Mindfulness

Family and Systemic Constellation Workshop

I am happy to offer family constellation days again at my studio near Mullumbimby.

We have been challenged with restrictions, isolation and different views during the pandemic which divided our families, friends and communities.
The floods followed, absolutely devastating, but it has been heart opening being part of rebuilding and experiencing our resilience and willingness to come together again as a community helping each other no matter what our opinions are. We learn that we as a community are greater than its separate parts as individuals.
I believe as we are facing further challenges through climate change and conflicts around the world we need to draw on our innate wisdom, knowing that we can only survive by connecting with each other.

Family and Systemic constellation groups are an invitation to embrace all views and ways of being and seeing the deeper contentedness with each other and the growing trust in a bigger field energy that supports us all..

It is knowing that we are all interconnected, that each individual healing is like dropping a pebble in a lake creating ripples which contribute to our ancestral and global healing so desperately needed.
With this in mind we contribute to everyone’s healing as we witness, represent or do our own constellation. We fundamentally all share the same wounding as human beings. The recognition of that opens us up to compassion and love.

For more information about Family and Systemic Constellations click here

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. -Dalai Lama

If this resonates with you I hope you can join me on:

Saturday 26th of November 9:30am-3:30pm
Contribution $80
Bring your own lunch.
Booking is essential 0421675474

Venue is 5 minutes outside of Mullumbimby. Exact address will be forwarded when you book.


Creative Arts Group

Reflect, Create and Connect

Come and spend a day to touch base with yourself through creativity and group support. Many people I talk to have been conditioned to think they are not creative or skilled enough to be so. These believes often date back to our childhood where we had negative messages given to us in this regard. Some of us have buried that creative spark somewhere deep inside since then. Most of us long to rediscover this part in some shape or form.

Here the good news! Absolutely no artistic skills are needed. You don’t need skills to be creative! Skills come to you naturally as you engage and find enjoyment in the process

What you do need is a curious open mind and a little courage and persistence to learn to move past the inner critic to free up your creative flow.

I offer a nonjudgmental environment where we can practice the art of creating with non-attachment to outcomes and the use of mistakes as spring boards to new discoveries.

The focus is on the process of creativity and self discovery and not on the end result.

The day will start with mindful grounding and followed by diving into your playful, creative process, prompted by loosening up exercises. We will include moments of reflections, which then will take you deeper into yourself and your painting process.

(Please note: This is not a therapy group but the process can bring up issues. So you do need to be in a stable life situation and have enough support to manage what may surface through these groups).

Saturdays 9:30am- 3:30pm. 

Cost: $95/ Cons. $85

Drawing Paper and glue’s, magazines, scissors provided. Bring your own acrylic paints and brushes (and special paper if you like).

(Open to expression of interest of once a month weekday group 10-1pm $55/Cons $45)

To get reminders and information about upcoming workshops join my email list on homepage

Facilitator : Claudia Gyr

MA Cerative Arts Therapy

The creative process can be a truly healing experience as we learn to trust our intuition and follow our spontaneous expression. This translates into all areas of our lives.

Family Constellation Groups

This work is based on the recognition that we all are part of a bigger field or force connecting us to each other and to our ancestors. It is also based on the recognition that there is an order in the system of where you belong and the responsibilities which come with that place.

Family Constellation work explores the systems we live in and the impact they have on our lives. It brings awareness to relational entanglements in intimate relationships, family, work place and to related health issues. This process supports experiential integration of unacknowledged parts of our systems and within ourselves which can lead to long lasting positive effects.

Family or Systems Constellation is not limited to explore family Systems but can be used to explore any life situation we like to find more clarity, integration and possible resolution.

Through directly experiencing the field energy in the group we learn to trust that all movement is essentially a movement towards healing and integration and that the power of intent, love, trust and curiosity is what supports this movement.

Testimonies:

‘Thank you so much Claudia, for your incredible facilitation and beautiful energy that you bring to this work. I have worked with so many healing modalities over the years, and genuinely walked away from that experience feeling more deeply impacted than with anything else I have experienced. It honestly felt as powerful for me as a plant medicine journey, without taking any substances. I felt so safe and held in your space and look forward to returning and diving deeper into this work, which feels truly life-  changing.’   Tori, Bodyworker

I recently attended Claudia’s Family Constellation workshop and have noticed many shifts already, especially in my relationship with my mother. I left the workshop feeling much lighter and filled with divine love and grace. I am so grateful for this transformational space and I gained so much from having my own constellation done, but also bearing witness and taking part in other people’s constellations. A deeply connecting and healing day for me. Thank you Claudia for holding the space with such tenderness, grace and wisdom.  Alexandra Sanders

“Claudia, thank you so much for your exceptional and intuitive facilitation. I feel blessed to witness and experience such powerful therapy.”  Caddie/Brisbane

Here an explanation about the “Knowing Field” which we work with in family constellation and what Rubert Sheldrake calls the Morphic Field.

For information about details, future dates, and bookings click here.

To book text or call Claudia on 0421675474

One Day Workshop about Cultivating your Compassiate Mind

The Power of Compassion: How to Manage Stress by Cultivating your Compassionate Mind

In 2 weeks time (June 19th), the University Centre for Rural Health North Coast is bringing Professor Paul Gilbert (UK)to Lismore run a one-day low-cost workshop for the general community, assisted by a friend of mine, James Benette-Levy.

Its a rare opportunity to see on the North Coast a founder of a significant psychotherapy (Compassion Focused Therapy). It’s possible that you at his evening talk 2 years ago when he drew 326 people to the Lismore Workers Club.

Next week, Paul is on a panel with the Dalai Lama at the Happiness and its Causes conference in Sydney. The North Coast workshops (there’s a 3 day workshop in Byron for therapists June 15-17 – see www.cbttraining.com.au) are his only other Australian events.

 If you want to see Paul’s Lismore evening talk from 2013, you can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GKVMILwzdY
The Lismore 1 day workshop is filling fast. If you are thinking of coming, I’d strongly advise registering in the next week to secure a place. The application form is attached, or you can find this and more information at www.cbttraining.com.au
Thanks to the various sponsors (Lismore Council, North Coast Medicare Local, Northern Rivers Social Development Council, Lightn Up and ourselves), lunch is also included. Its purposely low-cost to open to the community at large as part of the Compassionate Lismore project, and  a great deal at $90, or $60 concession.
They are keen to make it so that not just health and community sector professionals, but also members of the general public are aware of the opportunity, so please do let friends and clients know, if you think its something that might be of value for them.

Mindful Living

Mindfulness is a word we come across almost daily now and particularly in regards of mental health.
Brain research has shown that we can change our brain with our mind and it is evident that living mindfully has a very positive impact on many areas of our lives. It isn’t something new as Buddhism and other traditions have been using mindfulness as a daily practice for a very long time, but it finally has found a wider recognition in our society in playing a vital part towards our health and well-being.

Jon Kabat-Zinn defines Mindfulness as :
“The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non- judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.”

As I explore the gifts of mindfulness in my own life I notice that the joy of any experience lies within its presence or absence. For example: We all have our little morning routines. One of mine is to make myself a hot lemon drink. Obviously there are many ways I can go about it and experience this event.
I discovered that it is not so much what I do but how I do it. I can for example stumble into the kitchen grab the lemon and the cutting board whilst I run through the list of things I need to do. Whilst I am cutting the fruit I remember an incident from yesterday, a conversation I had. Then I look for the juicer, imagining how that person must feel like in their own life. As I pour the juice into the glass I remember to check my car into the mechanics. The kettle boiled and I pour the hot water in the cup together with the lemon juice. I grab my cup still thinking about the car and start worrying about the problems it may have as I wander back into my bedroom.
Now imagine the second version: I wake and have a good stretch, feeling the warmth and weight of my blanket, taking my time to connect with my body sensations.
Then I push off the blanket and feel the fresh air on my skin, roll out of my bed gently, placing my feet on the ground, feeling the smooth soft wood underneath them. As I walk into the kitchen I notice some stiffness in my joints though slowly easing off as I move. I grab a lemon feeling its nobly waxy skin in my hand. As I cut it the lemon smell evaporates into the air and little squirts of juice touch my hands. I boil the kettle. I am hearing the bubbly noise and the click to switch it off. Then as I poor the hot water I see the steam rising through the morning light. I grab my cup feeling the weight of it as I walk back into my bedroom.

I am sure you get a sense of what I am trying to say, nothing seems to bring joy if we are not doing it mindfully: aware of our senses and feeling. Most of us most of the time live in our heads. The simplicity of bringing the mind back to our senses brings us back to the present moment. This is available to us every single moment and the shift I notice is actually quite big, metaphorically speaking, from a small black and white box to an open colourful space. I feel that the whole world is opening up when I shift from the minds conceptions to an open mind of curiosity and wonder.

Now I don’t deny processes we need to think through as we inquire and investigate our lives, but we may find more joy and make change in our lives more easily with awareness and mindfulness.
Even negative thoughts and feelings, when met with an open, accepting mind dissipate more easily and quickly. The tricky thing is of course that we by default move in the opposite direction: which is to avoid, resist and distract ourselves from those unwanted thoughts and feelings. We keep busy with mental things, computers, entertainment and/or drugs so we don’t have to feel.
Unfortunately we throw out the bad feelings with the good ones and slowly become more numb, dull and disconnected. Enjoyment then becomes more and more something we believe we get through something outside ourselves. But it never satisfies us and so we become these hungry, restless ghosts looking always for more but never finding what we are looking for.
The good news is that there is a simple remedy for restlessness and unhappiness: to explore the simplicity of coming back to your senses and explore mindfulness in your life, little moments at a time. You may stumble and doubt the effectiveness at times but the more you practice the better it gets and you may even find it becomes addictive!
Blessings to you all.

Claudia M Gyr

Offering mindfulness based, body-centered Art Therapy

and sell personal shrine making kits (check out personal shrines page).

The Loving Brain – a free interview series by Dr. Rick Hanson

Dr. Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and is offering a free video interview series -  The Loving brain , he is offering through en*theos beginning July 15.

He will talk with major experts on relationships, including (in order) Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. and Helen Hunt, Ph.D., Tara Brach, Ph.D., Paul Gilbert, Ph.D., Geneen Roth, Paul Zak, Ph.D., Sara Gottfried, M.D., and Christine Carter, Ph.D. Then I’ll do a wrap-up focused on practical takeaways.

Starting July 15, for eight Mondays a new interview will be available and then archived so you can watch it any time you want, or go back and see interviews that you missed. These free offered interviews are full of warmth and down-to-earth practical help. You can download them – including just the audio portion if you want – to your computer to access any time you like.

This series explores useful ideas and tools that people can use in their relationships with friends, family, romantic partners, children, or co-workers – including in difficult situations. What happens in their relationships is the most important factor in long-term physical and mental health for most people, and this series is dedicated to providing effective help.

The topics we’ll cover include:

  • How experiences in childhood affect us today in our relationships
  • Ways to grow caring and self-compassion
  • Freeing oneself from unfair self-criticism
  • The neurochemistry of love, and how to work with it
  • How hormones and imbalances affect relationships
  • Improving relationships with children and co-parents
  • How relationships can change the brain for the better

http://www.entheos.com/conferences/The-Loving-Brain/Rick-Hanson

 

The difference between self-esteem and self-compassion

This is a beautiful presentation by Dr. Kristin Neff.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school in 1997 she became interested in Buddhism, and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically.

In addition to her pioneering research into self-compassion, she has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. The program, co-created with her colleague Chris Germer at Harvard University, is called Mindful Self-Compassion. Her book titled “Self-Compassion” was published by William Morrow in April, 2011.

Kristin was recently featured in the best-selling book and award-winning documentary called “The Horse Boy” which chronicles her family’s adventure with autism.

This is part of the bio found on Dr. Kirstin Neff’s website

The compassionate brain a free 7 part video Series

Hello,For Sounds True, I’m hosting a free 7-part video series with extraordinary guests – The Compassionate Brain– that will give you effective ways to change your brain and heart and life. So far over 25,000 people have signed up for this free series, and I hope you will join us – and help spread the word to others.The series began October 8, 2012, and runs on seven consecutive Monday nights, 8-9 pm Eastern time (GMT -4), through November 19. You can go back and watch the archived videos from previous interviews.

Each week, I’m interviewing a world-class scholar/teacher (in order): Richie Davidson, Dan Siegel, Tara Brach, Dachar Keltner, Kelly McGonigal, Kristin Neff, and Jean Houston – where they’ll discuss different ways to use the power of neuroplasticity – how the mind can change the brain to transform the mind – to open the heart, build courage, find compassion, forgive oneself and others, speak and act from both kindness and strength, and heal the world.

Here is a brief video in which I explain what this series is about:

Rick Hanson: Compassionate Brain: FREE video series
Rick Hanson: Compassionate Brain: FREE video series

You can watch live each Monday or see the archived videos anytime if you miss a session. These unique conversations with first-rate experts are freely offered – along with their  practical tools for cooperation, empathy, and kindness. (The series is particularly timely in light of a U.S. Presidential election occurring right in the middle of it.)

Our world has needs at different levels (economic, environmental, cultural, etc.) but the common factor in all of these is the human brain, whose ancient fight-or-flight circuits are dragging humanity toward if not over the brink. If more people and more brains – and thus more hearts and hands – turned toward compassion, that could make a real difference.

So I would really appreciate your support for this series. You could sign up for it yourself and – please – forward this email to tell others about it. It’s interesting, solid, practical, convenient, and free. And, one brain at a time, it might help nudge things in a better direction.

Wishing you the best,

Rick

A Personal Shrine, a unique Gift for Christmas

Having a personal home shrine is a reminder and focus of what really matters in our life. A daily ritual to burn an insence or put a flower helps you to keep that focus alive and encourages self reflection and moments of just being with yourself. Treat yourself to a personal shrine or give unique gift to a friend.
For more information and orders visit:

www.personalshrines.com

 

A Healing Journey exploring Shrine Making

For more information on Shrine Making visit www.personalshrines.com