WELLNESS 002
PROGRAM 002:
Harmonizing With The Mind And Body
Facilitated by: Michelle Nicholls
Presented by: ArtHaus + Unison Benevolent Fund
When: 4 Tuesdays — 7:00p-8:30p EST
Sept. 22, 2020
Sept. 29, 2020
Oct. 6, 2020
Oct. 13, 2020
Course Overview
Harmonizing With The Mind And Body
Given the increased feelings of anxiety, deep sadness, fear and anger during this time of revolution and global pandemic, there have been calls to explore racialized trauma, grief and joy and peace. How best can we hold these things at the same time? Black people (African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Canadian) have always found creative ways to move through difficult moments as a means of self-preservation and carving out space to create new narratives. Our ancestors knew that healing does not have to be done alone. But we also live with the trauma from our ancestors in our bodies. We hold their trauma but we also hold their resourcefulness.
The 4 week wellness series will be trauma-informed and grounded in Mindfulness. There will be elements of "homework" or including simple daily practices after each session, until we meet again.
Course Objectives
Program participants will increase their knowledge around trauma and the impact on the brain and body.
Program participants will identify and utilize mindfulness based skills for grounding and responding to difficult emotions.
Program participants will increase their capacity to support each other(their communities) in healing through discussions and participating in various practices.
Course Details
A 4 week virtual program focusing on mindful, collective healing practices, for racialized artists.
WEEK 1 - MENTAL WELLNESS AND RACIALIZED BODIES
Defining wellness
Why collective healing is important for individual healing
Exploring basic mindfulness practices and body-centred practices (mindfulness of breath, body, and sound - music)
WEEK 2 - OUR SOUL NERVE
Polyvagal theory
How using our senses can support well-being
Experiential body-centred practices
WEEK 3 - BEFRIENDING OUR THOUGHTS AND BODIES
Exploring "Imposter Syndrome", and other unhelpful thinking habits
Taking time to ruminate in a productive way
Experiential body-centred practices
Becoming an observer of the mind through mindfulness of thoughts
WEEK 4 - TAKE GOOD CARE
Collective sharing on self-healing practices
Exploring nourishing vs depleting activities and building new habits
Self-compassion practice
Resources for maintaining wellness
Facilitator
Michelle Nicholls is a registered social worker/psychotherapist whose practice is grounded in anti-oppression and anti-racist approaches. Michelle is a mindfulness meditation facilitator who co-leads True North Insight's BIPOC sangha, and provides workshops for organizations seeking to build community support through mindfulness. She has worked in community health centres for over 14 years and has currently moved into private practice, focusing on delivering services to BIPOC individuals and groups.
Michelle has always been passionate about how different art forms contribute to self-care, shaping perspectives, and reclaiming histories. After graduating from York University, she started writing for Mic Check Entertainment magazine, where she interviewed Jada Pinkett, Canadian DJs and local filmmakers, for the Black owned publication. In the early 2000s, Michelle and her friends started a small collective and pop-up style art gallery called Brickhouse which was located on the main floor of a home on Dupont Avenue, hosted musicians and visual artists in one space. While working in community health, Michelle ran a knitting drop in, and was the lead staff involved in the Community Storytelling Project where program participants created short digital stories about their journey to health with artists in residence. Michelle is excited about engaging with artists in exploring self-care, wellness and collective and individual healing.
You can find out more about Michelle's practice here.
OUR PARTNERS
Unison Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, registered charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. We are here to help professional music-makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties. The Unison Benevolent Fund is an assistance program – created and administered for the music community, by the music community – designed to provide discreet relief to music industry professionals in times of crisis.
You can find out more about Unison Benevolent Fund's initiatives here.