Cost: Recommended fee of £10/ 2 hour session. Can provide concessions if needed.
ARNAYO Session 1: 3rd November 2024; “Beginnings & The Inner Landscape”
We began by settling into a seated circle, where each participant introduced themselves and shared their intentions for attending the group. Together, we established the importance of group safety and confidentiality, fostering an environment of deep, nonjudgmental listening. Next, we transitioned to gentle mindfulness through movement, standing together and bringing awareness to areas of tension in the body. These tensions were explored as potential connections to long-held patterns of emotional processing.By linking movement with breath, we delved into the somatically held “body maps” shaped by a lifetime of experiences. Following this movement practice, we shifted our focus to art making, creatively expressing the “inner landscape.” Using the provided art materials, participants were encouraged to explore the emotions and thoughts that surfaced during the movement exercises. These creations were later shared within the group, offering opportunities for reflection and validation.
Drawing inspiration from Environment Arts Therapy and the Tree of Life by Ian Siddons Hegginworth and Wild Mercy by Mirabai Starr, selected quotes were read aloud to highlight the authors’ perspectives;
IAN SIDDONS HEGGINWORTH:
“The Celtic year follows the natural cycle of growth but does not begin in Spring when life returns. Neither does it begin in January when our calendars start afresh. The Celtic year begins in November when everything around us is dying, because this is when the trees drop their seeds and the cycle of growth begins again” (p.16).
“The affairs of the heart belong to the feminine, the feeling self, so they are hard to track in the rush and bustle of everyday life where the tracks go unseen and ignored and are trampled over time and time again. The pathfinder (within) takes us into still and quiet places.” (p.19)
“The very face of Nature is a mirror within which we find our heart revealed” . . . “Nature and the feeling self are one.” (p.19).
MIRABAI STARR:
“For women mystics, contemplative life is not so much a matter of transcending the illusions of mundane existence or attaining states of perfect equanimity as it is about becoming as fully present as possible to the realities of the human experience. In showing up for what is, no matter how pedestrian or tedious, how aggravating or shameful, the what is begins to reveal itself as imbued with holiness, how do we make space in our lives for for this kind of sacred seeing?” (p.11)
“A miraculous event unfolds when we throw the lead of our personal story into the transformative flames of creativity. Our hardship is transmuted into something golden. With that gold we heal ourselves and redeem the world. As with any spiritual practice, this creative alchemy requires a leap of faith. When we show up to make art, we need to first get still enough to hear what wants to be expressed through us, and then we need to step out of the way and let it. We must be willing to abide in a space of not knowing before we can settle into knowing.” (p.159)
ARNAYO Session 2: 1st December 2024; “Winter’s Descent & The Fire of the Heart Cave”
Once again, we began by settling into a seated circle, where each participant shared a part of themselves, reflecting on what they were bringing to the session and their intentions for this month’s gathering. Together, we nurtured an atmosphere of deep, nonjudgmental listening before transitioning to gentle mindful movements. This time, the movements were practiced on the floor, encouraging ease and connection with the physical form.
We focused on cultivating loving-kindness by connecting to the heart’s selfless energy, ever-present as it beats for us through day and night, summer and winter. Through deep listening to the heart, we synchronized its rhythm with each breath, exploring the value of rest and relaxation that winter offers. We reflected on the importance of surrendering to winter’s natural forces by practicing self-care, staying warm, and retreating into the “heart cave” — a place of protection, faith, and renewal.
After this movement practice, we shifted to art making, creatively expressing the concept of the “inner heart cave” as a sanctuary for rest, restoration, and healing when life feels overwhelming. Using the provided art materials, participants explored the emotions and thoughts evoked by the readings and movement exercises. These creations were later shared with the group, fostering opportunities for reflection, connection, and validation.
Drawing inspiration from Environment Arts Therapy and the Tree of Life by Ian Siddons Hegginworth and If Women Rose Rooted, The Journey to Authenticity and Belonging by Sharon Blackie, selected quotes were read aloud to highlight the authors’ perspectives.
IAN SIDDONS HEGGINWORTH:
“As the days grow short the shadows creep in. The blanket of leaves grows dark and lies like a shroud upon the cold body of the earth as she draws back her fluid into herself. Winter sucks the life out of the land with a harsh and oppressive hunger, and all that is soft and warm recoils in the face of her advance. The woodland creatures hibernate, sealing up their dens to salvage and sustain the heat in the heart of themselves. . . . We too are called upon to descend. Into stillness. Into the heat of ourselves. Into feeling. Yet so often we fear descent and struggle to resist it. We fear the death of what we know, the collapse of all that supports us. We fear the shadows that we meet there.” (p.30) and “. . . every winter, Nature surrenders painlessly to this descent. She follows the cycle of her own being back down into the heart of herself. Of all of the lessons she teaches us this is perhaps the most profound, that descent is not to be avoided but embraced. Entered into voluntarily it is a sweet release and the doorway to transformation. It is the death and dissolution of the caterpillar in the cocoon.” (p.31)
SHARON BLACKIE:
“Caves: portals to an entire unfathomable world which is hidden from our view. No wonder they are both feared and revered. Mythologies from around the world offer up stories of the magical, uncanny energy which can be found inside caves, and once they were important locations for ritual, ceremony and rites of initiation all across Europe” . . . Caves are the black, chasmal mouths of the Otherworld; the gateways to transformation – the deep and enduring transformations which are delivered from exposure to the darkest of places.” (p. 110)