A HOLDING SPACE
An online Somatic meditation circle
A month-long container of practice and remembrance
4 x live sessions on Sundays ~ April 5, 12, 19 & 26
4-6pm Australian EST
8-10am Central Europe
US$260
You’re invited to join us live and online for the month of April as we enter into guided somatic meditation and embodiment, transpersonal art processes and ritual led by Lara, and held in the field of love with one another.
The calls will be approximately 2-hours in length with integration exercises and journal prompts offered throughout the weeks in between.
You will also get access to the Art of Being Online Studio throughout the length of the course.
Welcome, friends on the path, into this online container devoted to curiosity and compassion as we prepare to gather in circle, to meet ourselves, and one another, with openness authenticity & kindness.
I am inspired to offer this month-long meditation holding environment to support your practices of somatic attunement and remembering, cultivating a truly loving inner refuge.
To realise body-based meditation as a returning home into the rawness and realness of our humanness, a rewiring of the brain and nervous system towards integration and holistic healing.
Over the month, throughout the 4 x live calls and reflection processes in between, we’ll explore how to use mindful awareness and embodied presence to navigate strong emotions, soothe a restless bodymind, and bring ancient teachings of spiritual awakening into the fleshiness of everyday life.
I want to share my passion for the ‘bottom-up’ approach to meditation as it is rooted in sensory aliveness and finding rest in naturalness. Not bypassing, but embracing the fullness of our range as we meet ourselves in moment-to-moment real-time awareness, together.
For 4 consecutive weeks, beginning on April 6, we will enter into this open-hearted, nurturing online holding space, a sanctuary amidst this busy modern world where each week we can gather in the spirit of soul friendship and inquiry, to slow down, and turn inwards.
The live sessions will be an exploration of guided body-based meditation as we train somatic interoception, followed by intuitive integration exercises including movement, journaling and art therapy.
We will journey both individually and collectively, incorporating space for sharing and receiving from the relational field of sitting in circle, albeit across the oceans and ether.
Throughout the month, we’ll explore:
Mindfulness as a ‘mind full of nowness’ and playing with the notion of bodyfullness (or body fullness)
Learning the art of interoception and tracking bodily sensations as portals into presence
The art of ‘Starting Where We Are’, and how awakening is always Now
Letting go of ‘perfection’ and allowing ourselves to be ‘divinely messy’
Disentangling bodily sensations from our stories about them
Why allowing ourselves to rest is so difficult – breaking our addiction to busyness
Finding the courage to take steps into the uncomfortable places
Why we have to stop ‘trying’ to be peaceful, in order to find peace
Surrendering to our inability to surrender…. And finding true surrender!
The importance of a daily self-attunement and compassion practice and why this is so important when it comes to deep transformation and healing
Realising the role of art and creative soul expression as integrating tools for the bodymind and bridging psyche, soma and soul
(Read more about transpersonal art therapy and some of the techniques we’ll be using)
4 x live zoom journeys on Sundays ~ April 5, 12, 19 & 26
4pm - 6pm Australian EST
8am - 10am Central Europe
See timezone converter to check what time it will be in your location
US$260
The zoom calls will be around 2 hours long and are best participated live to be able to make the most out of the offering.
However if you cannot make every session, the sessions will be recorded and sent to you for the replay to do in your own time.
You will also get access to the Art of Being Online Studio throughout the length of the course.
(For friends in the US, I will be offering new dates later in the year to work with your timezone)
TESTIMONIALS
The month-long online meditation container facilitated by the Lara was beautiful and powerful.
I looked forward to each session every Sunday over the 4 weeks. What resonated with me is Lara's facilitation allowed me to surface and process emotions in a completely new way.
This was a combination of the guided meditation, which was different each week and focused on how we are feeling and connecting with ourselves - physically and emotionally - this beautiful introspection and embodied approach and the integration through journalling, drawing and clay.
The day after each session, I felt renewed and at times emotional, but feeling I could work through these emotions as it meant I was working through what came up for me during the session.
As a result, I feel stronger and lighter, and in awe of having a facilitator who teaches their students how to self-heal through these embodied containers.
~ Theresa Lloyd Jenkinds, Tasmania, Australia
This journey with Lara has been, as always, a magic and poetic path towards myself. Thanks to the support of her voice and her gentle presence, of her imagery landscapes and her suggestions.
I could dive into my depth with security and bring light to whatever grief or emotion was ready to emerge to my awareness, thanks to her beautiful meditations. And my soul, my whole being would gather to create a releasing art work, full of my own colours, my own imagination landscapes, my own story with a new perspective, thé soothing and healing one.
Thank you so much Lara for this wonderful creative process.
~ Manon Verdier, Lausanne Switzerland
Lara held a container for truth to be expressed by guiding me to connect inwardly through my body, mind, and inner creative self.
The somatic nature of the online retreat went into exploring held tension and stories that are stored in the mind-body. Lara held space so eloquently and passionately, to explore the light and shadows of The Self, to understand what it is our body is communicating from our soul.
It was guided in such a way that felt non-intrusive, safe, and healing. I began to trust myself and my intuitive body to release anything that wasn't meant to keep me and baby well and safe and connect to my intuitive knowing.
A few weeks later our baby girl arrived at home healthy and safely, by her daddy, I felt held by the divine, just as I had felt in the retreat. It was an incredible process to prepare for birthing…”
~ Terri Berkasis, Sydney, Australia