Nurturing Creativity Mindfulness Classes (LIVE) Wednesdays 5:30 - 6:30

200 Washington Street,Santa Cruz CA 95060

29 March, 2023

Description

With the immense complexity of today's world, it's far too easy to get stuck in survival mode and, subsequently, to lose touch with some of our deepest sources of vitality. There may be experiences of trauma that keep connection to your life force locked up - your mind-body trying to conserve energy in attempt to keep yourself safe. Or constant worries related to lack of resources, especially money and time, deplete your energy and reinforce beliefs that you can't possibly both pay the bills AND be happy. The purpose of this class is to reinforce a different belief system - that it's not actually either-or! There's an ancient proverb that I've always cherished (possibly Persian, but origins uncertain) that goes something like this... "If you have but two pennies, with one, buy a loaf of bread, and with the other, buy hyacinth for the soul." If your first thought in response to that is, "Well that's irresponsible!", then you really need this class ;-D Like all animals, we humans are first and foremost wired for survival. AND like all animals, we are also inherently wired to play and experience joy. In this mindfulness/mediation class we will learn ways to connect with the more "soulful" aspect of our life force and, ideally, come to trust that it will not in any way hinder, and may even bolster, our capacity to meet our more basic safety/survival needs. This class is also for those of you who want to honor your creative impulses but are struggling with feeling blocked - not knowing how to manifest them. Much like all things that grow and express themselves, it's so important to respect the non-linear timeline of creativity, to arrive at a place of fulfillment. In a sense, much of what we need to do is to learn/practice how to stop so much doing and start more allowing. In each class of this series, we'll use a combination of meditation, visualization, and self-reflection to address different themes related to letting go of what burdens us, and nurturing the creative life force that is our birthright. As always, it is my intention to offer a learning experience that is trauma-informed and culturally sensitive, with regards to ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurotype,... All bodies, minds, and spirits welcome! *** PLEASE NOTE: The class itself will be from 5:30 - 6:15; the last 15 minutes will be an opportunity for those who want to share and/or listen to others' shares, which for some can be an important part of nurturing creativity - and for others, or at certain times, not so much :). So it will be up to you completely if you stay; I will announce this at each class.