Mindfulness and Art Workshop

15th November, 10am - 4pm , Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk,
£50.00 including materials and refreshments
everyone welcome, art experience not necessary!

How could we learn to really feel connected with ourselves while painting, really enjoy using our art materials and our process of playing with our art materials without self judgement or getting caught up with wanting to create a masterpiece?

Mindfulness is the practice of learning to be in the here and now, present to and aware of what is happening with our five senses, thoughts and feelings in a gentle, accepting way. It can really help us to enjoy and appreciate our experience as it unfolds in the moment. In drawing and painting it can help us learn to be less self judgemental, more accepting of ourselves and what we are doing, and more aware of creative possibilities with the materials we are using.

Drawing and Painting are both activities that can be part of a journey of self discovery and self expression, easily lending themselves to a meditative, mindful approach. In the Art and Mindfulness Day Workshops we will combine simple mindfulness practices with creative activities.

Anyone can come, whether or not they have any prior art experience. The aim is not to produce a 'good' work of art, but to explore the process of combining creative and mindfulness activities.

Zangmo Alexander, the tutor, is an art teacher, life coach and artist who has been on the 8 week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Course with the Centre for Mindfulness Research at Bangor University as well as practising mindfulness for many years. During her two year Masters Degree in Fine Art at Norwich School of Art and Design, she explored ways of integrating her own creative and mindfulness practices

Enquiries and Bookings: 01379 687360

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Mandala Painting Workshop

11th November, 10.00-4pm
£60.00 including basic materials and refreshment

Mandala means 'centre' and 'periphery' in Sanskrit. Mandalas always have a central focal point from which elements of the image radiate. They are found in nature and in the art of all cultures - rose windows found in medieval cathedrals, Tibetan sandpainted and painted mandalas, Hindu Yantra diagrams, Navajo sand paintings, Islamic sacred geometry. 

 

The western psychologist Jung viewed mandalas as a symbol of the self, the soul, going to the center. They can also be used as a tool for contemplating some issue or wish in one's own life.

The process of mandala painting can

• help calm the mind
• be a centreing and joyful experience
• help one get in touch with the inexpressible
• help one get in touch with the universal
• help in healing, bringing a sense of wholeness
• be a fulfilling way of self expression

During the day we will use guided visualisation and experiment with ways of creating our own healing mandalas.

Everyone is welcome. You don't have to be able to draw or paint to come on this workshop, and all materials are provided. The main point is to express yourself rather than make a 'good' work of art.

About the facilitator Zangmo Denise Alexander MA PGCE

See my CV

Zangmo Denise Alexander is an art teacher and professional artist who regularly meditates and has been on an 8 week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Course with the University of Bangor.

She has experienced very clearly how creative activities together with mindfulness practice and methods from art therapy can lead to increased insight, creativity, healing, enjoyment of life and an increased sense of purpose and connectedness.

Art activities have been part of her own inner journey for the past 30 years, exploring psychotherapy, art therapy, and the perennial wisdom at the heart of the world's spiritual traditions to find her own personal path, which is rooted in Buddhism, yet still rejoices in the richness of all the different traditions.

Enquiries and Bookings: 01379 68