Last updated on April 10, 2023
Many years ago I had the pleasure of working at the NJ Center for the Healing Arts. A wonderful group of various therapists, psycho-, massage-, art-, and other practitioners of the alternative/complementary arts/sciences all worked under one roof. The founder had a vision for how to treat mental illness in today’s society. She was a beacon of light to many and I applaud her for her accomplishments and the ripple effect of healing & inspiration she provided to the whole community, clients, and the world-at-large. I was honored to offer astrological & feng shui consultations along with some hatha & dancing yoga classes during my early years studying yoga therapy. It was a rich time.
While there, it was clear that much of the physical space was dedicated to art….The walls were filled with paintings painted by past & present clients. Every now and then new ones would appear. I loved peeking into the art room to see them in action. It never occurred to me that art or painting or drawing could be therapeutic, or healing, or anything other than a means to an end, a picture upon which lots of opinions/judgements might be heaped. “I like it” I hate it” etc. Of course, I proved myself naive, again, it happens a lot.
Anyway, today it’s nearly two decades later and I’m excited to be working around art again. It’s in a different context, of course, but after such a long time learning & practicing integrative yoga therapy I’m comfortable teaching whever the winds blow me.
Anything can be therapized these days and that’s maybe a good thing? It acknowledges that we all need healing. All of us. Everybody. This is something I know to be true.
And, the kind of healing that occurs when we fully engage in a process that eliminates words can be felt thru and thru. It has to do with how the hemisphere’s of the brain are organized. Healing, though, is not a right-side/left-side experience, but rather what happens naturally when balance is acheived. This is what yoga/meditation teaches us. That amazing blissful state that occurs after one does some focused hatha practice, is the same calm, blissful state that occurs when we’re in the zone of: artistic expression, dance practice,, or musical harmonies & rhythms.
That zone, that particular kind of present moment is a very seductive state of being, and once you’ve experienced it your entire being becomes engaged with trying to have the experience again. The challenge & difficulty is to get there naturally, chemically & substance free. But, I digress. Neptune is one of the astrological significators for spiritual practice, yoga, imagination, fantasy and more. For more keywords of Neptune go here.
On July, I’ll be facilitating a weekend of workshops on yoga & creativity at The Sanctuary. For the *intensive* on Saturday we’ll be at a local art gallery. I’m excited to see what happens! Namaste.
