About Ash
Ash Ryzen Witham (with-um) is a white, queer, nonbinary (they/she) Somatic Coach and Connection & Embodiment Facilitator, dedicated to generating inclusive spaces for personal and collective transformation—guiding people into deeper connection with themselves, each other, and life itself.
Core Trainings & Credentials
Ash is trained in Somatic Coaching through the Strozzi Institute, a pioneering organization in embodied transformation with over four decades of impact at the intersection of personal growth, leadership, and social change. They’ve also completed Strozzi’s Embodied Transformation and Somatics, Trauma, and Resilience courses. Additionally, they are certified in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy through The Embody Lab.
Ash is a Level 1, Embodied Level 1, and Level 2 Course Leader with Authentic Relating Training (ART) International)—the most widely recognized organization sharing Authentic Relating worldwide. As part of ART’s global reach of 10,000+ participants, Ash has led hundreds internationally through these embodied, high-impact relational trainings.
They also earned their first coaching certification through The Relateful Co., further grounding their work in presence-based, relational practices.
Key Contributions & Collaborations
Ash sees collaboration and innovation as powerful catalysts for transformation. Their work lives at the intersection of embodiment, expression, and relational healing—and they’ve founded or co-founded several offerings that reflect this integrative approach:
Soma & Soul Retreat (Founder, est. 2025): A transformative, immersive retreat that blends somatic embodiment, Authentic Relating, and movement-based connection for deep personal and collective expansion
We AR Queer (Co-founder, 2023): Connection workshops and conscious events for LGBTQ+ folks, offering intimacy tools and community outside of nightlife
ARCI Retreat (Co-founder, 2022): A first-of-its-kind residential retreat weaving together Authentic Relating and Contact Improv
Shadow Academy (Co-founder, 2021): An online course making shadow work more approachable and immediately actionable
Global Influence & Reach
From 2017 to 2022, Ash lived nomadically across the globe, sharing and studying in the U.S., Western Europe, Central America, Israel, and Southeast Asia. In 2021, they brought the first Authentic Relating Level 1 training to Guatemala, helping seed an AR community in San Marcos, La Laguna.
Now based in Los Angeles, Ash continues to facilitate across the U.S. and internationally. Always seeking to collaborate, evolve, and co-create diverse, inclusive, and impactful spaces for transformation.
Early Influences & Creative Roots
With a BA with honors in Fine Art and a minor in Visual and Performing Art Education from UCLA, Ash brings both critical thinking and artistic vision to their work. This early influence—combined with a former career in graphic design—shape their craft of experiences that are designed to the detail, thoughtfully structured, and deeply felt.
The Heart of the Work
Ash takes their work in the world seriously—and to them, that means creating space for play, humor, and levity alongside depth and transformation.
Their approach is rooted in the belief that the ache, the tension, and the longing we carry are not problems to fix—but the raw material of transformation. That this is where the alchemy begins.
Whether it’s a one-off workshop or a weeklong retreat, each offering is crafted to:
Disrupt social conditioning and autopilot patterns
Support nervous system resilience and embodied presence
Invite more of ourselves into the room—messy, brilliant, and whole
Expand our capacity to relate with courage, clarity, and care
Integrate the parts we’ve exiled or hidden
Embody fuller expression in life, work, and love
The invitation?
To come home to yourself.
To remember how to be with what’s real in each moment.
And to create a life that feels aligned, alive, and truly yours.
Photo Credits: left - Casey Cooper, right - Mark Fisher