CLASSES & PROGRAMS
Learn and experience mindfulness, mind-body-soul and contemplative practices at The Soulfulness Center. Informed by science, inspired by spirit, infused with culture, and centered in soul. Our offerings support and center the lived experience of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
UPDATED 2025 WEBINAR SERIES
sankofa theory & practice: CENTERING RECONNECTION & INTERCONNECTION IN HEALING
Inspired by the African indigenous wisdom of the adinkras, Sankofa Theory & Practice is a culturally-grounded and evidence-informed approach to psychotherapy, counseling, community-based prevention programs, wellness practices, healing circles, and life coaching developed by Dr. Shelly Harrell.
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Sankofa Theory & Practice begins with the premise that addressing pain and suffering, cultivating resilience, promoting well-being, and contributing to transformative and liberatory processes, must center the interrelated dynamics of connection, disconnection, reconnection, and interconnection. The roots of distress, disorder, and dysfunction are illuminated by understanding the nature of disconnection. Movement toward the expression of optimal well-being must include processes of REconnection and INTERconnection.
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Sankofa Theory & Practice starts from the ground of African wisdom to offer an integrative and comprehensive praxis. The approach was inspired by the wisdom of the Sankofa adinkra symbols and the associated Akan proverb, "it is not wrong to go back and retrieve what you have lost or forgotten". The nature of connection is amplified through the lens of an indigenous African communal-interconnected-collectivist worldview and its many expressions throughout the African diaspora. A foundation in Pan African Black Psychology is supplemented by congruent theory and research in multicultural, liberation, decolonial, community, experiential, and humanistic psychologies, as well as by the science of stress and trauma, and contemplative/mind-body practices.
DATES: Saturdays Nov 1st, Nov 8th, Nov 15th, Nov 22nd
TIME: 8:15-9:45am US Pacific Time (PT)
ON ZOOM
COURSE FEE: $150
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Includes Four 90-minute Zoom class sessions with Dr. Shelly Harrell (recordings available for registrants)
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​Session 1: Orientation & Origins
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​Session 2: The Healing Wisdom of Sankofa
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Session 3: Healing Disconnection with Reconnection & Interconnection
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Session 4: Applications, Interventions, & Practices
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Study Guide Pages and Slides available for download
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This series is a prerequisite for our Sankofa Practitioner Circle, an opportunity for healers, helping and wellness professionals, educators and leaders to take a deeper dive in the integration of Sankofa Theory & Practice more meaningfully into their work.
LEVEL 1 COURSE
A Soulful Introduction to Mindfulness
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Our 6-session flagship mindfulness class, taught by Dr. Shelly Harrell, was updated for 2025 and offered live earlier this year. The recording sessions and materials will be made available as an online course soon.
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This is not your generic mindfulness class! Learn (or relearn) core mindfulness practices from a decolonizing perspective that offers mindfulness as a path to mental and emotional liberation, as well as a foundation for collective liberation from oppression-related stress and trauma. Particular attention is given to the relevance of mindfulness for BIPOC wellness and mental health. The teachings are informed by the Vipassana insight meditation tradition, with an emphasis on soulful experiencing, and infused with cultural expressions from the African diaspora and diverse cultural contexts.
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Six 75-minute live Zoom class sessions with Dr. Shelly Harrell
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UPDATED course for 2025 with Dr. Shelly's Sankofa Theory and Practice approach to healing, wellness, and mental health!
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Session handouts and slides available for download
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Music, poetry, and powerful quotes integrated throughout the course
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Access to course recordings for those who enroll
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MONTHLY PROGRAM
A YEAR OF WISDOM & HEALING
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Online course
$25/month or $199 for full-year program
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Our updated monthly program provides you with cultural expressions of Black wisdom featuring African adinkra symbols and Dr. Shelly Harrell's 3-part "Rising Up Rooted" soulfulness process. Get rooted in wisdom so that you can rise up into your purpose and power. Join anytime, cancel anytime.
Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting.
-Thich Nhất Hanh
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"Just what I needed to reset from a year of struggle and sadness. Dr. Shelly Harrell provided the right mix of information and practice to calm my spirit and focus my energy on healing."
- Nichole G.
"The class I needed to jumpstart my mindfulness practice. Dr. Harrell is a skillful instructor - She is personable, engaging, and knowledgeable. I was drawn to her style of practice and I loved her infusion of music and culturally relevant content."
- Helen N.
"A great introduction to mindfulness for those who struggle to connect, as well as those who are more advanced."
- Soulful Mindfulness Class Participant