ART AND MINDFULNESS DAY

Workshops in Diss, South Norfolk with Zangmo Denise Alexander
Saturday October 25th, 10am - 4.00pm
£40.00 per day including basic materials and refreshments

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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 derives from Buddhist meditation, but can be practised in a non-secular way with great benefit, enabling stress reduction, self awareness and greater well being, as documented by university and medical research in the USA and the UK.

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 Denise Alexander, the tutor, is an art teacher 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 _________________________________________________________________

MANDALA WORKSHOP


Saturday November 1st 10.00-4pm
£40.00 including basic materials and refreshment

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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.

back to Workshops 2008 Programme