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BIRTH ART WORKSHOPS |
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An active and gentle exploration using art, let unconscious thoughts and feelings rise to the surface, allowing for great resources and strengths to be discovered, as well as unveiling any obstacles and inhibitions that might prevent the woman from using them.
Birth Art is about the process, not what it ‘looks’ like ( just like birth )
Most participants in the workshops or classes have not done any painting or played with clays since they were at school, making it quite an unknown situation ( just like birth ).
Birth Art is messy, bold and colourful ( just like birth )
Birth Art is tender, soft and emotional ( just like birth )
There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way of doing it. It is about trusting and allowing the process to unfold ( just like birth ).
Participants share as little or as much as they want about the process ( no pressure ) and often find that just being with other women in the same situation, opens up possibilities for authentic support and friendship.
Pam England suggests in her book “ Birthing form within “ that it is important to notice how you approach making birth art because it is a metaphor for how you approach doing other things in your life, especially things you are unfamiliar with, such as birthing. Do you say, “ I don’t know how to do this “ and hesitate, or give up all together ( leaving art-making to the ‘artists’ ) ? Do you find yourself comparing and competing with the artwork of others ? Or can you be curious and say, “ let’s see what I can do ! ‘
Your art, like you labour, doesn’t have to be perfect.
Just give it your best effort. “
The Birth Art workshops for pregnant women / new mums are starting in Tunbridge Wells this spring, and are following the philosophy of the Birth Art Café TM created by Tamara Donn, a childbirth educator from Kings Langley. She herself was inspired by Pam England who is an international Childbirth Educator and Doula trainer.
For more information or to book a place on the workshops contact
Maya Morgan: maya@birthwise.uk.com or tel. 01892 784381
“Creativity is more important than knowledge “. Albert Einstein
Birth Art workshops - an entirely new concept in enriching your experience of Pregnancy, Birth and Motherhood.
- Weekly/ monthly café style workshops for pregnant women/ new mums.
- 11/2 - 2 hours of a still space in a busy world and time to reflect.
- Paint, draw, sculpt or just chat ( no pressure ).
- Increase confidence and trust in yourself.
- Move forward after a difficult birth.
- Enhance the bond with our baby/ child.
- Have fun and meet new friends
- Coffee & croissant, fruit and herb tea.
The modern woman today, when finding herself pregnant, often relies heavily on the skills that she has learned to use to get herself into a highly competitive and fast paced workforce: Be structured, be in control and think logically !
Armed with this kind of thinking she will understandably go looking for the kind of information and birth-preparation classes that will give her all the options and choices she thinks will guarantee a happy birth and an easy entry into motherhood.
Ignoring or overriding her underlying fears and worries with a huge amount of intellectual information, she can easily be let into having unrealistic expectations of how the birth will unfold, only to find herself totally bewildered by the powerful experience birth is, and by the unpredictability and sometimes even chaos that early mothering brings.
The most important question a pregnant woman should ask herself is: “What is it that I need to know to give birth ? “ . “What can I do to let myself trust and surrender to the process? “.
And the answer to those questions must be found within herself rather than an outside expert.
Having collected her modern knowledge, the one about knowing her facts and being savy about the medical and hospital culture, she needs to access her primordial knowledge. One, which modern women do have, but need to rediscover and trust.
The gentle explorative process of painting, sculpting or any other creative processes stimulate the primitive part (right side) of the brain which is the active part of the brain during labour. It allows a woman to move into a state of simply being – the way we are in labour.