Yhonet is passionate about bringing people back into their creative expression. Her project Creative Journey is a container for healing through the therapeutic arts. Falling in Love with your Creative Self
Would you like to explore your creative energy more in depth? Would you like to keep a regular creative practice to enhance your self-expression? Creative Journey is about using the Creative Ar
ts to enhance your well-being and mental health. It’s about self-love. It’s about connection. It’s about giving yourself time and space to be creative. It’s about finding a way for expressing yourself, either by writing, painting, singing or dancing. It’s about sharing with others on a deeper level. It’s about enjoying! It’s about connecting with your inner child and exploring being crafty and messy. It’s all about you! Why ‘Falling in love with your Creative Self’? This sentence represents how being creative it’s a gateway to develop self-love, self-confidence and enhancing your happiness. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’ pyramid, the “Self-Actualization”, located at the top of the pyramid, is the “desire to become the most that one can be”. This need is fulfilled if attributes like “morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts” are developed. These are the type of skills that you will be exploring and developing on my workshops. About my workshops:
Creative Writing/Journaling:
This is the main tool I offer. From my own experience, writing on my journals since I was 11, it’s what has given me a way to know myself better. Expressing feelings is very therapeutic, and reading back what you wrote a few weeks, months or even years ago, can show you how you’ve overcome difficult moments in your life and how you’ve grown as an individual. Why not mixing writing with art as a way to express feelings, emotions, desires, dreams or simply to achieve relaxation? You don’t know what to write about? You think you’re “not good at drawing, painting” or that you’re “not artistic” at all? That’s not true, and I’m here to show you otherwise. On my Creative Journaling workshops you will be given prompts that will aid your creative expression. We will start the session with 10 mins of guided meditation and creative visualisation. The idea will express itself through you. All you need is to hold a pen/brush/paint/pictures/etc... endless resources that will be given to you, as all the materials will be provided. You’re still not sure what materials should be used? don’t worry, I’ll provide some suggestions and this will surely make the process easier and fun. Not only that. You will make your own journal and will take it home with you. The workshops are just a space where you’re giving yourself the time to be creative. Taking back home the journal that you made, will give you something to motivate you to keep your practice. When you run out of pages you won’t need to buy new expensive journals anymore, because you can make it yourself! (I’m all about DIY attitude). You will also have a skill that you can share with friends and family (kids love it). Music and movement:
I not only love writing but I also love singing, playing the guitar and moving my hips. This is the best way I have found to realign my centre and express myself. I write my own songs and sometimes I perform them in open mics or small events. I believe we all have something to say and it’s important to give voice to our deepest thoughts, desires and worries. Singing is one of the most powerful tools I’ve encountered to heal myself. It helps to strengthen your inmmune system (as you release stress and tension), it helps you to sleep better (again, you let it all out, so you leave all your worries outside your bed). It’s a natural antidepressant, you always feel happy when you sing (or you sing because you’re happy?), amongst many other benefits. In my workshops you can learn how to write songs or to sing beautiful harmonies. Group singing has been proven to be extremely beneficial for emotional wellbeing, as it strengthens a sense of belonging and togetherness. Plus, it sounds beautiful. Listening to music can take you to deep states of relaxation or can get you to move your hips wildly, which will expand and open your heart and will keep you connected to the present moment. Dancing and moving helps you to release tension and generate more endorphins. I provide with different activities based on Laban’s movement analysis, to explore therapeutic dance. Express yourself through free dancing and explore rhythm, playfulness and group connection. Meditation and Creative Visualisation:
My daily practice of meditation provides me with confidence to guide others into finding an internal space of quietness and relaxation of the mind. Your breath will be the key that will open the door to the present moment and will guide you towards stillness. We will also be using creative visualisation (letting our imagination free) to visualise and explore the prompts I will give you to express yourself, either by writing, painting, singing or dancing. My workshops are for everyone. I usually run workshops for adults, but kids and young people are also welcome. There’s no discrimination against gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, disabilities or marital status. ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE IS WELCOME. I organise specific workshops for kids and young people, that I can take to schools and youth clubs as well. Please get in touch if you would like to organise this. About me:
I finished my FdA training in Creative Arts Therapies in 2018. Since then, I’ve been running workshops, facilitating the creative arts as a therapeutic way to enhance well-being and mental health. I facilitated two 8-week workshops for the staff at City of Bristol College. 6-week workshop for young people at OFF THE RECORD, and various taster sessions at St Werbughs and Easton Arts Trail 2019 and Buddhafield Festival 2019. I sing, play the guitar and write my own songs, which I perform in open mics and small events. I love to keep a regular practice of creative writing and poetry and write in my journal most days. Meditation and yoga are part of my daily routine, which enhances my creative expression and mental health. I currently work in City of Bristol College, supporting young people in their learning, by encouraging independence, self-trust, building resilience and improving peer relationships. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to participate in one of my workshops or if you’d like us to collaborate together in creative activities.
