Mindfulness, Movement & Dance
Contemplative Art for Self-care
Are you looking for an adult activity that will help you de-stress, gain clarity in your goals, reduce physical or emotional pain, find your passion or deal with intrusive thoughts?
Contemplative Art is for you!
Join us for 9 weeks of themed classes where you might make a mandala, paint a tree of hope or create self-body-state art. Each class will include a contemplative art activity that can be accomplished with household items such as, pencil/pen and paper and a set of watercolor paints. A brief overview of contemplative art will be provided at the beginning of each class. All classes meet via Zoom.
1 hour 15 minutes
Starts: Jan 4th - March 1st, 2-3:15pm EST
no class January 18th
Join the whole 8 week session for $160
Want to join just one or several classes á la carte?
No problem! You can choose from the menu when you click through to register.
Self Body State Art
This is an intuitive painting exercise and is especially beneficial for individuals who feel weighted down by intrusive negative thoughts or suffer from chronic pain or stress. Students are guided in clearing the mind with breath work, then given a “body outline” template in which to do creative self-expression via a series of prompts. Upon completing exercise, a brief discussion on any insights or thoughts that arise will be guided by the instructor. The value of using watercolor is that it has a spontaneous flow to it due to its’ semitransparent, glassy feel. It is an excellent medium for revealing the emotional state in the moment, however, markers or colored pencils are also acceptable. Brief discussion of color therapy is included.
Materials needed: Body outline template (instructor provided) watercolor sets, paintbrushes, [Optional: colored pencils, markers].
Saturday, January 5th, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Mandala
This is a great exercise for trying active meditation and can help us to bring calming, relaxing energy. Also excellent for creative self-expression, while being grounding and centering. The shapes and colors that individuals add to their mandala will reflect their inner self at the time of creation. Creating a mandala is a personal and introspective process and overall benefits are self-healing, exploration and self-expression.
Materials needed: Mandala template (provided by instructor), colored pencils, markers, paint or crayons. [Optional: Items collected in nature: flower petals, small leaves, buds, etc; glue or glue stick]
Saturday, January 25th, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Zentangles
A Zentangle is a miniature abstract work of art created by a collection of patterns. It is typically done on a 3 ½” x 3 ½” paper “tile” using a pencil and a black pen. The small size allows for a work of art that can be completed in a relatively short period of time. The practice of making a zentangle is meditative, and soothing. In this class, participants will learn some of the basic zentangle designs, and then create their own works of art on a template provided by the instructor.
Materials needed: pen/ pencil, paper, instructor provided template, [Optional: markers, colored pencils]
Saturday, February 8th, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Healthy Boundaries
Setting good boundaries takes a lot of courage. It requires clear and honest communication with yourself, with another, and/or with a particular situation. In this class we will learn how to cultivate energetic, healthy boundaries and each participant can make adjustments for their own comfort and so it will feel intuitively correct. A brief guided meditation is offered, and a contemplative art activity which includes designing our own affirmation cards.
Materials needed: paper, colored pencils, crayons or paints Instructor handout provided.
Saturday, February 22nd, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Gratitude Jar
A fun activity using slips of paper and any container you have in your home. We will do a guided meditation related to forgiveness, and then create our own gratitude jar which can be used to uplift our spirits during days where we feel sad or sluggish.
Materials needed: Instructor-provided handout, paper, colored pens, pencils, markers [Optional: paints]
not scheduled this session
$20
Healing Postcards
Participants are guided in a simple yet effective exercise involving journal writing, and contemplative painting with watercolors. Students will learn the therapeutic value of self-expression while gaining a new perspective on a stressful event or person in their lives.
This is an excellent exercise to aid in conflict resolution or any internal struggle that may be troubling to individuals. The process involves encouraging students to first focus, then jot down thoughts and details regarding the difficult person or event in a letter-like form, on a postcard. They are encouraged to lightly paint over their words and then add a sprinkling of salt, in order to witness the situation “dissolve” right before their eyes. This assists in reducing the power of intense feelings that arise, therefore releasing students of the burden they have been carrying.
Materials needed: watercolor paper (cut to postcard size) watercolor sets, paintbrushes, 1 teaspoon of table or rock salt
Saturday, January 11th 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Letting Go
In this class, we will take time for something new, a new way of seeing things to help us let go of what may be holding us back, whether it be physical or emotional issues that we have been dealing with. Letting Go as a practice can be quite simple but requires a few reminders during these challenging times. We will begin with a brief guided meditation to open our hearts and minds, and then some helpful activities will be offered to use as resources whenever we become stuck and need to lighten our hearts. Materials needed: paper and pen/pencil
Saturday, February 1st, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Self-compassion
It may feel easier to offer others nurturing and compassion, however, it’s so important to make sure that we focus on our own self care in order to have the energy to continue doing so. If you are a health care professional, you probably have heard of the term “compassion fatigue”. This concept applies to those not only in the medical profession. Many of us have put off our own loving-kindness practices in recent years and it is important to make time for ourselves too. This activity includes a guided meditation, then a journal based contemplative art activity to help bring us to a better awareness of what it means to offer compassion to ourselves as a loving practice that can be done at any time.
Materials needed: paper and pen/pencil. Instructor handout (provided)
Saturday, February 15th, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Tree of Hope
Feeling hopeful can be difficult, especially this time of year. We tend to be hard on ourselves, and our thoughts can be frenetic, making it difficult to be peaceful and calm. This course focuses on those obstacles that get in the way of us feeling soothed and breathing easy. The tree of hope contemplative art activity is one that you can design and use as a reminder of all the positive aspects in your life that you may have overlooked due to stress and forgetting to make friends with yourself, and build your “happiness” muscle.
Materials needed: paper, pen, Instructor handout provided, [Optional: colored pencils, markers, crayons, paints]
Saturday, March 1st, 2-3:15pm EST
$20
Mindfulness Art for Kids
This Zoom-based art class will involve your students in art-making activities that also teach them about identifying their feelings, expressing them productively, identifying when they are no longer productive and using various strategies to let them go when they are not productive. Kids do NOT have to "be artists", "have artistic talent" but having a willingness to participate in making art is helpful. Every student's artistic outcome will be celebrated and they will be encouraged to think of themselves as artists and their output as art. Materials will likely include paper, pens/pencils/crayons/markers, scissors, glue (any kind) and may include watercolors. Every session is a bit different in exaclty what projects they undertake since we try to leverage activities the participants in each group prefer as much as possible. Students' feelings will be validated and supported and their expression of them will be coached in a positive and peaceful way.
