Listening is an art. It takes practice to listen generously to ourselves and the world around us. We need space to reflect, find our voices, and hear others' lived experience. In these times of racial disparities and oppression, grief and rage, taking time to pause and listen fortifies our hearts and our well-being.
In welcoming and amplifying voices of color, we deepen connections to our communities and ourselves. Join us in this listening practice as we explore our own voices and Identities through a variety of lenses.
Please join us for our next offering in The Art of Listening: A Series of Three-Part Sessions. Each session will focus on different modes of listening and expression - from writing and storytelling, to movement and song. Each artist will share their craft and introduce ways of knowing. We will follow the Wholeheart pattern of inviting reflection and expression in small groups.
Carve time for yourself and join community in this generative space. No artistic experience is needed. Leave your inner critic behind and step in with wonder. Register today to hold your space in the circle!
Up Now:
COMING IN JANUARY 2021
REGISTER HERE:
Past Sessions:
July: Meditations on Identity with Mindy Wong
July 16, 30 & August 6 @ 4:30 - 6:00 PM EST
Join us as we engage in the curious, introspective practice of listening through writing. We will reflect on all the parts that make us who we are using creative nonfiction as a healing process to accept the identities we carry and present to the world around us.
Mindy is a nonfiction writer and teaching artist. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from The New School and Master of Science in Childhood Education. She was awarded the 2017 Emerging Writer Fellowship at A Public Space.
August: Listening To Our Heart-Song with Ferene Paris Meyer
August 4, 11, and 18 / Tuesdays / 4:00 - 5:30 PM EST
Deeply engaging with one’s story can be powerful, healing, and inspiring. Embrace the art of storytelling as we create heartfelt space for listening, connection, affirmation, and liberation!
Ferene is the creator and owner of All Heart Inspirations, LLC. She creates heart-centered spaces through storytelling workshops, community engagements, and retreats. Ferene is excited to spread love, gratitude, and affirmations within our local community and beyond!
September: Musical Immersion with Paul Byssainthe, Jr.
Sept. 17, 24, and Oct. 1 / Thursdays / 5:30 - 7:00 PM EST
Music has a way of immersing us in emotion and memory. It can transform, transfix and revive us. Come explore the medium of music as a universal listening practice to feel into what is stirring within us and around us in these times. Paul and Natanya have been busy listening and conjuring this three-part journey to engage in melodies and harmonies together in community. You don’t need to be a musician, musical, or well versed in three-part harmonies. If music lifts you, this offering is for you. We will co-create a reflective and playful space to express the many layers of our idenities and life journeys. Lets travel beyond the boundaries of words together.
Paul is an accomplished, award-winning organist, pianist, conductor, and composer. In fall 2020, Paul will pursue the Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ at Peabody, where he will hold the Dean’s Fellowship. Paul lives a life immersed in music and invites us into a world of listening and being, exploring identity and sharing community through the powerful portal of music.
October: Embodied Listening with Natanya Vanderlaan
Oct. 8, 15, 22 / Thursdays / 5:30 - 7:00 PM EST
Do you ever feel like we are a bunch of floating heads disconnected from our bodies? Join us as we discover what it looks like to connect our headspace to our heartspace. In this series, we will practice listening techniques that will better equip us to find rootedness in these turbulent times and together explore how our daily life rhythms impact our ways of being in inner and outer spaces.
Natanya holds a deep love for connection and community and has journeyed extensively in pursuit and practice of meaningful engagement and learning. She sees embodied listening as an act of resistance in a disembodied world. Join her in this deeper exploration of feeling, connection and awakening.