Tending to the Tenderness

Tending to the Tenderness

At this time when so many are feeling a bit raw and tender from the circumstances of life, the state of the world, and the fast-approaching holiday season, we invite you to join us as we tune into the body, tend to the tender parts and deepen our relationship to self.

In this 3 hour workshop we will learn to:

• Explore the liminal space between wakefulness and sleep through the restful and restorative practice of yoga nidra
• Tune in and engage in compassionate dialogue with self
• Utilize our creativity to explore dreams and memory
• Tend to the body through subtle, gentle, and intuitive movement
• Discover the ways that our creative expression can reveal inner wisdom

Accessibility:

This workshop will be offered online to keep it as physically accessible as possible.

This workshop has no ASL; however, live captions can be turned on.

This workshop will not be recorded. 

Sliding scale pricing is available.

How to Prepare:

• Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that feels easy to move in
• Consider making your space comfortable by lighting a candle, having snacks, water or tea within reach, or having a sweater or blanket handy.
• You may wish to practice from a yoga mat with supportive props such as pillows or blocks, but the practices can also done from a chair.
• You may wish to have a journal, blank paper, or lined paper to doodle or write on.
• Have writing tools available, such as a pen or pencil; Any art supplies that inspire you, such as colourful pens, pencil crayons or crayons.

About the facilitators:

Mercedes Baines (MA, RCC, CCC, CAC) (she/her) is a psychotherapist and consultant in private practice - Mind In Body. She identifies as a multi-racial, fat-bodied, queer-adjacent, cis-gendered woman who is a trauma survivor and lives with chronic illness. She was a theatre artist for over 2 two decades before she became a somatic psychotherapist. Her work in the performing arts, her training in somatic trauma healing and Adlerian Therapy,   influences her approach to psychotherapy and her understanding of the healing process.

Mercedes understands that the embodied experience is central to deepening self-awareness, healing and insight. Through interweaving elements of theatre and somatic practices, experiential groups are form for self-expression, personal exploration, healing, and strengthening connections. Through the use of breath work, body awareness, movement, voice, writing and expressive exercises, she invites folks to deepen their understanding of their life experiences, and use creativity to envision change, elicit insight, and nurture radical acceptance and compassion.

Her areas of practice include: body image; trauma; living with a life-altering (chronic)/life-threatening illness; disordered eating; depression; anxiety; grief and loss; identity; sexuality and issues related to race and culture.

Website: https://mindinbody.ca

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Kendra Coupland (she/her) is a meditation/mindfulness coach, yoga grandmaster and multi-disciplinary artist of mixed Caribbean and Romani-Hungarian heritage. As a survivor of sexual violence, Kendra brings a compassionate, trauma-informed, and intersectional framework to her practice. Her work strives to create safer spaces for people who experience marginalization to practice self-liberation, and she is whole-heartedly dedicated to building communities of loving kindness and care.

Website: https://KendraCoupland.com