Minding the body- embodying the mind.

This workshop includes, gentle general strengthening, internal martial arts, gentle directed stretching, self-massage and assisted mindfulness exercises including breathing techniques and guided imagery. We will identify troublesome lifestyle patterns and ways to detangle them. Attenders will leave with a variety of techniques they can use in their daily lives. Our ability to follow leadings of…

Workshop Description

This workshop includes, gentle general strengthening, internal martial arts, gentle directed stretching, self-massage and assisted mindfulness exercises including breathing techniques and guided imagery. We will identify troublesome lifestyle patterns and ways to detangle them. Attenders will leave with a variety of techniques they can use in their daily lives.

Our ability to follow leadings of the Spirit and acknowledge that of God in one another is grounded in our ability to care for ourselves. Daily self-care is vital for overall longevity and health, and self-awareness is a vital aspect of self-care. Understanding how body and mind work together to give us clues of when we need to change direction and follow a new path allows us to be more effective in our daily lives. In this workshop, we will use meditation and guided worship to seek together our personal patterns, habits and needs and to explore different forms of self-care. We will use instruction in guided, fully clothed self-massage and guided imagery as ways to learn about areas where we hold tension, ways to avoid holding tension, and ways to decrease or resolve it when we do.

Central to good self-care in an atmosphere of mutual respect is the understanding that we each bring different realities to day-to-day life. We will look at the ways in which personal characteristics (particularly age, race, gender identity and physical abilities) factor into the stress of life and how to work with that. We will also look at how to develop “micro-opportunities” to destress throughout the day as well as how to go about developing more macro-opportunities to destress, setting aside time during the week for realigning mind and body. The techniques we will teach and understandings we will promote will be things that can be done with both brief and long time intervals available and without any props or equipment needed. We will address different modalities—with movement and without—using imagery and visualization as well as developing strategies for body awareness. While not every technique will work for every person, we will be sharing simple and well tested techniques and strategies the leaders have used themselves and taught to many others; the intention is that participants will leave the workshop with a variety of tools available for use as they return to their daily lives.

Each day will begin with grounding worship (at least 20 minutes but with flexibility depending on the needs of the group and the plan for the rest of the day). From this grounding space we will move into exploration of mind and body connections in response to stressors, both those that come from internal and external sources. We will begin to learn the ways in which our body tells us we need a break and some ways to respond to those signals. Areas of focus throughout the week will be

-exploring the work we do: posture/physical demands at work and movement throughout the day (or lack thereof)
-considering commuting and other transit, posture, awareness, breathing
-reimagining leisure time- active, passive, stress inducing?
-developing sleep habits— why are they important? When do you sleep best, how to help your sleep
– other topics as raised by the group.

Although there will be some gentle movement and stretching, this is NOT a yoga class, nor will we be teaching martial arts (though much of what we will do is informed by an understanding of the mind-body connections deeply imbedded in these forms). We will NOT be teaching nor doing partnered massage, (though one of the leaders is a trained and experienced massage therapist and the work will be informed by this training). We WILL be exploring understandings rooted in Therapeutic Touch, Massage, Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation and the bio-physiology of emotions. Together, the co-leaders bring more than a half-century of experience in mind-body work to this exploration. We are excited to be sharing that with each other and the participants in this workshop.

There will be time for brief instruction each day in a technique and practice of that technique which will be followed by time for a “debrief” discussion which will include sharing about situations in which individuals can use the new skill in daily life. Closing worship/worship sharing will be an important component, allowing participants to share what they are taking away from the session and any questions they may have framed as wonderings to help guide their time until our next session.

Leader Experience

Keith co-led the 2023 workshop: Busy Hands, Quiet Spirit. He has led several small workshops for massage and other relaxation techniques as well as serving on Nurturing Committees for HS and AYF for the past 15 years. In Quaker settings, Jean-Marie has led numerous workshops on adolescence and on leadership for Gathering HS and Junior Gathering Staff since 2002 and co-led a Gathering workshop on Quaker Parenting in 2003. Over the past 40 years she has led and co-led numerous workshops at monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings primarily on racism, eldering, conflict and interpersonal communication.