(collage by Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith )
Do I have to attend specific dates or sessions to benefit?
Creative School for Integration sessions flow with the ever-changing seasons and their cyclic wisdom. You can participate any time or pick back-up any time. There are no sections, chapters or courses to complete as this creative work is simply about cultivating a daily practice and integrating the nameless mystery into our everyday lives.
What supplies do I need to participate?
Some participants simply have a pen or pencil and something to make marks or write on such as a notebook or journal. Others bring whatever creative supplies interest them. We have an expanded suggested materials list on our membership site.
How can I best utilize a session?
The sessions will first help you down-regulate your nervous system and support you to get into your Creative HEART Space. Once you enter this nourishing field you can work in any creative medium you desire. Participants are doing everything from doodling to writing screenplays. The world is your oyster!
What is the benefit of breathing and meditating before working creatively?
Overculture is often shaped by self-judgment, outer judgment and shame. Breathing and meditating with the natural world allows us to step out of this narrative and into our Creative HEART Space. Our individual and collective heart meets us where we are at so the flower of who we are can open. Judgment and shame are reshaped by POTENTIAL and RECIPROCITY.
How often should I participate in the sessions?
Just like physical exercise, this work is cumulative in its benefits. Please come as often as needed to support integration of your creative practice. There are up to eight live sessions a month as well as the opportunity to access recorded sessions. Trust what feels in alignment for you.
Do I need to know how to draw to participate?
You do NOT need to know how to draw to participate. In fact, Creative School for Integration challenges how drawing is defined by "traditional" western canons of observation, art and skill. Some participants do utilize Connective Mark-making to initiate drawings and paintings. Other's simply utilize Connective Mark-making & Journaling to receive ideas or to integrate experiences, dreams, etc.
How can I participate in the Share Circles?
Share circles are optional and are offered immediately after the closing of our LIVE sessions on Zoom. Share circles are non-judgmental, confidential and are NOT recorded so participants can speak freely. There is no formal critique of shared works. The Creative Guide(s) and/or participants share ONLY from their own experience when responding to a visual or written work. Any interpretation of a work is respectfully left to its creator.
Is it possible to receive artistic instruction from the Creative Guides?
Our 90-minute Private Integration sessions are a great opportunity to explore individualized artistic instruction with a Creative Guide.
What is Connective Mark-Making & Journaling?
Connective Mark-Making & Journaling are cherished tools to tap into the unbound parts of us that are not influenced by pre-determined constructs, judgment or imposed shame. Learn more from our Why Connective Mark-making & Journaling page.
Question: What is the difference between Creative Spark & Creative Wisdom sessions?
Creative Spark sessions are 45-minutes and are great to relax the nervous system; to spark new ideas; or to stay engaged with a creative project already underway. Creative Wisdom sessions are 90-minutes; also a great way to relax the nervous system; provide deep access to the inherent creative wisdom in each of us; and provide the opportunity to also explore deep rest as a creative practice as needed. And of course both sessions provide the opportunity to benefit from the creativity of a communal field.
Question: Can I participate asynchronously if the live sessions do not fit with my schedule?
Our memberships provide access to our library of recorded sessions which you can engage as your schedule permits. Please note that we do not record our optional share circles that take place at the conclusion of our sessions. This is so participants can share freely.
Question: What are recommendations to engage fully with session recordings?
We first recommend that you silence the ringer on your phone and turn off your computer browsers. Make any other adjustments needed to mitigate distraction. Have your creative supplies at the ready just as if you were participating live. It's also super helpful to have some blankets and a pillow in case you choose to explore some creative rest during a session. Please watch the Zoom recording for breathing demos as well as glancing from time to time to see others participating in the communal creative field—though mostly you just need to LISTEN and trust the creativity that is moving through you. It is super important to participate fully in the opening and closing of the sessions as this energetically allows the Portal of Creativity to be fully accessible to you as well as closing down the session with completeness and gratitude. These ceremonial nuances are not to be underestimated when it comes to benefitting from the sessions which have been designed to support your daily practice and provide cumulative benefits.
Question: Am I being asked to give up critical thinking to get into my Creative HEART Space?
We are not looking to forgo or erase any parts of ourselves. Instead we are looking to bring harmony to our inner Yin and Yang which basically means accessing and being inspired by the depths of nourishment inherently within us. This will inform our critical thinking and the action we take in the world—making integrated harmony the norm.
Question: What is holding Creative Tension of the opposites?
When we consciously hold the creative tension of opposites such as anger/happiness; anxious/excited; night/day; deprived/nourished; matter/spirit; stay/go; time/no time; sun/moon — you get the idea — we are HOLDING BOTH as denoted by Marion Woodman, mythopoeic author & dream psychologist. This basically means we are welcoming of our own selves as is. When we HOLD BOTH we step out of "what is better or worse" or "good & bad" and instead give birth to a THIRD which may remain nameless but somehow guides our next steps with vital nourishment and compassion for our human lives. This is one of the most difficult things to describe in words so you will just have to participate in some sessions to experience for yourself:)
Question: What if angst, anger, fear, shame, agitation, etc. are present for me during a session?
During our sessions we explore holding the creative tension of the opposites as described above with HOLDING BOTH. When we slow down enough to HOLD BOTH we access POTENTIAL. By giving ourselves permission to feel angst, anger, fear, shame, agitation, etc. we stop bypassing or trying to erase parts of ourselves. As we feel our feelings we ask them to be informed by our Creative HEART Space and then be patient to see what is revealed. It takes courage to slow down enough in our busy world to explore these aspects of ourselves and tune in how to pair them with compassion. Connective Mark-making & Journaling and all forms of creative expression are the safest place for the most confusing and darkest of feelings. We each possess the power to transmute challenging human experiences within our Creative HEART Space instead of judging ourselves or projecting on someone else in a hurtful way.
Question: What is included in the Creative School for Integration Library?
The Creative School for Integration Library contains recordings of live sessions. It also includes research links and resources that support the philosophies and scientific data that inspire our school and sessions.
Question: Why work with session recordings?
1) Some participants work with the session recordings asynchronously because their personal, work or school schedule does not always align with the timing of the live sessions.
2) Some participants like to revisit the sessions to support their practice in-between sessions.
3) Some participants feel shy and want to begin privately before joining the live group.
Question: Is it beneficial to attend sessions with similar themes?
Creative School for Integration is guided by the ever changing seasons and we sometimes stay a few weeks with a governing theme according to what is transpiring during a season. None-the-less, subtle and broad shifts are always underway and each session is unique. Additionally, attending sessions with similar themes provides the opportunity to discover more just beyond the edges. Some participants bring the same "work-in-progress" to several sessions to see what else they will discover. Most importantly, this work is cumulative and ALWAYS designed to support your creative practice.
Question: Given the creative sessions rotate through the five seasons of the Wu Xing, is it okay to work with a session recorded during a particular season during different seasons?
Yes, you can work with any session recording at anytime you are inspired to so do. The Chinese five phases of the wu xing not only correspond to the changing seasons (spring, summer, late summer, autumn and winter) but also to a twenty-four hour day as well as the directions of east, south, center, west and north.
~ This website has a great body clock diagram of the correspondence of the phases (and organs) to the time of day.
At a glance:
Wood/Liver/Gallbladder is approx. 11pm to 3am.
Metal/Lung/Large Intestine is approx. 3am. to 7am.
Earth/Stomach/Spleen is approx. 7am. to 11a.m
Fire/Heart/Small Intestine is approx. 11am. to 3pm.
Water/Bladder/Kidney is approx. 3pm to 7pm.
Fire/Pericardium/Triple Burner is approx. 7pm to 11pm.
~ And this website notes the “Cosmological" directions of wu xing.
At a glance:
South for Fire
North for Water
East for Wood
West for Metal
Earth in the Centre
There are also color, taste, planet, zodiac sign, etc. associations that flow through the creative sessions.
When working with session recordings tune in what feels supportive to you. Ultimately, practicing whenever you can is the truest medicine!
Question: What if my only option to participate in live sessions is with my young child nearby.
We certainly remember the days of raising a family and know that sometimes the only way to participate in life is to have your little one tucked under your arm. We have several parents and guardians of young children who desire to be in the communal field of the live sessions and share circles. Because the sessions are designed for 18-year old and older we simply ask that you use your discretion of what is appropriate for your child and to please turn your video off if there is a visual distraction out of respect to those down-regulating their nervous systems. Also, during the live share circles participants need to speak freely and not censor their courageous vulnerability out of concern for little ears. Thus, children cannot participate in the live share circles. We do hope to add a creative session expressly for children in the near future!