In this interview, MysticMag had the pleasure of speaking with Natalie Zukerman, founder of the Institute of Feminine Arts. Natalie shares her inspiring journey from spiritual exploration and living with indigenous tribes to becoming a leading teacher in Womb Awakening and feminine consciousness. Read on to discover how her personal experiences shaped the Institute and the transformative courses it offers today.
What were your professional beginnings like and how did you found the Institute of Feminine Arts?
My professional beginnings were deeply rooted in my extensive travels and spiritual explorations. Earth was my university. For 17 years, I journeyed across the globe, living with indigenous tribes, spending time with their elders and shamans and learning their ways. I spent 7 years living in the Himalayas and ventured into some of the most remote places on Earth, connecting with tribes that very few people have ever encountered. During this time, I also apprenticed for 6 years with a great Nagual, a Toltec shaman, deepening my shamanic journey.
Alongside this, I had a strong focus on feminine work, studying yoga in Himalayas, meditation, Qigong, etc. When I became pregnant with my daughter while living in Colombia, my partner and I returned to Australia to start our family. It was then that I discovered Seren and Azra Bertrand’s “Womb Awakening” apprenticeship. They are now renowned authors of Womb Awakening and Magdalene Mysteries.
After completing their apprenticeship, I was invited to mentor their next cohort of students. I already had experience as a clinical hypnotherapist and trauma therapist, and after mentoring for a couple of years, Seren and Azra asked me to become the lead teacher for their Feminine Mystery School. I facilitated their online 9-moon apprenticeship and taught all their in-person retreats, training women to become Womb Awakening facilitators.
In 2017, Seren and Azra decided to focus on their writing and family, and they entrusted me with the responsibility to carry forward their Womb Awakening work. They gave me their blessing to integrate my knowledge and unique frequency into the teachings, which led me to create the Institute of Feminine Arts. I expanded on the 9-moon apprenticeship by adding my own life experience and knowledge, making the course more comprehensive. I developed my own Womb Awakening Facilitator Training Program, ensuring it was certified globally so my students could receive the highest standard of education and insurance coverage.
Additionally, I founded my own modality, called Integrative Womb Hara Massage Practitioner Training, which is also certified worldwide. I now lead retreats and trainings in Bali and Australia, guiding thousands of women through these transformative journeys.
To those unfamiliar with the matter, can you explain what womb awakening is?
Womb Awakening is an embodied and grounded journey of deep soul transformation, centred around reconnecting with our feminine essence and womb consciousness. It’s a remembrance of a pure state of embodied feminine consciousness. When women engage with Womb Awakening, they tap into ancient knowledge and wisdom stored within them, awakening what some call “Akashic records”—the vast library of cosmic and ancestral wisdom we all carry within.
Historically, this kind of sacred knowledge was passed down not through writing, but through storytelling, dance, sound, and the felt sense of the body. The womb was revered as a portal to the heart of creation, a source of wisdom that connects us to the web of life and other realms of existence. In essence, the womb holds the power of infinite creation and love, serving as the place where life, ideas, and projects are conceived and birthed.
The womb is more than just a vessel for childbirth. It’s a cauldron of creativity, where we birth not only life but also new ideas, energies, and frequencies. Through Womb Awakening, we reconnect to this divine womb portal, rediscovering our primal sensuality, sexuality, creativity, and the core of our feminine energy. The practices involved in Womb Awakening— somatic bodywork, shamanic journeys, body-prayer practices, and more—help us tend to our womb and pelvic bowl, awakening our sexuality, pleasure pathways, vitality, and a deeper connection to life.
This process of awakening is essential in today’s world, where many women experience reproductive health issues, hormonal imbalances, and disconnection from their feminine energy due to societal conditioning. One of the core practices of Womb Awakening is to physically awaken the womb centre from its deep slumber, allowing women to feel the pulsing energy within their wombs—the feminine heartbeat returning to life.
Womb Awakening doesn’t only connect us to our personal power, but also to the larger forces of nature and creation. It links us to the Womb of Gaia, the Earth, and the Cosmic Womb—the Heart of Creation. Our bodies, in this practice, are like the tree of life, deeply rooted in the Earth and reaching up into the cosmic realms. This profound connection allows for true embodiment, bringing the magic of everyday life and our infinite potential into balance.
In short, Womb Awakening is a cathartic journey to the source of female power, reconnecting us to our true feminine soul and igniting our creative potential.
What is Womb Hara Massage and how does this Womb healing work?
Womb Hara Massage is a deeply holistic practice that focuses on the spirit gateways of the Womb and the Hara (the energy centre in the abdomen), working specifically on the abdominal, sacral, and Womb areas. The aim of this bodywork is to increase the flow of chi, our vital life force energy, by clearing blockages and stagnant energy within the body’s tissues, and restoring balance to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
This massage technique helps release tension and trauma responses from the body, particularly emotional blockages that may have been stored in the womb space due to past experiences such as birth trauma, relationship issues, or societal conditioning. Womb Hara Massage is especially effective in trauma healing, fertility support, and postpartum care. It offers healing on multiple levels—helping women release past trauma, support their fertility journey, and restore balance after childbirth.
The Womb is the energetic centre of a woman’s creative life force and feminine energy, a place from which all creative potential is birthed—whether it’s children, ideas, projects, or anything a woman wishes to manifest in the world. Womb Hara Massage helps women reconnect with this centre, awakening their creative and birthing potential in all its forms.
This Womb healing technique is a holistic approach that integrates bodywork, energy healing, breathwork, and somatic practices to nurture a deeper connection with oneself and the source of creation. It’s a sacred ceremony, honouring the Womb as a portal to the deeper inner worlds and the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Importantly, Womb Hara Massage is not only for women with a physical Womb; even if a woman has had a hysterectomy, the energetic blueprint of the womb remains, and the massage can still offer profound healing.
In essence, Womb Hara Massage is a ceremonial temple massage, designed to help any woman wishing to connect with her feminine essence and awaken her creative potential, regardless of her physical circumstances.
What courses does the Institute offer?
The Institute of Feminine Arts offers a diverse range of both online and in-person courses, designed to immerse women in the feminine wisdom traditions and healing arts. Here’s a breakdown of the key offerings:
9 Moon Womb Awakening Apprenticeship (Online)
This is the Institute of Feminine Arts’ main online course, a comprehensive nine-month journey and education in the feminine wisdom traditions. The course is structured into nine spirals, each one designed to awaken and embody the power of the Divine Creatrix, fully expressed in our lives, bodies, sexuality, relationships, and sacred vocation.
Spiral 1: Heart Womb Alchemy
Spiral 2: Entering the Temple
Spiral 3: The Womb Medicine Wheel
Spiral 4: Moon Blood Mysteries
Spiral 5: Journeying into Erotic Innocence
Spiral 6: Sacred Union Alchemy
Spiral 7: The Sister Shadow and the Mother Wound
Spiral 8: Feminine Leadership, Mentorship, and Ethics
Spiral 9: Womb Shamanism
The apprenticeship includes a daily online apprenticeship circle, bi-weekly Zoom calls, and a monthly pod-call. Each modality also comes with it’s own e-book. This transformational training includes instructional videos, audio materials, somatic body-prayer practices, and shamanic guided audio journeys accompanied by ceremonies and energetic transmissions to support students’ learning.
This in-depth training will guide you into the heart of the feminine mysteries, helping you remember the ancient pathways of feminine shamanism. It equips you with healing tools from the feminine arts, taking you on a magical journey of deep soul transformation and feminine awakening – empowering you to birth your true power and creative potential. The next course starts in January 2025.
Integrative Womb Hara Massage Practitioner Training (In-Person)
This is a six-day intensive practitioner training in Womb Hara Massage, aimed at helping women become certified practitioners. The training is recognised and certified worldwide and offered four times a year in Australia, once in Bali, twice in the UK, and once in other parts of Europe. It is expected to expand to the US soon.
Womb Awakening Facilitator Training Retreat (In-Person)
This seven-day, seven-night immersion is held annually in Bali. It’s designed for women who wish to dive deeper into Womb Awakening, feminine consciousness, and ancient feminine healing arts. Each day of the retreat is designed to provide participants with teachings that they can use to lead their own daily workshops. By the end of the 7-day retreat, participants will have the option to run their own retreats, ranging from 1 to 7 days. It serves as both a personal healing journey and a facilitator training.
Descent into the Underworld (Online)
A 30-day shadow work online course, focusing on deep transformation and exploring the subconscious. This journey will is offered once a year and will take you into the depths of feminine consciousness and self discovery. This course begins every October on the new moon and guides participants through personal shadow work practices.
Other Short Courses (Online)
The Institute also offers several shorter self-paced online courses throughout the year, which can be started at any time. These are designed for those seeking focused guidance on specific aspects of Womb healing and feminine awakening.
Each course integrates elements of bodywork, energy healing, and ancient feminine traditions, offering students profound personal transformation and the tools to integrate these into their lives and the lives of others.
To learn more about Natalie’s work, you can visit www.instituteoffemininearts.org and www.wombawakening.com.au
