Hi there, lovely lovers!

We don’t have a New Yorker of the Week today.

Want to be featured next? Submit here if you yearn for more pals and/or romance. Come on, it’s Valentine’s week!

As always, you can submit your events for free here and your paid ads here.

Now, onto the good stuff:

Breathing Through It Workshop: Where Meditation Meets Therapy with Madrona Meditation (Sat 2/21, 10-11:30 ET)

What if working with your breath wasn’t just for calming down—but for actually feeling? Designed for therapists, therapy clients, meditators, and anyone curious about working with emotion, this live workshop led by Madrona will blend meditation and somatic psychotherapy to help you meet anxiety, overwhelm, and shutdown in real time. Includes guided practice, live Q&A, a take-home recording, and one month of the Madrona Meditation app.

Gatherings

Double check details before you go, and contact the organizers with questions! The Joy List does not run these events.

Tuesday, February 17: StoryTell: Platonic Love

Join StoryTell for an evening of connection through conversation and personal storytelling exploring the theme of platonic love. Through guided discussion and optional short stories, we’ll reflect on friendship, commitment, and the moments when friends became life anchors. This is a low-stakes, welcoming space to share, listen, and build deeper in-person connections. 100% of proceeds will be donated to Minneapolis Community Aid Network.

$30, 6:30, The Drawing Room Williamsburg. Info here.

Tuesday, February 17: Astronomy on Tap NYC: Space Love

Astronomy on Tap brings professional astronomers and space enthusiasts out of the lecture hall and into local pubs for fun, accessible talks, games, and Q&A—no science background required, just curiosity (and a love of space puns doesn’t hurt).

Free, 7PM-9PM, Somethin' Else, 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Info here.

Friday, February 20: Girls & Gays: Tea x Tarot

Join us for a cozy Friday afternoon of tea sipping, tarot pulling, and a dash of spiritual delusion. We'll do some prompted journaling, draw tarot cards, and unpack whatever the universe has been serving you.​Meet new flirty and fun girls and gays and enjoy the beautiful community space that is Fabrik Dumbo!​*Please bring a journal! Suggested $10-$15 donation on site.

Free + 1230-2PM + 20 Jay St. Suite 218. Info here.

Saturday, February 21: VoicePlay

VoicePlay is a healing group exploration of authentic expression using breath, voice, and embodied play. This workshop is a safe space to play with voice as a tool for healing and expression. Come explore your embodied expression in this cozy afternoon of somatic and vocal exploration and experimentation. We will play with vocal improvisation, relaxation of the body, deep listening, traditional somatic practices and connection with the inner sounds waiting to be expressed!

$25. 1-2:30pm. Delight Factory, 303 Saratoga Ave, Brooklyn. Info here.

Saturday, February 21: FULLY SEEN | Truth, Desires, & Boundaries for Women

FULLY SEEN is a 3-hour somatic immersion for women ready to stop people-pleasing and start showing up more honestly in their relationships, intimacy, leadership, and self-expression. Through guided embodied + relational practices, you'll explore speaking your truth without over-explaining, setting boundaries without guilt, owning the fullness of your desires, and being witnessed without performing. The immersion culminates in a communal circle where each woman can choose to claim and receive the exact support, presence, witnessing, or holding she most desires from the group. Leave feeling more self-trusting, confident, powerful, and at home in your body — with practical tools for deeper honesty, intimacy, and audacity in your life.

$60 early bird. 2-5 PM. Held Space, 960 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn. Info here.

Saturday, February 21: Thinking Through Love

A guided philosophical discussion exploring love, led by Dr. Ece Tekbulut. Is love an emotion, a practice, or an interaction and how does it relate to lust, passion, patience, compassion, forgiveness, or jealousy? Together, we’ll reflect on romantic love through philosophical prompts. Preparation is not required; suggested readings will be shared closer to the event for those who’d like to ease into the theme, and complimentary refreshments will be provided.

$35, 4-6pm, A Space Gallery (13 Grattan Street #402 Brooklyn, NY 11206). Info here.

Sunday, February 22: Sinema Club

We'll start out with an interactive screening of Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno (2008), her series of short films on animal sexual behavior conceived, written, and directed by its star. The series is delightfully DIY, with homemade costumes, cardboard cut-outs and foam-rubber sculptures. There'll be printed lists of episodes so audience members can shout out which short they want to see next (or rewatch.Then it'll be time for Sexual Chronicles of a French Family (2012, 85min), a philosophical look at sexual attitudes (and practices) across multiple generations, followed by an audience discussion about the film.

$12, 7pm-12am, 267 Douglass St, 3rd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Info here.

That's it for this edition. Sending hugs.

Stay cozy,

Jillian