SEMINAR

Art Therapy work shop by Maria Semerdjieva

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The idea behind it is to include our higher self by making space for it in our being. Higher self is import as to use our full potential and to be happy every moment of our existence, meaning even doing difficult things but feeling happy when we do it. 

In order to make space we need to clear any unnecessary pain, using drawing to find the location of that pain. Then we use visualising and meditative exercises to ease and heal that pain. The goal is to teach the participants this method. Doing it just once can’t solve everything, so it’s up to them to use it according to the instructions. The participants were told so and were aware that it’s their responsibility to make it work, and why it’s important to practice it. And if they find it useful in their lives, it will be beneficial for the young people they work with. To teach how to take care of their energy, to explain to them why that is important. 

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So the work shop went as following: 

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We started by me giving a short presentation about what are the inclusive practices in my home town. From there we started to draw. We drew our bodies. The instructions were to focus on some particular pain and find it in the body. Drawing will help to be aware of it. 

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After the drawings were done, we sat in a circle and I guided them in the meditation. We started by finding a recent event that make us angry or sad and I instructed them to feel that. To hold on to it harder and stronger as strong as they could. And then I drew their attention to the fact that now they know they are making it this intense, so they can lighten the feeling. Little by little releasing the grip until they let go. The idea was to see how we are the ones that are holding on to these negative emotions that may be triggered in day to day life. 

This was the warm up and we proceeded with the main exercise. It is using visualisation of light coming from the palms of the hands, getting this pain that we drew and clearing it with light. The participants did everything according to my guidance. At the end some really felt it and liked it, said that they want to try it again. Others were confused. They said it was complicated. After they shared their thoughts I explained that the physics in this practice are real. Pain is absence of energy, it is negative, that is why it hurts. Because it takes away – creating pain. And using our mind as an engine to generate light by visualising. We create positive bio electricity and that is energy that gives – it makes peace and harmony. So it’s like the mind is a computer that gives the command – see light, and the body is the generator, and the hands are the conductors – we are very connected to the hands as we use them to create. So it’s natural that we express this light energy through them. Hands can also amplify the effects, because they stay charged like magnets and emit this healing field, even if we stop generating it.  And so by putting the light (peace)  into the darkness (fear/pain) we change our body, mind, perception and emotional environment. It’s like we have a stew that we left in the kitchen drawer and we forgot it for 3 weeks, the whole house smells.. Trying air fresheners, but the smell is still there. We need to open the drawers and take out the rotten and clean it. That is when the real smell will stop. But in our body we have many drawers with many rotten things inside, and if we want to clear the “smell” we need to take them out one by one and clean them. 

That’s is why the exercise needs to be done for a long period of time in order to see the change. It’s not that it’s ineffective but we just have so much pain. 

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The things I now see that could be improved are: 

The presentation had nothing to do with the exercise, so maybe next time I’ll make a presentation that will explain the price and simplify it. Also I could find more simple practice that can introduce beginners into this field. And the name of the therapy wasn’t so correct, befit was more of meditation Terapy. Art was there as a guide but it didn’t play such a big role. This topic is not very art but I chose it because we almost never hear about including the inner world. Inclusion is always though of as something external. Unless we first include ourselves, we can’t include anyone else.