We’ve had another great week here at common art and Boston Warm. Wednesday we had our October meeting for Can We Talk? — a time for members to openly share their stories without feedback or judgement. One of our members shared a couple of his poems, while another member shared a speech she’s working on for a city council meeting in a few weeks. This hour is always a great time to hear what is on people’s hearts and hold what is said in community with one another. Like last month, I was able to lead the closing exercise and chose to do another mindfulness meditation, which I will share with you all. Continue reading
Tag Archives: meditation
Attunement
As my time at Emmanuel is coming to an end, I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m in a place where I feel comfortable taking risks, stepping outside the box, and sharing my ideas. Over the course of the week I have been reminded that it is okay to try something new, no matter how far along in the process I am.
On Thursdays, I lead a movement group with the folks from Café Emmanuel. I have had so much fun with this group. The participants vary from week to week, and there is one person who has not missed a session. Each week we dance and move with multicolored scarves to different songs, most recently Broadway tunes. The returning participant is always trying to get others to stay and dance with him. I feel his desire to have more than just me and a volunteer. So, in an attempt to entice folks to participate I played the music earlier than normal, gathered a few scarves and placed them in people’s hands. I physically invited people and resisted the urge to be complacent and just accept that folks are not interested in movement. It worked! We added people to our group, and I think it was the most enjoyable session yet! Continue reading
Soul Medicine
While interning with Art and Spirituality, Common Art, and Café Emmanuel I frequently find myself explaining who I am and that I am studying to become an art therapist and mental-health counselor. Recently while at prison, one of the women asked me if I could prescribe her pain medication. I said that while I could not prescribe her any medication, I could prescribe her some meditation. This received a round of laughs from the table and others who had heard the exchange. We live in a fast-paced world where I, for one, can say choosing the option that takes the least amount of work to fix a problem seems extremely appealing. Have a headache? Take a pill with a large glass of water and presto, headache no more. In addition, I can take a moment to think about the cause of the headache in the first place, most likely for me being dehydrated, to avoid it in the future. Continue reading