Community of Practice – June Recap

Northwest Narrative Medicine’s June Community of Practice was led by Cassandra Sagan, a Portland Interplay instructor. This workshop was joy filled and thoughtful.

Nine of us “played” with Interplay forms and ex-forms around the theme of Narrative Medicine. Through vocalization, movement and dance we explored a theory about the basic cellular and body movements and then worked together in pairs. Creating stories around made up medical words brought lots of laughter.

Getting out of our chairs and moving around the room in forms and shapes freed and energized our creative juices.  In the middle of the workshop, one participant exclaimed: “I feel such joy!”

After the movement exercises, we listed our joys to each other in pairs, and then something we each felt a burden for. However; this was softened with the invocation of fruit names rather than real personal details. (Try it! It works!)

Our last assignment was a 20-minute write, in which we were challenged to find a thread or connection of joy even in the midst of our personal burden. We ended by sharing what we discovered through our writing, in a way that maintained our intimately creative and safe community.

Don’t miss our next Community of Practice on July 17th.  Niki Steckler will facilitate Listening and Story Sharing as Practices for Radical Self-Care. Learn more!