Mark your calendar for an important workshop: Flowing With Fear Sunday, October 21, 2018 3:00 PM  – 5:00 PM • 889 Community 889 Yonge Street • $100 + hst $90 + hst for 889 members Book Now Is Fear a presence in your life? Does Fear keep you from living a full life? This is an essential workshop if fear and anxiety are interfering with your life and you are seeking ways to cope.  For many people, fear inhibits life. When we feel fear, we attempt to keep ourselves safe, and yet the cost is that we may not be experiencing our full potential. Fear, panic, dread and anxiety may manifest as a result of trauma. Trauma may be understood as a person’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual responses to an event or conditions that are deeply distressing and disturbing. We all have experienced some trauma in our lives. Traumas may include serious illnesses, abandonment, witnessing physical violence, getting into a car accident etc. Fear and anxiety may show up frequently in your life if you grew up in an unsafe environment. Fear is a daunting emotion to experience, and as human beings, we all deal with difficult emotions – it is part of the human experience. When we encounter fear we often contract; we can immobilize. This is natural and understandable – we are attempting to protect ourselves. Sometimes we fight or lash out to defend ourselves and sometimes we run away. We can develop an aversion to fear and may self medicate with alcohol, drugs, food, sex and screens. I continue to encounter fear and observe it and I have worked with many people who have learned to compassionately flow with fear. I consciously turn to practices that support me when I need them. I believe in, and research strongly supports, the importance of working with the body to heal. It is important to calm down the body’s physical response to perceived danger and threat. The content of this workshop comes from my own lived experience, the teachings I have received in yoga, mindfulness and relational somatic psychotherapy, and the incredible experience I have gathered from my courageous clients. This workshop is experiential in nature. You will talk, move, breathe and meditate to learn about and shift your relationship with fear. Yoga is an ancient system designed to address human suffering and to address it both in the mind and body where it resides. “Usually, we think that brave people have NO Fear. The truth is that they are intimate with Fear.”  — Pema Chodron Participants Can Expect To: Notice and track fear as it shows up in the body e.g., observe sensations Learn about the nervous system Identify patterns that emerge in response to fear eg., freezing Explore practices that will affect the nervous system e.g., grounding, breathing Build capacity to be with difficult feelings through practice and patience * * * It is not possible to recover in isolation. We all need connection, support and teachings. My intention for offering this workshop is to share what has been helpful in my life and to offer a safe space to explore and learn. Please join me. Register soon as space is limited. No previous yoga experience is required.