Are you looking for a way to learn to trust your self on the deepest levels? Are you hoping to make some long needed changes, to nurture yourself and your own creative vision for your life? Did you know that you can learn to create without judgment, goal or expectation ?
Did you know that unleashing your natural creative energy, which is really the life force itself, and simply allowing yourself to be more creative is one of the most powerful tools available for making necessary and profound changes in your life?
And that you don’t have to be talented, follow the rules or even know what you are doing in order to tap into this potent, transformative energy?
Are you looking for a place to combine the freedom of creative self expression with the sense of safety,community and support that comes from being with like minded souls who are also on the path of psychological healing and spiritual exploration?
Then this workshop might be just what you are looking for!
As we travel more deeply into the lands of great change and uncertainty that seem to be the fundamental quality of this mid 21st century, many of us are experiencing a growing hunger to be living from a place of greater authenticity and deeper relationship with soul and spirit.
We are longing for a sense of connection with something larger than ourselves and are searching for ways to strengthen that sense of divine presence in our lives. And one of the ways to develop that relationship is through a more profound relationship to our creative process. Since creativity and spirituality come from the same source you can use your creative practice as a way to open to spirit and vice versa.
Painting as a spiritual practice is another tool for those of us on the path of spiritual and emotional healing and transformation that allows us to tap directly into that source.
In this weeknd workshop we will explore the profound connection between our creativity and our spirituality, using the power of the intuitive painting process to get more in touch with that Point of Greatest Aliveness which is a hallmark of being connected to our essential nature and spiritual core.
Wild Heart Painting As A Spiritual Practice allows you to recognize that you are not just your personality. You are also consciousness itself. It allows you to find your way back to that exquisite sense of yourself as more than your name, rank and serial number. To remember that your spirit is so much greater than your worrying, fretful, judging mind.
You will experience the power of your creativity as a tool for developing greater self compassion and self awareness. The magic of the painting process will also encourage you to be much more fully present and fully alive. And even though what we will be doing in this workshop is painting, what we are really learning is how to be creatively and spiritually engaged in every area of our lives.
All the habitual mechanisms that hold back your full creative energy…. all the times that you play small on the page in front of you… or let fear override your authentic creative expression… these are the same places that are blocking your creative energy in your daily life.
The endless ways that you control yourself, judge yourself, don’t trust yourself, refuse to surrender, let fear win out, and are not gentle, loving and accepting of your self on the canvas show up in the world outside of the studio.
Through the process of intuitive painting you will discover how to creatively to tap into that mystical and magical place of spaciousness, stillness, expansiveness, healing and sacred compassion that is the root of Radical Self Acceptance.
Like all spiritual practices, this approach to painting takes you on a journey into the inner worlds of numinous inspiration and holy imagination.
It develops and strengthens your intuition, frees up stagnant energy so that you can live your life from a place of being intensely, passionately and joyfully alive, and sends deep taproots into your connection with the source of all that is that can lead to wholehearted experiences of trusting yourself and your own internal guidance.
Painting from our intuition is the core of this practice and we will spend the bulk of our time with a paintbrush in our hands.
But we will jump start our connection to our intuitive self before each painting session. We will be playing with all kinds of wild and wonderful practices to deepen our relationship to our spiritual energy such as ritual, meditation, drumming, music, moving and stretching our bodies and guided visualizations.
This two day intensive will also include lively, inspirational, informative and brief teachings on different aspects of Wild Heart Painting As A Spiritual Practice such as painting and presence, reclaiming our shadow, embracing the unknown, painting from the dream time, the wisdom of no mistakes and the development of radical self acceptance.
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What Happens At A Wild Heart Expressive Arts Painting Workshop?
The retreat is limited to 14 participants so you get to part of an intimate and dynamic creative healing community of wild hearted painters that will inspire you to go to your creative edges and beyond. We spend time every morning getting out of our heads and into our bodies using music and movement, dancing and breath, presence and meditation.
We meet once a day in a sacred circle of support where we get to be witnessed with compassion, share our wisdom, tell our stories, laugh, cry, whine, celebrate and be held by a community of wondrous wild hearted creative folks.
We paint. A lot.
There will be daily inspirational talks where you will learn about things like what is intuition, the wisdom of no mistakes, how to discover the secret language of painting, the myth of inspiration, finding your juicy creative essence, and ways of effectively dealing with the pesky inner critic. You absolutely don’t need to have ANY art experience at all to participate in and to benefit GREATLY from this retreat.
Schedule: The workshop begins on Saturday at 10am and will end Sunday at 5:30pm:
Saturday
- 10am – 1pm: Greeting ritual, movement, and painting session
- 1pm – 2:30pm: Lunch break
- 2:30pm – 5:30pm: Meditation & afternoon painting session
Saturday
- 10am – 1pm: Movement, and painting session
- 1pm – 2:30pm: Lunch break
- 2:30pm – 5:00pm: Meditation & afternoon painting session
- 5:00pm – 5:30pm: Closing circle
About Root & Bloom Institute
Root & Bloom Institute (RBI) is a center for somatic practices, psychotherapy, and expanded states of consciousness in Berkeley. Our spaces are designed to support healing, learning, and community through thoughtfully curated trainings, workshops, and gatherings.
Event Location 2307 Sixth Street. Berkeley, CA 94710
Check our Transportation Guidelines and How To Arrive here.
Meals: There will be an hour and a half each day for lunch, and there are a number of great restaurants nearby. Suggestions will be included in the welcome letter upon registration.
About the Studio…
We provide large, 4x 6 foot standing easels.
- A wide variety of tempera paints.
- Pastels.
- Brushes.
- Chairs/stools.
- Water containers.
- Painting rags.
- Very high quality, large sheets of paper to paint on.
- Painting smocks.
All of these materials are included in the cost of the workshop. You are more than welcome to bring your own brushes or smocks but we ask that you don’t bring any acrylic, glitter, or other types of paints.
