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Mindfulness Through Creativity
Tap into your creativity to discover the principles of mindfulness.
This unique 10-week program offers a path to 'undo' and 'unlearn,' promoting openness, intuition, and presence through gentle movement, art, and writing. Using creative expression, meditation techniques, and insights from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Polyvagal Theory, you'll cultivate resilience, well-being, and a mindful practice for life. By emphasizing the importance of the creative process rather than the finished product, this program is open to all and does not require any prior writing or art experience.
Introduction:
The mind is the most complex phenomenon in the known Arriving in this space, we are invited to slow down and witness life spreading out. Taking a moment to orient ourselves, we look around, rooted in spacious awareness, and notice the firm support of the ground beneath our feet, recognizing our deep connection with the land. Mindfulness is the energy we generate when we bring our mind back to our body and become aware of what is happening in the present moment. Becoming mindful of our breathing, we return to our body with curiosity and openness, accepting everything from our observations, and becoming loving awareness.
In this mindful state, there is nothing to do, nothing to strive for, no destination to seek, and no identity to uphold. Mindful art becomes a sacred portal to the present moment, a doorway through which we can embrace whatever unfolds within or around us with a beginner's mind. It is an opportunity to respond to the world with grace and surrender to its flow.
Session Structure:
Theme & Intention: Set the focus for your exploration.
Meditation: Find grounding and presence.
Movement: Embody your mindfulness.
Creative Expression: Explore through art-making.
Journaling: Capture your insights.
Sharing (Optional): Connect with others.
Closing Meditation: Integrate your experience.
Who can attend?
This program welcomes everyone, regardless of skill level. Explore movement, art, and journaling to deepen your awareness and mindfulness practice. No prior experience is needed – just the desire to explore and connect with yourself.
Payment, Refunds & Cancellations:
Payment
- The $625 fee includes art materials and a journal.
- Payment is due upon acceptance into the program.
Cancellations
- Full refund if the program is canceled by Maria.
- Full refund (minus $50 fee) if you cancel with at least 5 business days' notice.
- No refunds for cancellations with less than 5 business days' notice.
Exchanges
- Exchanges Full tuition credit for future programs if you cancel with at least 5 business days' notice.
- Tuition credit (minus $50 fee) for future programs if you cancel with less than 5 business days' notice.
- No exchanges after the program begins.
Maria Teresa Hernandez
Maria Teresa is a Registered Canadian Art Therapist and member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. She has been an artist for 40 years. Maria practiced at the YWCA Toronto for 11 years, facilitating art therapy groups for women who had experienced violence and for women who suffered from mental health challenges, using dialogue, expressive arts therapy interventions, mindfulness, and body-based awareness practices. Maria has been a supervisor for Art Therapy students from TATI (Toronto Art Therapy Institute) and the CREATE Institute (Centre for Expressive Arts Therapy Education). She is a faculty member at TATI, where she teaches the course Mindfulness & Art Therapy at the TATI Graduate Level Diploma. Mindfulness and the therapeutic use of the arts are becoming critical tools in psychotherapy, trauma-informed practice, and social transformation as a path for healing. In her private practice, Maria Teresa has created and offered the Mindfulness Through Creativity Program through the Mindfulness Centre in Oakville, Ontario.
Maria Teresa earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the National University of Mexico UNAM and a BA in Graphic Design at the Metropolitan University UAM, Mexico. In 2011, she completed the Graduate Diploma Program in Art Therapy at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute. She is a certified Yoga teacher and has been studying and practicing mindfulness at The Mindfulness Centre for almost 20 years, including mindfulness in all her art therapy groups. Maria Teresa is a level 1 Sensorimotor Psychotherapy graduate at the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. She assisted in the level 1 Training Program in the same Institute. In 2020, she completed the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training. She also completed the Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga – Level 1 and Level 2 courses with Dr. Arielle Schwartz & Dr. Stephen Porges.
Maria Teresa has participated nationally and internationally in more than 21 solo art shows including three museums in Mexico: La Tallera National Institute of Fine Arts, Casa Trotsky, and Casa del Poeta. Her solo show “Transient Illuminations: Where Light Breaks Through the Fractures” at Propeller is going to open in June 2024. She has participated as well in numerous group shows. Since 2011 she has been a member of the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts in the Queen Street West Gallery District, Toronto, Ontario.
Maria Teresa’s vision:
The practice of mindfulness has profoundly influenced Maria Teresa's personal life and professional work, both as an artist and as an art therapist. She considers the artistic process to be both creative and mindful. It requires shifting attention non-judgmentally to what is present in the moment, allowing the flow of experience to move through the pencil as a channel for expression in imagery.
Attuned to the subtle rhythms of her body and the gentle dance of breath within, Maria Teresa finds solace in the unwavering support of the ground beneath her, akin to the ever-shifting sands of the beach underfoot with each passing wave. Amidst uncertainty and impermanence, she discovers peace in the fluidity of existence, where everything unfolds in its own time and place.
Maria Teresa believes that the creative process does not arise from the accumulation of information or the learning of theories but emerges from the peeling away of layers that have enclosed it. With each stroke of the brush on paper, it's as if a scar is removed from the spirit, unveiling and uncovering. Like alchemists manipulating their materials, artists encounter not only the transformation of their artwork but also that of themselves.
You can reach her at her website
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