Emotional Literacy

EMOTIONAL LITERACY
The one class you never took in high school (but absolutely should have).

Learn to feel without falling apart (Or at least with a little more grace, breath, and glitter glue). 
So, what is Emotional Literacy?
Imagine if your emotions came with subtitles.
Or a manual.
Or at least a “Sorry I made you cry in the work bathroom again” warning label.

Emotional Literacy is about learning to read, understand, and work with your emotions—not fight them, stuff them, or shame spiral into oblivion. This course teaches you how to do that in the most embodied, experiential, art-fueled, breath-infused way possible.

Think: therapy meets yoga meets adult summer camp meets art class meets

“WTF just happened, I have been waiting for this my entire life!”

This course was designed for the grown-up empath, therapy grad, or sensitive soul who’s tired of riding the emotional rollercoaster with no manual, seatbelt, snacks, or exit strategy.
This Is For You If:

You've done years of therapy and still feel like you’re still asking yourself, “Why am I feeling like this?”
You are looking for some therapy 2.0. You've done a lot of talking and its been helpful, but now you are ready for more.
You’re a therapist, social worker, coach, or healer who wants to actually feel your feelings instead of diagnosing them.
You’ve tried punching pillows, journaling, meditating, and bingeing Brené Brown—but you’re still overwhelmed, emotionally shutdown, or throwing emotional sh*t bombs at unsuspecting partners.
You’re ready to get out of your head and into your body (yes, that magical meat-suit that actually holds your wisdom).
You are tired of doing this on your own, but terrified of the prospect of group therapy (remember "fear" is included in the curriculum).
You want to laugh, feel, connect, and maybe rage-dance a little in a safe and loving community (play is our love language).


LIVE Retreats @ SEED Lodge (Rocklyn, Ontario)
November 27-30, 2025 & April 23-26, 20-26 (the program consists of both retreats). If you come to the live retreats you will also have access to the 16 week online course for free

Learning to work with your emotions does not happen overnight. We are dealing with subconscious patterns and memories laden with cultural overtones stored in the nervous system for generations sometimes (in other words it’s going to take some time & practice to develop new ways of being). 

Over two immersive psychotherapy weekend retreats at SEED Lodge, you’ll dive into the messy, beautiful world of emotional intelligence—minus the jargon, minus the shame. Think: breathwork, art therapy, movement, creative expression, and group magic that feels like adult summer camp meets inner child healing with really good snacks.

Each weekend focuses on the Big Emotions (Shame! Anger! Grief! Joy! Desire!) and how to actually feel them without falling apart.
You’ll explore:

How your emotions show up in your body and how to actually feel them 
What your feelings are actually trying to tell you (spoiler: they’re not trying to ruin your life)
Why reacting ≠ processing
How to respond from your center, not your survival mode
How to do all this in the presence of others (without going into shame spirals)

And yes, there will be art. And breathing. And Kundalini yoga. And likely at least one moment where you go,

“Whoa—that all makes sense!”

This course is an intensive therapy process but there’s no “fixing” or “getting over it.” Just a whole lot of curiosity, creativity, community, and compassionate truth-telling.

You’ll laugh, cry, maybe dance awkwardly. You’ll definitely make friends with your feelings—and probably with some other amazing humans, too.

Whether you’re a seasoned therapist who wants to go deeper, or someone just learning how to feel without freaking out—this course will give you tools, practices, and the emotional literacy to navigate your life with more ease, courage, and connection.

Let’s stop emotionally spiraling in isolation. Let’s feel this human experience—together.


Wanna join us? You have options:
Cohort #1: 2 Weekends Immersion

WEEKEND #1: Nov 27 – Nov 30, 2025
WEEKEND #2: April 23-26, 2026

You sign up to come for both, you make a commitment to your learning and to your cohort (think of it like school, but for REAL life). 

OR

Cohort #2: Summer School

July 26, 2026-August 2, 2026. Sign up for the waitlist here.
Sign up early*, limited to 9 participants/cohort.

Please note that we conduct a short 15 minute interview to determine if taking this program at this time is a good fit for you. You will be contacted when you register to arrange a time.

OR Online only option:
Cry with us from your couch... and join us online. 16-week course begins January 2026. Sign up to the waitlist here. 

Emotional literacy is about making it real and then practicing it all together. Please reach out if you have any questions, we would love to hear from you and feel with you.
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About Esther
Esther Kalaba is an art therapist, psychotherapist, and certified Kundalini yoga teacher and founder of the People of the Prana with over 20 years of experience working in mental health. She's worked with thousands of people navigating the ups, downs, and sideways of the emotional landscape.

Emotional Literacy is the culmination of Esther’s life’s work—a response to the question she’s heard from nearly every client she’s worked with in individual therapy:

“Why wasn’t this just taught in school?”

She created this course as an answer. Because emotions are the curriculum of being human—and learning to work with them might just be the most important education of your life.

Esther brings equal parts clinical expertise, spiritual depth, artistic creativity, and no-nonsense humour to the classroom (and the healing room). She believes that feelings are important, messy, and completely normal—and her mission is to help you speak their language.