collectively, we return to what personal dreaming even feels like. This month is about recovering it gently, without pressure
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What was carried forward Our ancestors dreamed into futures they would never see. Here we ask what they imagined, what was lost, and what was preserved. Practices of listening backward across time.
Dreaming on their behalf We are the future someone once imagined. This session turns that around, what are we dreaming forward for those who come after us?
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The more-than-human world
Imagination as a conversation with the living world. Listening to land, water, weather, and other beings as collaborators in our creative and visionary work.
Belonging to place
How does imagination change when we root it in the specific textures, languages, and ecologies of where we are? Practices of attention, reciprocity, and belonging.
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Dreaming together What becomes possible when we imagine together that isn't possible alone?
Holding it all
Collective imagination requires the capacity to stay with grief and hope at the same time, collapse and possibility, without resolving either too quickly. Practices for remaining in the both/and together
How we gather
▸ Monthly Sunday session, 10 am –12 pm
An online experiential, body-based gathering. Expect somatic and embodied practices, collective inquiry, breakout conversations, journalling prompts, reflective writing, and the occasional journey into non-linear time.
A Sunday session is two hours. We begin with a somatic practice, letting our bodies arrive in the space. Everyone checks in. From there, we move into the heart of the session: a writing prompt, an imaginative exercise, something that invites you gently past the edges of what feels possible. We will break into small groups sometimes. No preparation needed. No right way to show up. Everything suggested is an invitation.
Monthly Wednesday book club, 8pm–9.30 pm
The Sunday session is where we practise. The Wednesday gathering is where we go deeper into the thinkers and guides who are shaping our exploration and understanding of imagination. Our guides are Adrienne Maree Brown, Bell Hooks, Rob Hopkins, Manchán Magán, and others.
This is a place to stay in relationship with the ideas between Sundays and with each other. Come as you are, whether you've read deeply or skimmed. There are no notes to prepare. Just bring yourself.
One in-person gathering — 23rd August 2026
A half-day together in the same room in Dublin. Ruth Smith will be a guest facilitator.
An online community space
Between sessions, a shared space to reflect, share, and stay connected across the months.
LIVE SESSION SCHEDULE
Samhlíocht runs live on Zoom across six months, combining two types of gatherings each month: a Sunday session (10am–12pm) for experiential, body-based practices, storytelling, breakout conversations, and reflective writing and an optional Wednesday book club discussion (8:00–9.30 pm) for deeper collective reflection.
Before each book club session, you'll receive guided readings, though there's no right way to engage. Come as you are.
All sessions are recorded and available in the Samhlíocht hub within 24 hours.
Session Dates
Sunday Sessions (10am–12pm)
21st June 2026 📌 19th July 2026 📌 23rd August 2026 📌 20th September 2026 📌 18th October 2026 📌 22nd November 2026 📌
Optional Wednesday Book Club (8pm–9.30 pm)
8th July 2026 📌 5th August 2026 📌 9th September 2026 📌 7th October 2026 📌 4th November 2026 📌 9th December 2026
The facilitator reserves the right to make minor scheduling adjustments where necessary. Any changes will be communicated in advance.
What Samhlíocht offers
A space where imagination is taken seriously, as a political act, a somatic practice, and a collective skill worth developing together
Monthly sessions that create a gentle rhythm, resourcing and continuity in reclaiming and rewilding our personal and collective imaginations.
A reading and practice journey through thinkers and guides — Adrienne Maree Brown, Bell Hooks, Rob Hopkins, Manchán Magán, and others
Somewhere to bring the grief, the longing, the love and the stubborn belief that something else is possible and have it met
How much does it cost?
An Ghealach -Solidarity rate
THE MOON
For those on low income / caring responsibilities.
✓Full six-month programme
✓All Sunday sessions
✓Optional book club
✓Recordings & hub access
350 EUR0
Payment options:
€350 pay in full
or 3 payments of €120
An Ghrian - Standard rate
THE SUN
For those who are comfortably waged / financially secure/ who can comfortably meet their needs.
✓Full six-month programme
✓All Sunday sessions
✓Optional book club
✓Recordings & hub access
550 EURO
Payment options:
€550 pay in full
or 3 payments of €190
Na Realtaí
THE STARS
For those who want 1:1 coaching support with Kate
✓Full six-month programme
✓All Sunday sessions
✓Optional book club
✓Recordings & hub access
✓3 × 1:1 60 min coaching sessions with Kate
750 EURO
Payment options:
€750 pay in full
or 4 payments of €195
Payment plans are available for all options at checkout.
People on maternity leave can join free of charge. Just email at kate@kateodwyer.com
I want this course to remain financially accessible while also supporting the sustainability of the work and my own responsibilities.
My coaching approach brings together:
ICF-accredited coach trainings
Somatic Coaching ICF-accredited training, The Somatic School.
First Class P.Grad. Cert in Workplace Wellbeing from Trinity College Dublin
Poltics of Trauma, Generative Somatics
BSc in History, Politics, and Sociology
15 years’ experience in the media industry
8 years working as a trained coach
Your Facilitator
Kate O’Dwyer
Coach · Facilitator · Founder
I’m a twice-accredited coach and somatic practitioner. I spent fifteen years working in media in Ireland, including the last ten as senior guest booker on The Tommy Tiernan Show. I’m also a mother of two young boys and the proud founder of the solidarity group, Pals for Palestine.
Throughout my coaching work, I’ve been drawn to questions of vision and visibility, helping people see themselves and their possibilities more clearly. That thread runs through everything I do.
Like many of you, my world has shifted profoundly as I’ve awakened more fully to the urgent crises we are collectively facing. Since founding Pals for Palestine, I’ve been sitting with a deepening question: what is ours to do, right now, in this moment?
There are many possible answers to that question. But I believe that practising our collective capacity to imagine otherwise is one of the most vital, and most underestimated, of them.
Samhlíocht grew from that belief. I created it as much for myself as I did for you, a space for us to practise our muscle of imagining a future we can fall in love with, together.
My approach is also shaped by
The wisdom of my clients and comrades.
People like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Staci Haines, Bell Hooks, Manchan Magan, Keri Jarvis, Adrienne Maree Browne, Claire O’Connor and Ruth Smith.
My ancestors.
My love for the Irish language
My family and my children.
Words from participants of previous offerings
““Kate responded to the zeitgeist longing for people to connect and dream of another way forward whilst living in a dying exploitative economic system. She provided a space for us to listen, explore and share our thoughts on how we can not just survive but dare I say it thrive. Kate held the space with relaxed alert integrity and curiosity. A seed has been well and truly planted”.
“Every single person said things that have stuck with me & taught me something. Also the sense of connection was so so strong,”
““What an incredible experience! A quiet transformation... The book and the accompanying group have changed how I look at the world. I'm so grateful to everyone who co-created the space, and to Kate for her gorgeous facilitation
The Lineage of This Work
Samhlaíocht has grown from many roots, and these are some of the guides and thinkers who have shaped my work.
Adrienne Maree Browne, Manchán Magan, Staci Haines, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Bell Hooks, Phoebe Tickell, Rob Hopkins, Prentis Hempill and Keri Jarvis
Who is this for?
THIS IS FOR YOU IF:
You care deeply about the future. For your kin, your community, the land, the generations to come
You have woken up to the intersecting injustices of the world and know that this can't be all there is.
You sense that imagination is political, ecological, and ancestral
You learn best through practice, reflection, and conversation
You want depth without despair.
You want to think and feel your way into new futures with others
THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF:
You're looking to manifest. This is a politicised practice space.
You want quick fixes or a formula to follow
You're seeking a purely therapeutic space
Samhlíocht starts on June 21st 2026.
FAQs
How does it work? Samhlíocht runs over six months and combines two types of live online gatherings each month: a Sunday session (10am–12pm) for experiential, body-based practices, storytelling, breakout conversations, and reflective writing, and an optional Wednesday book club discussion (8:00pm –9.30pm) for deeper collective reflection.
Before each book club session you'll receive suggested readings.
When are the sessions? What time do we meet? Monthly Sunday sessions run from 10am–12pm, and optional monthly Wednsday book club discussions run from 8pm -9.30pm, both on Zoom.
Sunday dates are:
June 21st, July 19th, August 23rd, September 20th, October 18th, November 22nd,
Wednesdaydates are: July 8th, August 12th, September 9th, October 7th, November 4th, December 9th,
What is Samhlíocht about? Samhlíocht (the Irish word for imagining) is a 6-month programme dedicated to reclaiming imagination as a shared, political, and embodied practice. Drawing on thinkers like Adrienne Maree Brown, Bell Hooks, and Rob Hopkins, it invites participants to dream beyond collapse and capitalism — not as escape, but as a way of practising and shaping the futures we want to live into.
What do you mean by "somatics"? Somatics means tuning into what's happening in your body.
Throughout the programme, somatic practices are woven in to help you connect body, mind, and imagination. You don't need any prior experience with somatics to participate.
How many people will be in the group? There will be 10-30 people in the programme.
What if I can't make all the sessions?** All Sunday sessions are recorded and available for the duration of the programme. The monthly book club discussions are also optional, giving you flexibility in how you engage.
Will the sessions be recorded?** Yes. Recordings of the Sunday sessions will be available and accessible for the full duration of the programme.
How much does it cost? It costs 550 for the grian option - this is for those who are comfotably waged/ fincially secure. It is 350 for the ghrian option - for those on low income / caring responsibilities. It 750 for the ghealach option. This includes 3 1:1 60 min coaching sessions with Kate. People on maternity leave are free kate@kateodwyer.com
A payment plan is also available at 3 monthly payments for each option. Registration closes June18th, 2026. Email me for this