Medicinal Poetry Writing Workshop
Medicinal Poetry:
A Creative Modality for the Perinatal Period
Next Workshop: Becoming a Parent
Wednesday, May 12th 6-8pm PST
Becoming a parent is a potent journey of transformation. In the whirl of focusing on the child’s needs, the emotional and creative unfolding of the parents are often missed. Noticing, archiving, and creating art from the rich experiences of an emerging parent can support the mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the entire family.
Workshop Facilitator
Niema Lightseed, (she/her/hers), healing artist, teacher, poet, and priestess of the new paradigm dedicated to inviting personal and collective transformation through embodiment education, language, art, and ritual. Born in the ancestral homelands of the Potawatomie, Chippewa and Ottawa people in what is currently named Chicago, Illinois, Niema now calls Portland home. An artist since childhood (BFA Theatre
Performance, Roosevelt University, 2002) and a healing professional since 2004 (Hatha Yoga Teaching, Temple of Kriya Yoga, 2004; Massage Therapy, East West College of the Healing Arts, 2017), she writes and performs medicinal poetry, offers therapeutic bodywork and creativity coaching, teaches about the role of somatic awareness in the liberation process, creates community ceremonies, explores the relationship between gravity and social justice, and seeks the marrow of life through a variety of meditative and creative disciplines. She has partnered with Souldust, Awake at Work, and the Portland Underground Graduate School to offer equity and anti-oppression training. As a fat Black woman navigating the intersection of multiple forms of oppression while determinedly seeking the joy that is our true nature and living as art, she strives to create brave spaces where the structures we have inherited can be transmuted and the work of seeing, accepting, and celebrating the fullness of the human experience is possible.
Why Writing as a Perinatal Wellness Modality?
Expressive writing, especially following a stressful event, can be used as a way to decrease stress about the event. Honor your transition to parenthood (whether you are about to give birth or you're 10 years postpartum!) by using the Medicinal Poetry technique to reflect, celebrate, and understand this human rite of passage .
Nurturely Journal
Expression and reflection is one of the strongest parenting tools you can have. All participants will be sent this beautiful soft, faux-leather embossed journal to motivate continued revisiting of the medicinal poetry technique long after the workshop is over.
