langston

Finding the Red Thread: Creativity, Passion, and the Dance of the Feminine

 “On foot I had to walk through the solar systems, before I found the first thread of my red dress. Already, I sense myself. Somewhere in space hangs my heart, sparks fly from it, shaking the air, to other reckless hearts.”   ~ Edith Södergran

In childhood we know what we love and long for. Our hunger for life is passionate and fierce. Through the years we lose the vivid certainty of what it is we love the most, what thrills our heart and senses, what brings us ecstasy and joy. We spend our lives yearning to reclaim the pure passion that ignites our bodies and souls, inspires our creativity, and brings us fully alive.

Come and join the circle of reckless hearts as we gather in Einsiedeln to celebrate the red thread of our creativity and passion for life. Through movement and writing, breath, sound and song, dreamwork and active imagination – we will write, dance, and sing our way back to the vibrant red thread at the heart of our existence.

Pack your suitcase, journal, and dancing skirt for the journey of a lifetime. Our schedule will allow time and spaciousness to wander through the streets of Einsiedeln with your notebook (or with other reckless hearts!) and stop at the Café Tulipan for afternoon cappuccino and apple strudel or poppy seed cake. Come discover what awaits you in Einsiedeln – in both outer and inner worlds.

Prerequisite
This program is open to anyone who has done a previous program with one of the instructors or by telephone consultation. If you are interested in participating please contact us by email or telephone.

Dates:
October 11 (Monday) 6 pm – October 19, 2021 (Tuesday) 10 am

Participants should plan to arrive in Einsiedeln on Monday, October 11 in time for the Welcome dinner at 6 pm. Our workshop will begin at 7:30 pm. A detailed schedule of the week will be sent to all registrants.

Our final session will take place the evening of Monday, October 18th. Breakfast the next morning is included in the fee. Participants can plan to depart Einsiedeln on October 19th. Information regarding travel from Zürich airport will be sent to registered participants.

BodyDreaming® and “The Handless Maiden”: An Online Zoom Series of 4 Experiential Workshops

This workshop will be offered online through Zoom – the link will be provided once you have signed up.

We have been offering BodyDreaming® and the Handless Maiden as a workshop for the past 3 years in Ireland, each year focusing on a particular section of the tale. Although we have been working sequentially through the tale, each workshop is independent of the other.

As in prior years, we will concentrate on one part of the tale throughout the online series, exploring the motifs and themes in depth.

Drawing on the fruits of our exploration we will examine any parallels with the unique circumstances of our time: lock down, isolation, physical distancing, social unrest and economic turmoil.

What, during this pandemic and lock down time, are the comparisons in our individual stories to the “Handless Maiden”?

How might this tale which mirrors an “entire life experience”, sustain and inspire us in this time of uncertainty, fear, and courage, guiding us to embrace new possibilities?

BodyDreaming® focuses on supporting the nervous system which impacts the immune system directly. When we strengthen our practices to deal with overwhelm, isolation, trauma and grief and use tools that support greater resilience, ease and flow, we are more present to the Self-regulatory aspect of our dreams and of the collective psyche at this time.

Dates: Saturdays; October 10, 17, 24 and 31st, 2020, 4-7 pm GMT (UK time)

The Handless Maiden – A BodyDreaming™ Ongoing Professional Development Module

“Only a girl like this can know
what’s happened to you.
If she were here she would
reach out her arms towards
you now, and touch you
with her absent hands
and you would feel nothing,
but you would be touched all the same.”
~ Margaret Atwood

 

“The Handless Maiden offers material for a woman’s entire life process, and covers a many- years-long journey. It is about women’s initiation through the rite of endurance, meaning to harden, to make sturdy, to make robust, to strengthen. Endurance means we are making something substantial.”      ~ C. Pinkola-Estes

 

What is it to be a woman today? What is it that is coming into consciousness individually and collectively at this time of great change? What are the values that we cherish? How do we embody this new consciousness? How might we find our own robust and sturdy action in a world which is crying out for the touch of the feminine?

This workshop offers the opportunity to explore these questions through the story “The Handless Maiden”, as well as through play, embodiment, art, discussion and BodyDreaming™.

BodyDreaming™ is a way of working with dreams and images that tracks the pathways in the body where the energy of the dream is held. It invites us into the place of healing between body and dream/image, where old traumas, symptoms and complexes hold fast in the neural pathways of the body. When supported, the body may be ready to release this blocked energy and be restored to its inherent organic wisdom. Image and impulse align with greater ease and fluidity and we can feel the ground of our sensing body interweaving with our dreaming psyche, which opens us to a connection with the living earth, in a mutual participation.

Finding the Red Thread: Creativity, Passion, and the Dance of the Feminine

 “On foot I had to walk through the solar systems, before I found the first thread of my red dress. Already, I sense myself. Somewhere in space hangs my heart, sparks fly from it, shaking the air, to other reckless hearts.”   ~ Edith Södergran

In childhood we know what we love and long for. Our hunger for life is passionate and fierce. Through the years we lose the vivid certainty of what it is we love the most, what thrills our heart and senses, what brings us ecstasy and joy. We spend our lives yearning to reclaim the pure passion that ignites our bodies and souls, inspires our creativity, and brings us fully alive.

Come and join the circle of reckless hearts as we gather in Einsiedeln to celebrate the red thread of our creativity and passion for life. Through movement and writing, breath, sound and song, dreamwork and active imagination – we will write, dance, and sing our way back to the vibrant red thread at the heart of our existence.

Pack your suitcase, journal, and dancing skirt for the journey of a lifetime. Our schedule will allow time and spaciousness to wander through the streets of Einsiedeln with your notebook (or with other reckless hearts!) and stop at the Café Tulipan for afternoon cappuccino and apple strudel or poppy seed cake. Come discover what awaits you in Einsiedeln – in both outer and inner worlds.

Prerequisite
This program is open to anyone who has done a previous program with one of the instructors or by telephone consultation. If you are interested in participating please contact us by email or telephone.

Dates:
April 24, 2019 (Wednesday) 6 pm – May 2, 2018 (Thursday) 10 am

Participants should plan to arrive in Einsiedeln on April 24th in time for the Welcome dinner at 6 pm. Our workshop will begin at 7:30 pm. A detailed schedule of the week will be sent to all registrants.

Our final session will take place the evening of Wednesday, May 1st. Breakfast the next morning is included in the fee. Participants can plan to depart Einsiedeln on May 2nd. Information regarding travel from Zürich Airport will be sent to registered participants.

The Handless Maiden – A BodyDreaming™ Ongoing Professional Development Module


“The Handless Maiden offers material for a woman’s entire life process, and covers a many- years-long journey. It is about women’s initiation through the rite of endurance, meaning to harden, to make sturdy, to make robust, to strengthen. Endurance means we are making something substantial.”  ~ C. Pinkola-Estes

 

What is it to be a woman today? What is it that is coming into consciousness individually and collectively at this time of great change? What are the values that we cherish? How do we embody this new consciousness? How mght we find our own robust and sturdy action in a world which is crying out for the touch of the feminine?

This workshop offers the opportunity to explore these questions through the story “The Handless Maiden”, as well as through play embodiment, discussion and BodyDreaming™.

BodyDreaming™ is a way of working with dreams and images that tracks the pathways in the body where the energy of the dream is held. It invites us into the place of healing between body and dream, where old traumas, symptoms and complexes hold fast in the neural pathways of the body. When supported, the body may be ready to release this blocked energy and be restored to its inherent organic wisdom. Image and impulse align with greatere ease and fluidity and we can feel the ground of our sensing body interweaving with psyche, recovering our connection with the living earth in a mutual participation.

Sheila Langston

Sheila Langston, BFA, is presently completing analyst training in Switzerland. She works with individual clients in Vancouver, and leads study groups and dream groups there. She has taught numerous intensives, workshops and seminars internationally for more than a decade. With creative roots in theatre and dance, Sheila has over 30 years experience as a voice instructor and coach in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Myth and dreams, creativity and the expressions of the soul are the cornerstones of her work and of her life.