THE UNBURDENING LAB
Eight Weeks of Naming What Shaped You, Releasing What Restrains You, and Reclaiming What Restores You
The Unburdening Lab is an 8-week small-group coaching experience for women in midlife who have spent years carrying more than anyone ever sees — and are ready to put things down and rise into a life shaped by choice, dignity, joy, and self-authorship.
Here, you explore the emotional, cultural, and ancestral stories that shaped you, gently release the burdens that are no longer yours, and reclaim the joy, spaciousness, and self-trust that allow you to breathe again – and orient your life from the inside out.
This is not self-improvement.
This is reclamation.
— Kky#qrmfQwzgsV7T&%qQHbkY
A Note From the Creator of The Unburdening Lab
I created this Lab for the woman who has spent decades being competent, reliable, emotionally fluent, and endlessly responsible…
the woman who is often holding it together at home and at work, without ever being fully held herself.
I know that woman because I’ve been her.
So many women reach midlife having become the architecture for everyone else’s lives — without ever having a place where they don’t need to translate themselves.
I built the Unburdening Lab to be that space.
A space where nothing needs to be performed.
Where women carrying layered identities, lives lived between cultures, and inherited weights can let long-quiet truths finally rise — with joy and without apology, and without fear of breaking something.
Where women can be in community & co-conspiracy with one another.
I’m grateful you’re here.
Your unburdening has already begun.
— Mona
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What exactly is the Unburdening Lab?
The Unburdening Lab is an 8-week small-group coaching experience for women in midlife who are exhausted by carrying emotional, logistical, and relational weight alone.
It combines identity exploration, gentle inner-parts work, and somatic grounding to help you release what’s no longer yours — and reclaim what is.
Is this therapy?
No. This is not a clinical space.
The Lab is not designed to treat acute trauma, diagnose conditions, or replace clinical care. When deep or destabilizing wounds surface that need specialized therapeutic support, we name that with care and integrity.
What we offer here is a relational, reflective, body-aware coaching space — focused on understanding what you carry and nurturing your inner capacity to make life-giving choices.
Who is this program for?
Women — generally 40–60+ — who have spent years as the reliable one, the steady one, the emotional container, the planner, the peacekeeper.
If you feel stretched thin, quietly resentful, constantly braced, or unsure where you have gone inside all the responsibilities… you’re in the right place.
I’m not sure if this is the right time. How do I know?
If reading about the Lab made anything inside you exhale — even subtly — that’s often the signal.
You’re welcome to reach out with questions or schedule a brief conversation to discern the fit.
How does identity fit here?
The Lab is rooted in identity-conscious, multicultral approaches. We hold identity not as a problem to solve, but as a source of power & possibility.
Your lived experience, social context, and multiple selves are integral to how we move through this journey.
Do I need a lot of free time to participate?
No
The Lab was designed for women with full lives — work, caregiving, community, and everything in between.
There’s one 90-minute session each week, plus optional micro-practices you can weave into your existing rhythms. There are also two 55-minute 1-1 sessions with the Lab’s coach/facilitator; one before our first group session and one before our final group session.
What will I walk away with?
- A clear sense of what burdens are no longer yours
- Boundaries that come from clarity, not guilt
- Greater clarity in complex decisions
- Less emotional over-functioning at work and in relationships
- A 30-day integration plan to support real-world change
- A community of women to reflect, laugh, learn & explore with
What does “parts work” mean in this context?
You don’t need any background in Internal Family Systems.
We simply acknowledge what most women intuitively know: inside us live many selves — the protector, the selfless protector, the inner child, the imposter, the poet, the dreamer, the expert.
In the Lab, you learn how to commune & co-conspire with these parts with curiosity & compassion, rather than judge or swallow them, how to let the parts that have been carrying too much finally rest, and honor the wisdom of the core, grounded self you carry that holds deep wisdom & lived experience.
It’s gentle, intuitive, and deeply grounding.
What are somatic practices?
Somatic practices help the body soften its constant vigilance and build our capacity to respond rather than react. They include grounding, breathwork, sensory anchoring, and light visualization.
Nothing is strenuous.
Everything is invitational.
Every body is welcome.
How large is the group?
Small — typically 8–10 women.
Intentionally intimate so everyone feels held.
Do I get individual support?
Yes. You’ll have two 1:1 coaching sessions — one early on and one toward the end of this journey — where we map your relational ecosystem, identify burdens and joys, and begin shaping your commitments & plans that support you thrive.
What if I’m not comfortable sharing personal details?
You set your own pace.
There is no forced vulnerability, no pressure, and no expectation to disclose anything that doesn’t feel right.
Your boundaries are yours to define.
THE UNBURDENING LAB
The Unburdening Lab is a guided journey that unfolds across two individual coaching sessions and six group gatherings. Together, they create a rhythm of trust-building, shared reflection, embodied insight, and practical integration.
This is not a linear “fix yourself” program.
It’s a spacious, relational process — one that honors where you come from, what you carry, and what wants to change now, in this season of your life.
Below is an overview of how we’ll move together.
1:1 COACHING SESSION
Arriving & Setting the Ground
Before we gather as a group, you’ll meet one-on-one with the coach/facilitator.
This is a chance to land, exhale, and begin building a relationship rooted in trust and care.
In this session, we’ll:
- get to know each other as humans, not roles or résumés
- share pieces of your story that feel important to name
- explore what would help you to engage fully in a group space
- talk about what you might need from the coach along the way
- name your hopes, curiosities, and aspirations for this experience
Think of this as orienting the compass — not plotting the whole map.
GROUP SESSION 1 — Setting the Container
How We’ll Be Together (and What We Need to Thrive)
We begin by shaping the shared container for our work — with care, intention, and a little humor.
In this session, we’ll:
- share the values and spirit guiding this journey
- name agreements for how we want to be together
- talk honestly about what helps groups thrive (and what doesn’t)
- share our individual hopes and intentions
- begin building trust through listening and being listened to
This is where the group becomes a sanctuary, not just a gathering.
GROUP SESSION 2 — Exploring Our Stories & Ancestors
What Shaped Us (and What We’ve Been Carrying)
Here we turn toward story — personal, familial, cultural, ancestral.
In this session, we’ll:
- explore the stories we’ve inherited and absorbed
- notice how ancestors, family, and history shape our sense of responsibility, goodness, and survival
- reflect on the roles, expectations, and weights we’ve learned to carry
- honor the wisdom we’ve been given and question what no longer fits
- make space for chosen ancestors, interrupted lineages, and remnants of what shaped us but was never fully named or seen
This isn’t about blame or judgement — it’s about understanding the waters we’ve been swimming in.
GROUP SESSION 3 — Exploring Our Ecosystem
Relationships, “Shoulds,” Energy Drains & Life-Giving Threads
We zoom out to look at the ecosystem of our lives — work, family, purpose, obligation, care.
In this session, we’ll:
- map the relationships and roles that shape our daily lives
- surface the “shoulds” that quietly run the show
- notice what restores and energizes us — and what reliably drains us
- get clearer about what we need to thrive now
- begin naming what we want to hold onto, loosen, shift, or let go of
Clarity here isn’t about radical upheaval — it’s about honest discernment.
GROUP SESSION 4 — Nourishing Our Spirits, Reclaiming Our Joy & Setting Boundaries
Regulation, Joy, and Choices That Support Thriving
This session brings together nervous system wisdom, somatic practices, and everyday practicality.
In this session, we’ll:
- explore how stress, reactivity, and overwhelm show up in our bodies
- learn simple, accessible practices to center, regulate, and self-soothe
- cultivate “early warning systems” that help us pause, so that we can act rather than react
- reconnect with joy, pleasure, and nourishment as essential, not optional
- explore boundaries as supports for thriving, not acts of rejection
This is about building inner conditions that make life-giving choices possible.
GROUP SESSION 5 — Being in Community & Co-Conspiracy with Our Parts
Listening to the Inner Cast of Characters (Without Making Anyone the Villain)
Here we turn inward — gently and with curiosity.
In this session, we’ll:
- explore the different parts of ourselves that show up in our lives
- listen to wounded or shadowy parts we’ve judged or exiled
- recognize that we’re shaped the way we are for ‘good’ reasons
- invite our grounded, wise adult selves to ‘hold hands’ with other parts
- practice asking these parts to protect us differently — in ways that support thriving
- treat our inner world less like a battleground and more like a coalition
No pathology. No fixing. Just deep respect and more joyful collaboration.
1:1 COACHING SESSION (Before the Final Group Session)
Integration, Sense-Making & Preparing to Move Forward
Before our final group gathering, you’ll meet again one-on-one with the coach/facilitator.
In this session, we’ll:
- reflect on what’s shifted during your journey
- notice patterns, insights, and questions still unfolding
- explore what feels most important to integrate
- support you in articulating promises to yourself
- begin shaping what “moving forward” looks like in work & life
This session helps gather the threads before we return to the circle.
GROUP SESSION 6 — Moving Forward
Integration, Commitments & Plans
We close by honoring the journey and looking ahead — without rushing or forcing certainty.
In this session, we’ll:
- reflect on what we’ve learned about ourselves and each other
- name what we want to carry forward
- articulate promises or commitments to ourselves
- create simple, actionable plans that support ongoing thriving
- acknowledge & appreciate the community we’ve built and the courage it took to show up
Perfection & certainty are myths. Here, we seek clarity about what is draining us, what restores and energizes us, and how best to seed the soil for thriving.