Embodied Mark Making & Journaling
are exquisite sparks for ALL creative forms.
(spontaneous drawing by Tim Phebus)
Embodied Mark Making & Journaling make space for
both MATTER and SPIRIT to be expressed.
Before learning to form letters, symbols and images, we all began making marks. Whether with a stick in the soil, splashing in water, using a crayon on paper, dragging a seashell in the sand—we made unbound marks directly from our Creative HEART Space. Unbound marks remain alive in us and connect us to all forms of expression. The following unbound marks were made by 4-year old Ashton while connecting and responding to a wild violet.
(marks by Ashton)
At Creative School for Integration, we begin creative sessions with breathing, quiet wakefulness, holding the tension of opposites through connective mark-making, and most importantly exploring the Creative HEART Space. These practices slow us down so we can feel our CONNECTION to the eco-system of creativity that is always available.
Our Creative HEART Space is a deeply nourishing place to lead from as as well as a place to return to for ANY & ALL situations. What emerges from the Creative HEART Space is in direct response to each participant's unique experiences—as is.
During sessions sometimes participants choose to explore the continuum of Creative Rest, Creative Flow and Creative Action. All this taps into the parts of us that are not influenced by pre-determined constructs, judgment, self-judgment, overculture or imposed shame.
Embodied Mark Making & Journaling are like the connective tissue in our bodies, providing reciprocity between porous fluidity and structure. Responses through Embodied Mark Making & Journaling are explored with nature, medicinal plants, hand-held nature objects, creative materials of choice—and/or body movement.
(by Kata Frederick)
Embodied Mark Making & Journaling also have the potential to activate the Creative HEART Space in any part of body and expand it large enough to encompass the whole body and the field around the body. This supports integrated embodiment as well as creativity.
(ink work by Ray)
At the HEART of it ALL, Embodied Mark Making & Journaling
are catalysts for ALL creative forms.
At Creative School for Integration we honor and are inspired by many sacred traditions and by many innovative trail blazers. We dive deeper into this on our membership site and in our Creative Sessions—nonetheless, click below to read a bit about the core beliefs and trail blazers that support what we are up to.
Betty Edwards; a North-American art teacher who is now 98-years old wrote her globally acclaimed Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain in 1979. In this book, Edwards focused on the creative capacity of the right hemisphere of the human brain to SEE what unfolds each moment via light, matter and shadow. In her book, she also commented on how creative people describe connection, timelessness, a lack of anxiety and a sense of close attention to shapes, spaces and forms when said shapes, spaces and forms remain nameless. For example, instead of instructing her students to draw a "hand," Edwards would coach the student to let go of what the "hand" was called and instead have the student simply draw the shapes and spaces that made up its form.
In addition to Edwards' research of the brain's intuitive right hemisphere, at Creative School for Integration we ALSO acknowledge that there are neural cells in our heart and gut. AND that the vagus nerve, the longest nerve in our body, conveys information from our brain to most organs in our body and vice versa. This means we have an integrated body and mind—or Bodymind as supported by the ground breaking research of, Dr. Candace Pert who passed away at the age of 67 in 2013.
Dr. Pert's book, Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine explains the biochemical connection of our Bodymind and provides the opportunity to heal the separation of the Spirit and the Flesh that was concretized by the 17th century French philosopher René Descartes and other dudes going back to Plato (428—347 BCE). One might say the philosophical separation of the body from the soul was a strategy to make people feel "less than" and thus need an ordained intermediary to provide a valid connection to one's own soul or higher power. At Creative School for Integration each participant explores connection in their own unique way while releasing self-judgment and re-learning to trust their intuition.
Dr. Pert's findings also support that we are ALL made from ONE Ecosystem that originated with Starstuff. Deepak Chopra MD a supporter of Dr. Pert says that our bodies are Starstuff that came from pure consciousness, a field of infinite possibility and creativity—and that this is what we return to.
Edwards, Pert and Chopra help us reclaim what we already know deep in the cellular wisdom of our bodies—Matter and Spirit are NOT separate. We can CHOOSE to trust our creative responses to the the natural world in ALL of its Macro and Micro magnificence.
Unsure how to step in?
Receive FOUR Consecutive Weeks of FREE Sessions on Zoom and via our Library.
We have a 45-minute Creative Spark session on Mondays at 7:30p ET and a 90-minute Creative Wisdom session on Thursdays at 7:30p ET.
Four consecutive weeks of sessions will support you to experience the cumulative benefits of our practice. All you need to bring is your curious heart and something to make marks with and a notebook or journal.
Sessions run twice a week for the exception of holidays and observances noted via our calendar and email notifications.
Session recordings are available for those who cannot make it live. Everyone participates in their own way.