In this session participants learn how to “walk in the dark,” to experience the healing power of facing their shadow or dark side with compassion, courage and humor. We will use stories and images to coax the shadow out of the places where it hides, into the healing light of day. We can learn to love the shadow, whether it is expressed in our hidden and unwanted qualities, or in our beautiful and divine features we have forgotten are part of us. Releasing these qualities energizes us, transforming our experience of ourselves and others.
Greenwald first started using art to contact her shadow in 1996, when a quarrel prompted her to create a series of paintings of her own shadows. She has written a book on the subject and continues to explore the topic of the shadow through workshops, art, storytelling, and writing.
Have you overdosed on gloom and doom? Do avian flu, global warming, peak oil collapse, and economic over-extension have you down? What is the antidote? Hope and Joy! Learn how to develop visionary ideas for your own life and for a sustainable community, and overcome feelings of pessimism, hopelessness, and impotence. Includes an introduction to visual mapping, a method that helps us think about problems differently.
Can we civilize the critical beast? The excesses of criticism affect many of us. We may be relentlessly self-critical, cruel and judgmental of others, inordinately sensitive to criticism, or unaware of how our opinions are received by others. The aim of this presentation is to help listeners become more aware of the role of criticism in their lives. Learn: the types of critics, the causes of criticism, and ideas for breaking the habit of automatic criticism. Explore how to use critical feedback for growth and awareness. The presentation can be structured for use in short staff development settings or expanded for a 1-2 hour discussion. The workshop draws on the research behind Greenwald's book, Facing the Beasts. (Below, "The Touchy Critic"). Please contact me, if you are interested in offering this workshop to your group.
Martha Greenwald is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and workshop leader working on issues related to art, spirituality, psychology and the environment. She has explored the intersection of art, dreams and spirituality for 23 years, originally studying her own dreams with a Jungian analyst, and later developing images from dreams and active imagination into her own artwork. She has a master’s degree in literature and the arts.
Click here for more information about the presenter.
