Intuitive Painting
“But I’m not creative! I don’t know how to paint or draw!”
– Anonymous (said by many)
Imagine my surprise after saying these words to discover that painting from intuition would become one of the primary avenues for growing more deeply into my spirituality.
The beauty of this intuitive painting process is that anyone can do it. In fact, we were all BORN to be creative and to make art. And to express ourselves creatively with paint. You don’t need to have what the dominant culture defines as talent to benefit greatly from this unique approach to painting. This process can offer anyone who is curious or courageous enough a way to connect with the deep authentic part of you that is just waiting patiently for the invitation to express itself fully.
Intuitive painting (also called Process Painting), is a method of creative expression that emphasizes your connection to what you are feeling emotionally and also encourages you to listen to messages from your body. Chris Zydel, my intuitive art teacher, calls this way of painting meditation with a paintbrush, which speaks to how this can also be a powerful spiritual practice.
Many people live with very little awareness of how they feel and how their unconscious energy influences their responses to life and relationships. Intuitive painting encourages us, through the mysterious magic of paint on paper, to become more awake to some of those deeply embedded and often repressed psychological systems that contribute to a sense of frustration and unhappiness in our lives.
When most people think of art, they think of the talent, technique and refined skill that is often required in order to produce a pleasing creation for themselves or something that will be appreciated by others. Intuitive painting, however, requires no prior training or technical expertise. You can be a total beginner at making art and still get an amazing experience of inner freedom, juicy aliveness and creative flow through this practice. But it is also incredibly beneficial for people who have gone to art school or who have some art training because it helps to free those people from the art school shackles that keep them from trusting in their own unique, creative voice.
No matter what kind of experience you already have with art, this process just requires your willingness to take the risk to try something new! Painting from your real self develops your intuition, strengthens your relationship to your right brain and opens a pathway to the river of your soul that is continually flowing through the hidden depths of your inner world.
Imagine what it would be like to feel totally free to play and express yourself, without judging or analyzing yourself or your art. Through the intuitive painting process you can practice giving yourself permission to let go and give up control. This practice also allows you to set yourself free from worrying about living up to outside expectations and approval by others.
We use inexpensive paints and paper to support you in returning to that place of childlike wonder which enhances your experience of being fully alive and greatly improves your day to day quality of joyful living.
When a commitment is made to this powerful spiritual art practice you can more easily move beyond stuck life patterns and entrenched habits of thought that no longer serve you or others. By challenging your limiting beliefs around life and art you can more fully contribute to creating the positive changes you wish to see made manifest in the world.
Emilie Collins received a Master Facilitator of Intuitive Painting and The Expressive Arts Certificate from Chris Zydel, MA of Creative Juices Arts via the Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program in 2009. She continues using this powerful process in her own personal creative practice and offers the intuitive painting experience to individuals and groups.
“Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
– Pablo Picasso
SoulCollage®
“When the soul wishes to experience something,
she throws an image of the experience out before her
and enters into her own image.”
– Meister Eckhart
SoulCollage® is a creative collage process, which entails intuitively collecting images from magazines, photographs and art books and cutting and pasting these images to 5”x8” cards. The magic of this process comes when the person making the card is encouraged to allow the images on the card to speak to them. And through listening to those images often discovering some profound truth about themselves. As more cards are gathered, a deck of the person’s authentic wisdom is created. This personal visual journal may be used to gain multiple perspectives on life questions, help in making decisions and reveal deep insights from the soul. The various cards the person creates can give them a fresh understanding of the relationship between their personality parts, their family/community, and the larger world. The cards are also a portal to the inner landscape of their dreams, personal symbols and unique archetypal influences.
SoulCollage® was founded by Seena Frost (1932-2016) in the late 1980s. Seena was a Jungian Analyst, a Marriage and Family therapist and held Master degrees in psychology and theology. Seena has been a teacher and inspiration for the SoulCollage® community which has grown into a worldwide paradigm changing organization, World of SoulCollage®. Her book, SoulCollage® Evolving, describes the process and principles behind working with groups and individuals.
For more information go to soulcollage.com
Holotropic Breathwork
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart.
Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”
– Carl Jung
There have been many forms of breathwork practiced for religious and healing purposes since the dawn of human history and many continue to be utilized to this day for therapeutic, relaxation and meditative benefits. Holotropic Breathwork (HBW), is a powerful, experiential approach to self exploration and self empowerment. In this form of breathwork, consciousness is changed through the practice of faster breathing, evocative music, and energy releasing bodywork.
This journey of breathwork often leads the participant into altered states of consciousness in which the breather may experience aspects of themselves related to their personal biography (events having actually happened in your lifetime), perinatal healing (related to experiences around birth) and/or transpersonal experiences that are comprised of ancestral, racial, collective and evolutionary memories as well as karmic patterns and archetypal dynamics.
Holotropic, derived from the Greek words holos, meaning “wholeness”, and treipin, meaning “moving toward”, translates to “Moving Toward Wholeness”. The basic belief in holotropic philosophy is that symptoms of emotional and psychosomatic disorders represent the organisms attempt to release itself from old traumatic imprints and to engage in the desire to heal itself.
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Emilie Collins
