Poetry as Integrative Medicine 

      with Holly Wren Spaulding/Poetry Forge

5:00-6:00 pm on Mondays beginning October 30th, 2017

 @ Thrive!  46 Maple Street, Florence

Because we have scattered and poetry gathers pieces into wholes. Because the right words, in the right order, are medicine. Because words posses power. Because for millennia our peoples have sung, chanted and told stories in verse to make meaning, mend, grow stronger, prevail.

This workshop series is for writers and aspiring writers, as well as healers, caregivers, teachers, spiritual leaders and anyone else interested in how to integrate poetry into their personal or professional practice. Attend every session or only some.

Each session includes the presentation of a poem or poems by a featured poet, followed by open discussion and appreciation of the text, and the opportunity to generate your own language using a writing prompt. We’ll converse about the process, but offer no formal critique. Our intention is to illuminate the healing properties of poetry, and help you make your own poetic medicine.

No previous experience required.  Sliding scale: $10-30.  No one turned away.

October 30: The Medicine of Nayirah Waheed

November 6: The Medicine of Warsan Shire

November 13: The Medicine of Ocean Vuong

November 20: The Medicine of Javier Zamora

Holly Wren Spaulding’s poems, articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Michigan Quarterly Review, Witness, The Ecologist, and in the book We Are Everywhere: The Irresistible Rise of Global Anti-Capitalism (Verso, 2003). Her most recent book, If August, was published in 2017 by Alice Greene & Co. She runs Poetry Forge and teaches for Interlochen Center for the Arts.

 

Meditation For Everyday Life with Marietta Skeen, MA

Click here for a video testimonial about the class

Do you want to learn how to meditate in an easeful, loving way? This is a therapeutic form of meditation where ALL experiences are welcome. There is no requirement to sustain a perfect body position, follow the breath, or recite a mantra. In this style of sitting, we are interested in being comfortable, and being with what the mind and body naturally gravitate toward. We begin to trust that the bodymind system actually knows what it needs.

In this practice, we use memory as a practice of caring awareness. Folks are invited to recall, journal and reflect on their sittings and then, have the option to share experiences in a familiar, small group setting. This process helps to bring the meditative state into relationship and daily life. Within the 6 weeks, you will see the impact a supported practice can make in your life. It’s pretty special.

This group will meet for 6 weeks on Monday mornings 9am-10am starting September 18th to October 23rd. I ask that folks try to commit to the whole 6 weeks to build a solid group container and support the process of developing a practice. $15 a session. $85 for the six weeks (save $5 by paying in full). Please contact Marietta at MariettaRskeen@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

Marietta Skeen, MA is a body centered psychotherapist who received her Masters at Naropa, a Buddhist inspired University in Boulder, CO as well as four years further training Hartford Family Institute in Hartford, CT. She trained extensively with Jason Siff, a Burmese monk in the innovative practice of Recollective Awareness and now, blends it with the wisdom of energy medicine and embodiment practices for an integrative practice that blends organically with everyday life.