“I just wanted to write and thank you properly for that beautiful workshop in Bristol. I loved it so much and feel deeply changed and moved by it. I only wish that I could do it all over again straightaway. I felt that I slowed down and let go a lot but I realise now that I could go so much further. I suppose that continuum is endless. It was a great life lesson in that all my life I have felt that there is never enough time and I rush around in a frenzy out of pure habit. I see now that there is always time to pause, to look, to be still, to be loving. Even in a three second pose.
During the workshop I felt like the gentle touch and lovingness that you gave and that was all around was the very voice and contact that I've yearned for all my life, and so it had a very profound effect. Your simple instruction to me in 'rough versus gentle' touch was one of the most illuminating and powerful ever - it's as though you flicked a switch and, now on, I have found more softness in myself and with those I love. So thank you. Huge huge thanks.” HJ, Bristol March 2012
An invitation to be natural, truthful and free
What is being offered here is an opportunity to recognise the ground of our Being, as felt, and particularly in this instance, through movement, seeing and drawing. Those who accept the invitation will find a safe and fun way of inspecting the hidden fears, which can hold us back from living fully.
Using hands, water, clay and ink, bamboo reeds, goose quills, brush and chalk, we begin by exploring the nature of the materials; for instance the exquisite lightness of a quill, the robust strength of a reed and the many qualities of water; translucence, fluidity, carrying. And as we explore these qualities, they reflect back to us the myriad ways they are played out in the theatre of our own lives.
We work from live models who move to music, responding to its infinitely changing forms and nuances and hold poses that palpably magnify Presence. In this way the form carries the fragrance of the formless, which in turn reflects the formlessness of Being, at the heart of our self.
Exploring the nature of experience without relying on rationalising tendencies or fixed ideas, we create a space in which it is possible to discover the natural wisdom of the body and use the medium of drawing to unfold the simple perception of ‘what is’ into our daily lives. Having relaxed the struggle to conform to pre-conceived beliefs, we learn to rest, with awareness, in an abiding sense of Being.