In response to the needs expressed by our community, we are offering an opportunity to simply come together and be led through practice. Our facilitators will share a practice with us that they have found helpful for themselves or their students, or both.

Upcoming Practice:
Exploring Uncertainty, Finding Possibility Through Contemplative Art
Facilitator: Beth Berila
Date and Registration available soon!

This practice invites us to play with art as process to help us explore our experiences of the heightened fear and uncertainty during the COVID-19 crisis. We will turn inward, ground, and open to embodied reflection, playing with artistic exploration and expression of whatever emerges—including joy and possibility.

Have ready: any art supplies you might want, including but not limited to:

• Pen, paper
• Colored pencils, markers, crayons
• Paint and canvas
• Collage materials
• Glue
• Scissors
• Clay
• Musical instruments
• Room to dance
• Anything else you might want!

I will lead us through some beginning prompts, then we will have some time to create on our own. Toward the end of our hour together, we can share any insights or creative expression that may have emerged (sharing optional).

NO ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. This practice is art as exploration and art as intuitive process. Leave your self-judgment at the door–unless that is what you want to explore and work with.

Facilitator:
Beth Berila, Ph.D. is the Director of the Gender & Women’s Studies Program and Professor in the Ethnic, Gender & Women’s Studies Department at St. Cloud State University. She is also a yoga and mindfulness practitioner and an Embodied Leadership Coach and Facilitator. Her most recent book, Radiating Feminism: Resilience Practices for our Inner and Outer Lives, is forthcoming from Routledge in Summer 2020. Learn more at http://www.bethberila.com/

Session Format
We will be using the Zoom platform for these sessions. The practice will last roughly 40-45 minutes, after which we will break out into smaller groups to share reflections. We will invite you to have the option of sharing your video in the beginning of the session to say hello and see each other’s faces, and then remain muted until you are in your smaller groups. Once the breakout sessions have concluded, we will invite group members to share with the larger group.

This is a new offering that we are exploring and we anticipate there may be some technical hiccups here and there. We ask that if you experience these kinds of issues to let us know once the session is over so that we can learn and improve upon these offerings. We are here to listen to your needs, so please do not hesitate to reach out with suggestions and ideas at info@contemplativemind.org.