About Ash
Ash Ryzen Witham (with-um) is a queer, nonbinary (they/she) trauma informed Somatic Coach and Connection & Embodiment Facilitator, dedicated to creating inclusive experiences for personal and collective transformation—guiding people into deeper connection with themselves, each other, and life itself.
Core Certifications & 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 as well as Somatics, Trauma, and Resilience with Staci Haines - a celebrated leader in the field of somatics and social justice.
Ash is also faculty at Esalen Institute, a center for human potential and embodied inquiry founded in 1962, long at the forefront of exploring the intersection of psychology, embodiment, and transformation. They have also been invited into the Center for Theory and Research (CTR) at Esalen, where they contributed to the Subtle Body III initiative.
Since 2021, Ash has been on the Course Leader team at Authentic Relating Training (ART) International, a globally recognized organization sharing Authentic Relating practices worldwide. As part of ART’s global reach of over 15,000 participants, Ash has guided nearly 1,000 people internationally through these relational trainings, including ARTs Level 1, Embodied Level 1, and Level 2.
Additionally, Ash is certified in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy through The Embody Lab and certified as a Trauma-Informed Coach through The Centre for Healing. Ash also earned their first coaching certification through The Relateful Co., further grounding their approach in presence-based, relational practices.
Contributions & Collaborations
Ash sees collaboration and innovation as powerful catalysts for inspiration. Their work lives at the intersection of embodiment, expression, and relational healing—and they’ve created + co-created several offerings that reflect this integrative approach:
Soma & Soul (Founder, 2025): An immersive framework delivered in workshop or retreat format blending somatic wisdom, embodied relating, movement, dance, breathwork, and vocal freedom - for conscious connection and personal & collective expansion
We AR Queer (Co-founder, 2023): Authentic Relating (AR) 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): A 6-part course making shadow work and the journey to wholeness more approachable and actionable
Ash has also been invited into the Center for Theory and Research (CTR) at Esalen, where they contributed to the Subtle Body III initiative.
From Global Influence to Global Impact
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 Authentic Relating community in San Marcos, La Laguna.
Now based in Los Angeles again, Ash continues to facilitate across the U.S. and internationally. Always seeking to collaborate, evolve, and create diverse, inclusive, and impactful spaces for meaningful change.
Early Influences & Creative Roots
With a BA 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 vulnerability.
Their approach is rooted in the belief that the ache, tension, and longings we carry are not “problems to fix”—but actually the raw material of our personal evolution. That this is where our personal alchemy truly begins.
Whether it’s a one-off workshop or a weeklong retreat, each Alchemy with Ash offering is crafted to:
Disrupt social conditioning and oudated patterns
Support nervous system resilience and embodied awareness
Invite more of ourselves into the room: messy, brilliant, and whole
Integrate the parts we’ve exiled or hidden
Expand our capacity to relate with courage, clarity, and care
Embody fuller expression in life, work, and love
The invitation here?
To come home to yourself.
To grow the capacity to be with what’s real moment to moment.
And to create a life that feels aligned, alive, and truly yours.
Video Credit: Connor Thorp
Photo Credits: top left - Casey Cooper, all the rest - Mark Fisher