It was when I heard a yoga instructor say, “Look at your hands. I mean really look at your hands,” that I had a moment of complete presence with all the things my hands had touched, felt, cooked, written, and held.

They were red and inflamed with winter wind. It hit me how much I had taken them for granted and how grateful I was for them. Good thing I was alone in my basement because I started to kiss my hands and cry.

I decided right there to offer a workshop after having not taught for years. I was a martyr mom and put aside all of my writing, poetry, teaching, slamming, and performing the day we left NYC and moved to a small stone house by Delaware River. I had a stint as the Poet Laureate of Bucks County, but mostly I was—and still am—at service to my family.

It was 2020 so when I put the invitation out there for a body-based poetry workshop in a women’s empowerment group, women signed up instantly. After about an hour and a half of exploring our hands and writing and sharing poetry, I was like, “OK. I’m done. Thank you. Good bye.” But they all asked for more. I was studying non-violent communication and somatic experiencing so I decided to use this to inform how each part of our bodies can hold onto different traumas, patterns and self-limiting beliefs. So each week I taught somatic poetry workshops based on our hips, our thighs, our stomachs, and our blood. And the Bodylove Poetry Workshop was born.

After years of floundering and finding my footing, Bodylove is finally flourishing, and I am excited to share some of the poems of my recent students who are also some of my greatest teachers.

In this mental time travel of a poem, honors her bloodline and answers the question, Why can’t I love my own curves?

Living in 3D

Why does it take a woman her whole life to love her whole body?

Dear friends…

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2 months ago · 42 likes · 57 comments · Amy Brown

In “tale-free toes” lets her toes teach her to accept and just adore the rest of her body.

𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 by Megan

Tale-Free Toes

Last month I shared eight Body Love Poems with you, and was subsequently blessed with heartwarming feedback…

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2 months ago · 15 likes · 27 comments · Megan Boegman

’s uplifting poem about her feet serves as a portal to self-liberation.

Wandering Willow

A quiet kind of magic

We gathered again yesterday for Show & Tell for Grown-Ups…

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2 months ago · 12 likes · 7 comments · Sam Messersmith

’s poem grapples with the expectations the world put on the physical body while claiming the goddess that she is!

Angela Bigler, Goddess Poet

Hold Me

My body…

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3 months ago · 11 likes · 8 comments · Angela Bigler, Goddess

’s poem exemplifies a true self-mothering journey in the most tender of ways. (Like, I want this voice as my mother!)

Park Bench Reconstruction

Finding Home within Your Self

This one is for the person who is just now finding a home within themself, uncovering their own agency, learning their own boundaries, and being at peace with who their spirit really is…

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2 months ago · 9 likes · 9 comments · Kendra Henkel

And “Buddha Belly,” by Katharine of loves up her belly and invites you to rub it for good luck and love it, too.

Breath of Freedom Poetry

Buddha belly

I did another round of Corie Feiner’s Bodylove Poetry workshop recently, and this is one of the poems I wrote as part of the workshop series. I hope you like it…

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3 months ago · 7 likes · 9 comments · Breath of Freedom Poetry

If you are a woman writer looking to practice radical self-love and reconnect with your body in a meaningful way…

…I encourage you to fill out an application for the Bodylove Poetry Workshop, Fall 2026 session. We will be having some free sample workshops in late August/early September, but if you are feeling the tug, I say trust it, fill out the application, and learn more about Bodylove. In order to maintain an intimate and safe space, I limit workshops to 24 soulful women.

Or if this is not for you, please consider sending this along to a woman in your life whom you think could use some bodylove.

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Still curious? Here are some questions I hear often about the Bodylove Poetry Workshop. ❤️

What day and time is the workshop?

The workshop meets on Sundays at 10 am EST

When does the Bodylove Poetry Workshop start?

The Bodylove Poetry Workshop starts on October 11, 2026.

How many weeks is the workshop?

The Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop meets for six weeks.

What are the dates of the workshop?

Check your calendar. The dates are October 11, 18, 25 —break— November 8, 15, 22

Where will we meet?

This is a synchronous workshop and we meet live online via Zoom. In order to maintain the sanctity of the space, we do not record or share the Zoom sessions.

What will we do in the workshop?

I combine my poetry teaching and health coaching backgrounds with my passion for yoga and empowering women to create a full body workshop. As a participant, you will practice breath and bodywork, read inspiring poetry about parts of your body, have thoughtful discussions on craft and the impact the poems have on you, and have sacred writing time to harness your innate poetic skills by writing and sharing your poems in a safe and supportive space.

What about outside the workshop?

Outside the workshop, your poems will be posted in a shared document for others to comment on, you will be assigned a buddy to meet with 1:1 and be part of a robust online chat group where you get to share news, other poems, and connect in a deeper way. Bodylove is more than a workshop, it is a community, a movement, a place for empowerment and radical self-love and connection.

Do I need any writing experience?

While you don't need to be a published poet, a comfort with writing and a willingness to play with language will help you get the most out of this workshop. Most participants come with some writing background, whether in poetry or other genres.

Do I have to have been born and still identify as a woman for this workshop?

With all due respect for all of my many gendered and non-gender-specific fellow beings, this workshop was informed by my healing-journey and intimate relationship with my body and deals with specific body parts that need to be explored in the safest of spaces. Please do know that I love you all and have other offerings for you in the works.

How much is the 6-week Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop?

The 6-week workshop is $247. One scholarship is available per session. Returning participants are grandfathered in at their original rate.

Ready to apply?

APPLY FOR BODYLOVE HERE

If you have any other questions you can direct message me or leave a message in the comments and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can!

Thank you for reading the Bodylove poems by , , , , and . May your days be filled with love, light, poetry, presence, and wellbeing!

From my heart to yours,

Corie

I tried to avoid writing Wheel Pose. Why?

Because when I write poems for my yoga poetry collection, A Poem for Every Pose, I feel respon…

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“Wheel Pose” is yoga poem number 108 for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose.

Thank you so much for all of your support on this project.

But we are not done yet.

After this poem, the task of combing through all 108 poems begins.

I have read through …

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Poems can hold space for presence, for praise, for pain, or for prayer.

My hope for my poem for Dolphin Plank Pose, more commonly known as Forearm Plank, is that it transforms your relationship with this challenging shape into something deeper and more revelatory, and that after reading it, a new part of you awakens and feels, perhaps, just a little more alive.

I can’t think of a better metaphor for this than a dolphin. Until I set out to write this poem, I had never heard this pose referred to as a “Dolphin Plank.”

I know Forearm Plank from my yoga practice and from other forms of exercise—my forearms pressed to the floor, my core lifted and engaged, my spine aligned, my knees hovering and my entire body shaking.

I used to think of the shake as “difficulty,” “ancestral trauma,” part of my stretch marks and tearing. I used to think of it as “weakness,” but now know that this shake is the movement of whatever life force that resides inside of me vibrating with aliveness—like ocean waves, like earthquakes, like honey bees, and like the call of the dolphin urging me to come back home.

I hope this poem for Dolphin Plank Pose can serve as a metaphor for your life journey and that the next time you move into this shape, you embody the spirit of a dolphin smiling, swimming, and feeling happy to be alive.

Dolphin Plank Pose

By Corie Feiner


I call upon the siren that lives inside 
the deep waters of my soul to swim to 
the surface and breathe,

to press the long bones of my forearms to
the firmament of my floor and lift 
my shoulders, my chest, my knees,

my belly, my spine towards the supple center
of the sky, feel every single muscle wake up 
and shake, hear my bones click into place

and echo like a beam of light helping me 
find my way through all this dark. Here, 
I am reminded that I am more than water

and fat and flesh and stone, more than shake 
and sweat and shiver. I am my own guide 
leading the lost ship of my heart safely

back to shore to remind me that I came 
here to set myself free and know 
what it means to feel fully alive. 



Sanskrit Name: Phalakasana II

Paid subscribers can download their printable PDF and listen to me read an audio recording of my poem for “Dolphin Plank Pose” here.

For my dear free subscribers, consider upgrading to become a paid subscriber. But if that is not where you are at right now, no worries, I am grateful for you all!

If you’re a yoga teacher and you think “Dolphin Plank Pose” would be a good tool to inspire your students, please DM me with your studio name and

email address for a free printable PDF. I will be offering this complimentary service until the eventual completion and publication of my entire collection, A Poem for Every Pose. I just ask that you gently encourage people to subscribe to my Substack publication if they feel called to do so. I include a QR code on the prints to make it easy. (It may sound a little cheesy, but it really does help!)

If you want to learn more about how to practice Dolphin Plank Pose you can watch this informative

video by Substack writer and yoga instructor here. She is not only a fantastic yoga instructor, but is also an essential editor for each and every one of these poems!

Thank you all, as always, for your time and presence. Please leave a comment as one of the best things about this platform is how we connect with each other in the comments. And I always respond!

With gratitude,

Corie

PS - Special thanks to and for bravely taking pictures of themselves in this challenging shape. Also, special thanks to of Yoga Living 50 and Beyond for her photo, her instructional video, and all of her editorial feedback!

Give a gift subscription

As you may know, my goal is to complete 108 poems for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose. “Dolphin Plank Pose” is poem number 107.

I have been writing these poems for five years and plan on seeing this pro…

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I used to write, “If you don’t love me, why did you have me” in the back of my coloring book when I was sent to my room.

As part of my healing journey and inner child work, I have revisited this room many times with a technique I now know is called “Mental Time Travel” or MTT. I walk into this room as the mother I am now and stand next to my seven-year-old self hunched at her desk scribbling in crayon with her newly found power of drawing with words.

There were times I took the coloring book away, times I tore the page, times I asked her to speak and tell me how she was feeling, but mostly, I hug the girl and give her what I needed then, and still sometimes need now. A big unconditional mother-love hug.

And I want to give this to you now with my poem for Knees to Chest Pose which is fetal in many ways.

I encourage you, if you can, to take this shape before or after you read this poem and to take it in as more than just a shape, but a journey home to loving yourself and any part of yourself that didn’t believe it was loved. Until now.

Knees to Chest Pose

By Corie Feiner


I return to this shape so often 
you would think I was born this way, 

my knees hugged to my chest, 
my back supported by the soft earth, 

rocking as if I was my own baby 
and I was the moon face of my own 

mother and I needed nothing else except 
for the small exhale of my breath 

and the feeling of skin close to skin. 

When I was a child, I would kiss 
my knees and take in the salty meat 

of my flesh as if I would always know 
that I was born delicious and wanted.

And now, when I need to hold any part 
of me that swears it was never held, 

I come here, my hands clasping
my hardworking legs, my chest greeting 

my knees like a dear old friend, 
and give myself permission 

to let all doubts pass through me
like wind, as I rock back and forth 

back and forth, my sacrum humming 
the origin of its name, sacred, holy, whole. 


Sanskrit Name: Apanasana

(Paid subscribers can download their printable PDF and listen to me read an audio recording of my poem for “Knees to Chest Pose” here.

For my dear free subscribers, consider upgrading to become a paid subscriber. But if that is not in your script right now, no worries, I am grateful for you all!

If you’re a yoga teacher and you think “Knees to Chest Pose” would be a good tool for class. . .

. . . please DM me with your studio name and email for a free printable PDF. I will be offering this service until the eventual completion and publication of the entire collection, A Poem for Every Pose. I just ask that you gently encourage people to subscribe to my Substack publication if they feel called to do so. I include a QR code on the prints to make it easy. (It may sound a little cheesy, but it really does help!)

If you want to learn more about how to practice Knees to Chest Pose you can watch this

informative video by Substack writer and yoga instructor here. She is not only a fantastic yoga instructor, but is also an essential editor for every one of these poems!

Thank you all, as always, for your time and presence. Please leave a comment as one of the most wonderful things about this platform is how we connect and have conscious conversations with each other. I always respond.

With gratitude,

Corie

PS - Special thanks to of Urban Yoga Mama, Pilar V. Guarddon Pueyo of , and of Rainbow Warrior for supporting my work by taking photos of themselves in Knees to Chest Pose. Also, special thanks to of Yoga Living 50 and Beyond for her photo, her instructional video, and editorial feedback!

Give a gift subscription

As you may know, my goal is to complete 108 poems for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose. “Knees to Chest Pose” is poem number 106.

I have been writ…

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It was the hands held in what looked like a prayer that pulled me into this poem

and what made it more than a shape to me, but an embodiment of yearning, acceptance, faith in being held, and hope.

To write these poems is a journey in itself. Deep research, multiple drafts, and then somatically practicing my version of the poses and asking myself deeply, What does this feel like, really feel like?

And in a time in my life when I am peeling back the layers of my conditioning with rawness, tenderness, silliness, and some old tears coming up here and there, I carve out these poems as a bridge from the physical to the metaphysical layers of my being. As a way to connect my mind, body, and spirit, to forge new relationships with these shapes, and with myself. I hope this is what they do for you (and your students) too.

My poem for High Lunge Prayer Twist is poem number 105 out of 108 poems for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose.

May this poem serve your practice wherever you’re at in your yoga and life journey. And may it arrive at “just the right time” and be what you need to read, hear, and embody today.

I recommend that you to read this poem once silently to yourself, and to then read it out loud in a way that works for you so that you can feel it in your body.

High Lunge Prayer Twist

By Corie Feiner


To know high lunge twist is to know 
that sometimes a prayer can look like this, 
your whole body quivering quietly, 

your gaze not quite towards heaven, 
but sideways, backwards towards the ache 
of your past and the small triumph 

of just being here, right now. Sometimes 
your palms won’t be able to rest against 
your beating heart, but that does not mean
 
that your prayers will not be heard, 
the soles of your feet holding themselves 
in place, your hips hugging the bowl 

of your belly filled with breath, your elbows
like the edges of pointed stars telling you 
what it is like to hold so many wishes, 

to create your own light, and to know 
that you will never truly fall. 



Sanskrit Name: Parivrtta Ashta Chandrasana  

(Paid subscribers can download their printable PDF and listen to me read an audio recording of my poem for “High Lunge Prayer Twist” here.

For my dear free subscribers, consider upgrading to become a paid subscriber. But if that is not in your script right now, no worries, I am grateful for you all!

If you’re a yoga teacher and you think my poem High Lunge Prayer Twist would be a good tool for class. . .

. . .please DM me with your studio name and email for a free printable PDF. I will be offering this service until the eventual completion and publication of the entire collection, A Poem for Every Pose. I just ask that you gently encourage people to subscribe to my Substack publication if they feel called to do so. I include a QR code on the prints to make it easy. (It may sound a little cheesy, but it really does help!)

If you want to learn more about how to practice High Lunge Prayer Twist you can watch this informative

instructional video by Substack writer and yoga instructor here. She is not only a fantastic yoga instructor, but is also an essential editor for every one of these poems!

Please note, in her video, Janine refers to this pose as Revolved Crescent Lunge, which is also common name for this pose.

Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop Update

We are in week three of our Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop and I am blown away by the caliber of somatic poetry being generated in this workshop. This is the strongest group I have had yet, so I wanted to give a shoutout here to these brave women for being a part of it— , , , , , , , Katharine Jaminson of , , , , and Ginette Mohr.

The Bodylove Poetry Workshop runs twice a year. If you would like to be on the waiting list for the next workshop (starting October 2026), you may do so here.

BODYLOVE FALL 2026 WAITLIST

Thank you all, as always, for your time and presence. Please leave a comment as one of the most wonderful things about this platform is how we connect and have conscious conversations with each other. I always respond.

With gratitude,

Corie

Give a gift subscription

As you may know, my goal is to complete 108 poems for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose. “High Lunge Prayer Twist” is poem number 105.

I have b…

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To me, the table is symbolic of love, togetherness, communion, but also conflict.

It is where I have broken bread, fallen in love, nourished my family and friends, but also witnessed fights that were like mini explosions where anger overcame the bonds of love.

My first few drafts were focused on the conflict, the table upturned, and how challenging this pose can be for my body.

Until the toast to life started to form. And the rhythm started to emerge, which was quite unfamiliar to me. It was a fast yet slow poem to write because I found myself sitting back from it and asking it to instruct me on how to complete the rhythm of the poem so that it could stand up on its own.

But isn’t this the magic of writing or of pursuing any movement or craft? The struggle in the beginning of not knowing? The clinging to old stories of “I can’t” which can be gently witnessed, held, and then allowed to be put aside as we move forward and give ourselves permission to rewrite the stories of our lives?

I hope my poem for Reverse Tabletop gives you the permission to show up at the table of your life and to celebrate that you are here, now, whatever that looks like for you.

(If you are not a paid subscriber, I encourage you to read this poem aloud to yourself so that you can have fun hearing yourself play with the rhythm. If you are a paid subscriber, you can listen to me read “Reverse Tabletop” here.)

Reverse Tabletop

By Corie Feiner


To the lift, to the knees, to the back,
to the throat, to the head, to the neck,
to the hard wood, to the clang of glass, 
to the knock of knives, to the water, 
to the wine, and the strength it takes 
to hold all my weight like this. 

To the hips, to the core, to the nicks, 
to the scrapes, to the stretch, to the aches, 
to the meals, to the grace, to the long spine,
to the answered prayers, to the shoulders’ shake, 
to lifting the goblet of my heart into the air
and to toasting that I have made it 
to this very moment, this very breath, 
this very day.  




Sanskrit Name: Ardha Purvottanasana 

Paid subscribers can listen to me read an audio recording of my poem for “Reverse Tabletop” here.

If you want to know more about Reverse Tabletop…

…you can watch this accessible and informative instructional video by yoga instructor of the Substack Living Living 50 and Beyond.

Read this poem to yourself, to your friends, and if you are a yoga teacher, to your class.

These poems are meant to take you into and beyond the pose, and have the potential to transform your relationship with your practice and with yourself.

They are inspired by my own self-healing journey and my commitment to self-directed evolution and love.

For years, I was a curriculum integration specialist focusing on how to use poetry as a tool to access and inspire students with special needs. I loved this work which took me to hundreds of classrooms where I gave students what poetry gave to me — connection, expression, and emotional safety.

I have also always loved to perform my poems on stage and to collaborate with dancers and visual artists to create multidisciplinary and transformative experiences.

And my vision now is for these yoga poems to be shared in yoga practices, classes, retreats, conferences, and festivals. To be read by me, by you, to create a massive convergence of harmonized hearts. And it starts right here, with you, reading this now.

Until the eventual completion and publication of A Poem for Every Pose, I am offering yoga teachers free printable PDFs of select poems.

“Reverse Tabletop” can be read at the beginning of your class to set a tone of presence and of toasting oneself, or it can be read during the pose itself since it is (intentionally) short.

If you are a yoga instructor, please DM me with your name, email address, and the name of your studio. I don’t charge for this. I just ask that you gently encourage people to subscribe to my Substack if they are called to do so. I include a QR code on the prints to make it easy. (It may sound cheesy, but it really does help!)

Thank you so much for reading my work and for your support! And please leave a comment on your experience with the pose Reverse Tabletop and how this poem lands for you. Connecting with you is my favorite thing about Substack. For real.

With genuine love & gratitude,

Corie

PS - Special thanks to for her yoga instruction on how to practice this pose safely and for giving me her editorial feedback and guidance on every single one of these poems! And thank you

PPS - Thank you to everyone who came to all my free Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshops! The full 6-week workshop starts this coming Sunday, February 15th, and I am so excited to explore the poetry of the body with these wise and eclectic women!

As you may know, my goal is to complete 108 poems for my collection, A Poem for Every Pose. “Reverse Tabletop” is poem number 104! So . . . I am getting c…

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I was drawn to poetry at a young age because it seemed that magic lived there.

In the metaphors and the music. In how it made me feel like I was having a conversation with another sentient soul who understood not just me, but the vastness of the feelings I felt. That we all feel. And that I belonged.

My poem “Hovering Tabletop Pose” is replacing my poe…

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Thank you for taking the time to listen to my poem and for taking a moment to really take it in. I am grateful for your patience and support on this…

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What if the front of our bodies represented the east?

And we could wake up to the feeling that the sun was rising and glowing inside of our hearts? That we could, for even a moment, feel inspired, feel possibility, and embrace hope?

I’ll be straight. This is a har…

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Thank you for being a paid subscriber. Your extra support and belief in my writing mean the world to me!

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my poem and for taking a moment to really take it in. I am grateful for your patience and support on this massive project of mine. Believe me, there have been many times I have wanted to give up, but then I…

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The first few versions of my poem for “Low Lunge Twist” were full of a sweet sadness and the downright “blahs.”

Sometimes writing is like this. A discovery, a journey, a documentation of the longings of our soul.

But after sharing this version of the poem with my readers, trying to practice this pose with the poem, and then revisiting my poem for “Low L…

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In the darkest days of winter, I conduct my 6-week online Bodylove Poetry Workshop where I guide a beautiful group of women writers and seekers on a somatically inspired poetic journey. In these workshops we explore poems of the body, hone our craft skills, harness the innate poetry…

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My poem for Tiger Pose is a reminder that each of us has an inner spark…

…an inner fire that sometimes sits quietly digesting our meals with satisfaction and warmth, and sometimes roars with emotions, fears, and rebellion.

This week, as I practiced my poem for Tiger Pose in front of a painting by Daniel McClendon in a large…

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