‘Artist’s Way,’ All Over Again

Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, originally self-published in 1991, grew out of the failure of her first feature film as a director called God’s Will, which earned scathing reviews.It’s safe to say that Artist’s Way has fared a lot better, as Cameron harnessed ideas in creative personal development – based on the concept that inspiration is from and of a divine origin and influence, not born of the ego – that became a phenomenon and spawned support groups throughout the world, including quite a few here in town.

The book has never really faded from popularity over the intervening years, and received a shot in the arm via Cameron’s 25th anniversary edition. Case in point: This Friday, Lyza Fontana launches a four-week series in “Creative Self-Discovery” based on the Artist’s Way concepts. Fontana – a self-described Creativity Educator, Facilitator and Coach who is also a certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of NLP and a member of the Creativity Coaching Association – has condensed the course from its typical 12-week format via an interwoven blend of four modules each week to impart the principles and practices of Cameron’s course in four two-hour sessions including exploring guided visualization, journaling, artist dates nature walks and group sharing. The goal is to create a safe space within yourself to explore your creativity, awaken new possibilities for your life, and deepen the connection with your spirit and core energy.

The course, which takes place 3-5 pm on Friday July 12 to August 3, at Yoga Soup, costs $85 in advance, $95 day-of. Books are available onsite, and participants should bring a journal and pen to the first class.

The Healer Within

It’s been known for quite a while that the quality of our health is affected by what we ingest both physically and mentally. But it’s not always easy to figure out how to employ that information in creating optimal personal health. This three-hour workshop with Dr. Lynn Von Schneidau is meant to help illuminate the causes of any health symptoms by teaching people how to use their inherent wisdom as well as mental and emotional messages and cues. Ongoing stress, hormonal imbalances, joint pains, muscle aches, digestive issues and fatigue are specific issues addressed by the class.

Dr. Von Schneidau, who began her college career at UCSB, has been a primary care doctor and Naturopath in Washington State for 16 years, earned a Seattle Top Doctor award in 2014, and founded her company Pure Renewal in 2007. Participants in the hands-on interactive class at Yoga Soup, which takes place 3-5 pm on Saturday, July 13, will learn to identify symptoms, listen to internal messages, how to use homeopathic remedies, physical medicine, herbal remedies and other naturopathic tools for healing and self care to achieve balance, increased vitality and wellness in mind, body and soul. Admission is $35.

Dream On 

Pacifica Graduate Institute has been offering courses in Dream Tending for many years, but seems to be putting special attention on this weekend’s workshop, promoting the event heavily in area papers. The life practice employed by healers, storytellers and poets under many different names for thousands of years has been honed and developed by Dr. Stephen Aizenstat, Pacifica’s founder, who has built on the methods of association, amplification, and animation pioneered by Freud and Jung, and expanded upon by James Hillman and Marion Woodman. Participants in this three-day workshop will build practical skills grounded in traditional and emerging methods of dreamwork, learning to experience dreams in their living, embodied reality, via hosting and tending relationships with the living images of dreams to discover new ways of experiencing life and achieve better psychological and physical health.

Much more details about the three-day workshop taking place July 12-14 is available online on Pacifica’s website, or at https://dreamtending.com/events/summer-dream-tending-workshop, where you can also register for the event, which costs $95. Call (805) 969-3626.

Next Thursday, July 18, Pacifica throws open their doors for a rare open house at no cost. The 11 am to 3 pm event at the Ladera Lane Campus includes the opportunity to experience Pacifica’s unique interdisciplinary graduate degree programs through faculty-led, program-specific information sessions and presentations, plus connecting with Pacifica students and alumni about their experience and what they are doing with their degrees, and hearing a talk by Dr. Evans Lansing Smith on “Joseph Campbell and the Romance of the Grail,” an illustrated memoir of his travels in France with Campbell, with reflections on the comparative and interdisciplinary nature of Mythological Studies. Visitors will also be able to explore the grounds of both campuses, tour the Joseph Campbell Archives and Library, visit Pacifica’s Bookstores and Libraries and more. Call (805) 969-3626 or visit www.pacifica.edu.

Meditation Mini

Chris Kallmyer: Ensemble, the post-Fluxus-style multimedia interactive musical art installation at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art inherently incorporates contemplative space. As one of the periodic programmed events, Gael Belden, an educator with UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center at The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, leads a meditation and mindfulness experience at the exhibition at 10:30 am this Saturday, July 13. Belden has more than 30 years of mindfulness practice and teaching, and is the Director of UCLA/MARC’s Intensive Practice Program. Pre-registration required. Call (805) 963-4364 or www.sbma.net.