Yoga and Meditative Art
With over 25 years of experience as an artist and educator, I work from a trauma informed, inclusive and neuro-affirming perspective to create a safe space for participants to feel a sense of wholeness, connection, and to support nervous system regulation.
Yoga and Meditative Art Circles offer an experience for you to:
Connect with your breath through Pranayama (breath work),
Feel into your body through gentle Yoga asana (movement),
Create a sense of clarity, calmness and space in your mind through Meditation.
Open creative flow, intuition and a connection to spirit through various meditative and therapeutic artistic processes (handwork)
Experience rest, recovery, and relaxation through all aspects, including Yoga Nidra (a restorative rest practice) to support your nervous system by helping it shift from a heightened, tense "fight or flight" state (sympathetic mode), to a calm, regulated state associated with the parasympathetic nervous system.
The story behind Yoga and Meditative Art
I didn’t know growing up that I was Neurodivergent, (I was eventually diagnosed at 43) so I used artistic expression and physical connections in nature as ways to understand and to process the world and people around me.
Creativity, movement and nature have been my tools, my hyperfocus’ or special interests, that I have turned to again and again, that have supported me to cope or get through the ups and downs of my life……. and I have had a few.
I believed so strongly in the power of creativity I became an Art teacher as a way to support young people through their stages of development.
As my life, my needs, work demands and my health changed, creativity and movement in nature alone were not enough to hold me.
My mind and body crumbled as I went through burnout.
I came back to a committed Yoga practice as a way to support my recovery from complete burnout as well as major surgery. I finally remembered how to breath (I know that sounds strange, but it’s true), I began to feel connected to my entire body, I began to feel like I wasn’t just this body that was driven by a head full of chaos and emotions. I began to feel connected again to the greater cosmos and to mother nature. My mind, which was used to being inundated with stimulus and things to process, became clearer, more even.
My entire being began to soften as my nervous system learnt that it didn’t always need to respond in ‘fight or flight’ mode and was able to shift out of that state with less distress and exhaustion.
This is when I felt the deep urge, the drive or my Dharma emerge: to share with other people the therapeutic and healing benefits of all aspects of Yoga and Art.
Yoga and Meditative Art is for everyone ….
Are you feeling or have felt strung out, overwhelmed, anxious, fatigued, exhausted, disconnected from your body?
Or are you a highly sensitive person who absorbs everything deeply or a person who constantly has multiple tabs open in their brain?
Are you someone who needs a structure to feel unblocked, fluid, creative and whole again?
Perhaps you have felt or are feeling more than one or all of these things.
Or maybe you are someone that loves to be creative and feel rested and rejuvenated.
Come and experience Yoga and Meditative art to support your mental and physical health and wellbeing
No prior artistic or yoga experience is necessary!
Yoga and Meditative Art Circles are beginner friendly, gender-affirming, inclusive of all gender identities and expressions, inclusive to all body shapes and abilities, neuro-affirming and welcoming to all.
Diversity is embraced and held with respect and love within our Yoga and Meditative Art community.
Therapeutic Artistic Forms and Process.
In Yoga and Meditative Art circles, you will engage with a variety of artistic forms and processes that offer therapeutic and healing benefits for your body, nervous system, mind, and heart.
These forms and processes are explored over a series of classes to fully experience their depth, range and impact.
No prior experience is necessary, and adjustments are made to ensure
access and inclusion.
Artistic Forms and Processes.
~ Watercolour painting ~ Drawing with various materials ~ Clay ~ ~Collage ~ Spinning fibre ~ mixed media ~ Slow stitching textiles~
What to Expect in a Yoga and Meditative Art Circle
~Start the circle with some grounding breath awareness and pranayama
~Gently move through a series of supportive Yin Yoga movement
~Shift into spending some time experiencing a Meditative Art process
~Integrate, rest and rejuvenate with a Yoga Nidra practice.