Off the shelf workshops:
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Workshop series description
Would you like to be able to handle complex situations with more ease and confidence? Just because life is complex doesn’t mean things need to feel complicated. In a scientific sense, a complex system is any system where there are multiple interacting elements that all affect each other and all interact simultaneously. Think of an economy, a traffic network, a family, an ecosystem or even the dynamics at a party. Animate Arts offers a series of interactive workshops which help you to access your intuitive ways of knowing in complex situations. We work with embodied, arts-based methodologies as well as meditative practices, often with a little theory of complex systems science to round things off. There is an emphasis on playful practice – play being such a natural way to explore complex dynamics.
Humans have evolved in a complex world. On a deep, pre-conscious level, you intuitively understand complexity better than you think. However, you have probably been trained to use your rational, analytical mind above all else to make sense of the world. Complex systems often defy this kind of analysis. In these sessions you will be invited to play with other ways of paying attention and interpreting what is going on around you. You will be invited to develop all of your ways of knowing as you learn how to tap into some of the embodied wisdom that your rational mind doesn’t always notice.
Further, we will also be developing your skills in ‘being present’. Complex dynamics are often inherently unpredictable (even intuitively), so we will explore together how you can stay connected to what is going on around you so you can better stay with a situation as it unfolds. With unpredictable dynamics the ability to be present and to improvise can take you a long way.
Your guide, Sophia van Ruth
Sophia has an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College in the UK. This is where she learned about complex systems science. During her time at the College she noticed how much her shiatsu training and her InterPlay experience was helping her make sense of complexity.
Sophia is a certified InterPlay facilitator since 2007 and uses both the InterPlay practices and philosophy in her workshops. InterPlay works with improvised voice, movement and story in an system designed to make people feel safe to experiment, express, connect and play together.
Sophia is also a shiatsu therapist and has practised and taught for many years in the discipline of Zen Shiatsu. Shiatsu therapists are trained to be systems thinkers as they are always seeking to understand all the relationships between the different aspects of a person and their context. The aim is to build a picture of the pattern of health and illness of a client. Some of the diagnostic methods of shiatsu are also direct and sense based, enabling the therapist to use not only systems thinking, but also systems sensing in formulating a diagnosis.
Finally, Sophia worked for 10 years in Australia as a community engagement consultant where she helped design and facilitate large scale collaborative design and decision making processes. Genuinely involving communities in a participatory democratic process is deeply complex work! This experience has given Sophia a wealth of first hand knowledge of how to work effectively with the complexities of such a process in the real world. Further, this experience has given Sophia processes to harvest and priorities the insights that come out of the more embodied practices.
Who is this work for?
Sophia was motivated to develop this work in response to what she perceived as a lack of breadth in the different ways of knowing that we cultivate in our educational institutions. She noted a dominance of ‘linear’ analytical methodologies which are not always helpful in dealing with complex situations. Accordingly she loves to work within educational programs.
Almost all situations in the real world are complex and hence this training can theoretically be applicable to all fields. However, these workshops are most applicable to people are going to be working in real world situations where the way forward is not always clear. They are also highly applicable to people who will be working in collaborative environments (such as intentional communities, transition initiatives, holarchies or with collaborative decision making processes). If you or your organisation are interested in these workshops please feel welcome to make contact with Sophia via the ‘contacts’ link above.
In addition to working with organisations, Sophia also offers occasional courses for the general public. These are usually one day workshops or short intensives. If you wish to go on the mailing list for these events click here.
What do these sessions look like?
There are a number of ‘off the shelf’ workshops available in this series. Click on a workshop below to be taken to a fuller description.
Off the shelf workshops:
the alternative think tank – tap the wisdom of the unconscious
reclaiming the playful – engaging play as a professional tool
embodied enquiry sessions – small group sessions around a theme or issue
complexity literacy – learning to see from an emergent perspective
the art of perception – exploring your intuitive capacities
The image below is from a ‘prezi’ presentation which summarises the subject matter that is available in this workshop series. If the standard workshops do not meet your needs, individual workshops can be tailor made to suit your situation.
Click here to visit the prezi presentation
Click here to view a selection of the handouts that go with these workshops
Animate Arts supports local currencies. In the Netherlands 50% payment for these workshops can be made in DAM, a local currency based in Rotterdam.
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