Arts-based Dreaming Series: Frequently Asked Questions
“I am interested in this workshop, but never remember my dreams” or “I don’t have dreams!”
This is really common! Like many things, the awareness we have of our dreams is the result of a relationship that is built over time. Even with a sustained dreaming practice, there will be times in our lives when we will remember our dreams in vivid detail and other times when they will be only partially available to us and hazy.
Early in the series, we will address how to increase our chances of remembering our dreams and discuss all the myriad of ways that we can go about capturing that material to play and work with.
We will also be exploring our relationship with our DAYdreams, past dreams and our imagination itself, so whatever your current relationship with night dreaming, there will be plenty of material for you to bring into session. For this reason, even if you never dream in general or don’t have a dream for the entire eight week series, you will still be able to participate every week.
“I noticed it mentions 'arts based explorations'… what does this mean?” and “Do I need a background in the arts?”
All of the things we do together are accessible and deceivingly simple with lots of room for everyone to show up in the way that feels best for them. The emphasis on developing sensitivity skills through the arts will allow us to concentrate on and research our theme: exploring our individual lived experience of dreaming, sleeping, and imagination. In this way, your perspective and unique personal aesthetic, regardless of your experience in the arts, is a gift for the group. If you have a lot of experience in the modality we are working in, this gives you the opportunity to explore the fundamentals of your practice: play, sensitivity, experimentation in a supportive environment as well as practicing non-identification with certain expression styles (read: it’s an opportunity to get out of your habits and in to researching new things). We will be exploring the content as a community. You could think of it as an expedition where everyone is on the adventure together, gathering information and material to then play with and explore.
(and know that you are never expected to do something you feel uncomfortable or unsafe doing)
“So what exactly is this?”
In our work together, Maiya and I will draw on our training in Expressive Arts (Alexandra holds a Masters Degree in Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy and Maiya holds a Post Graduate Diploma and Registered Therapeutic Counsellor designation in Expressive Arts Therapy) and we are both active, working artists.
In this group, all of us will be coming together in a facilitated creative process to explore dreaming together, each in our own unique way. Then we get to reap the benefits of our collective wisdom/insights, because we have the gift of doing this in the context of a group.
Each session:
is Process oriented. We start somewhere, stay present, and build on that place. At the end of the session, we are often in a place we never imagined we would or could be. This allows for the facilitation to be responsive to what’s happening in the room, and for us to actually deepen our research into what is exciting for that unique group right in that moment. This is how we discover new things rather than staying with what think we know.
AND
has a structure. Each session begins with a check-in. Then we warm-up with simple guided meditations or exercises to bring us into our senses and the present. From here we move into the arts, where we will engage together in some kind of facilitated artistic experiment with dream/imaginal content. We move in and out of our experimenting, debriefing and digesting in groups and alone. We may use multiple art-forms in one session. At the end of the session, we often have a final debrief where we get to share our impressions, thoughts, insights, or findings and a final check-out. For further support, Maiya and Alexandra will be around after each session if you need to talk for a bit. You can contact us by email if something comes up during the week. Finally, if you want to go deeper, we are both available for individual sessions at a special rate for workshop participants ($60 per hour. Our normal rate is $90/ hr).
“Yes, but what exactly will we be doing? What could a session look like? I need a concrete example of what I am getting myself into!”
The activities are drawn from mindfulness techniques, dreamwork traditions and the arts: visual arts, contemporary movement practices, performance, words/poetry, sound etc.
A session might look like this:
Check-in
moving into...
A guided walking warmup to bring us into our bodies
moving into...
A free-writing exercise
moving into...
creating a poem in a small group
moving into...
sharing our findings in the large group
moving into...
another sensitizing game where we attune to sound
moving into...
creating a small and simple “soundscape” on our own, using one found object
moving into...
creating a small piece in a group
then...
debrief. respond. continue experimenting. deepen. respond. experiment. share. debrief. etc...
All the questions about payment...
You can pay in a few different ways.
Our preferred option is to receive payment by internet E-transfer (preferable to credit card!). This you can send to alexandra@alexandragoodall.com
Cheques are an option.
We can also arrange a cash drop. Email or call Alexandra and we’ll find a time and place that works for both of us.
Lastly, you can pay by credit card. This can be done here through the "Register" button (you don’t need a paypal account - it just hosts the payment). *COMING SOON*
Limited spots in each workshop are available for scholarship/financial aid or payment plans. Contact us and we can find an arrangement that works for your situation.
Your payment confirms your spot. Unfortunately, We can’t hold a spot for you without payment. Again, if this makes the workshop unavailable to you, contact us and we can work out an amount for deposit/payment plan: 250-487-0737 or alexandra@alexandragoodall.com