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Adventures with Lulu Dog & The Writing Life
Happy to share that my next Yoga & Writing workshop is scheduled for Sunday, December 1 at @yogaspiritbraggcreek 3-5pm — in the stunning wooden atrium — a magical studio not adequately captured in this photo! Thank you @mellindholm for all the support & opportunity to teach here 🤍
Description below, link in bio to register. Please reach out with any unanswered questions.
✨ Write & Restore — solstice edition ✨
As the days grow shorter and darker—and as we move toward winter (hibernal) solstice—the increasing stillness of the season invites us to reflect on our experience of the past twelve months and decide how we wish to close out the year.
Just as the bright leaves of autumn have begun their regenerative cycle into the soil, we too are beginning to burrow and take stock of our environments, external and internal.
The emotion most traditionally associated with late autumn is melancholy and for winter, fear. A creative antidote to grief, sadness and trepidation is to explore these feelings through a weave between specific writing prompts and meridian-based yoga postures designed to redirect unhelpful narratives to surprising new perspectives and to encourage flexibility of both body and mind.
This workshop is for anyone looking for a safe and comfortable space to explore the overlap between creative writing and (mostly yin/restorative) yoga —for anyone seeking an outlet to reconnect with the vitality of imagination and the power of storytelling.
While we won’t be sharing our writing during the workshop, participants are welcome to stay after the session for complimentary tea and optional conversation about creative process and craft, the benefits of an embodied writing practice, books, or other curiosities that arise.
Please arrive 15 minutes early. Wear comfortable exercise/yoga clothes and bring notebook and pen.
Capacity limited. Link in bio for full details & looking so forward to seeing those of you who wish to join!
‘Tis the season
From our treasured pool of ever-changing elements to yours, happy thanksgiving 🧡
G4 electromagnetic solar storm over Bragg Creek last night! The build-up of colour grew increasingly vivid between 10-11pm MST before launching into a wild dance of movement. Incredible.
10.10.24 — time stamp 10:24!
No albums or witty captions (yet) to encapsulate my busiest and most overwhelming summer in YEARS. While I procrastinate over words, inbox, decisions and the staggering chaos of my phone’s storage-crushing camera roll — a moment of proof that I also work from a desk. This is us. At our desk. Working. Thanks for the photo @maniakat 💕
Making tracks around Paris since late July & can’t get this song out of my head! If Lulu had a Fitbit her step count would break the device.
Fierce little wizard.
river sit solstice season is on with my pathfinder ✨
Writing life & adventures with Lulu the past few weeks 💚 May — always a relief to meet again.
Earth day, every day
“April is the cruellest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. Do we agree? Spring is such an interesting season 😉 🌱
A handful of spots left for anyone interested in joining meee — thank you always @yogasantosha + @writersguildab for hosting and supporting these sessions. And to those of you already registered!
The yoga portions will be (mostly) yin/restorative — for those wishing to flow before or after the session (or anytime!) consider joining @minakha at Noon or Tamara Terry @fieldofyoga at 4:00.
Both amazing classes/teachers! 💚
———
Posted @withregram • @writersguildab
Write & Restore, Spring Reset with Samantha Warwick
Sunday, April 28th, 1:30–3:30pm MT
Yoga Santosha,1800 4th Street SW Calgary
Small studio, in person (warm)
Springtime brings a shift and shove of new energy: renewal, purpose, inspiration, and drive! Interestingly, the emotion traditionally associated with spring is anger. If we imagine feisty buds and stalks pushing their mighty way from the dark ground toward sunlight, we may extrapolate from this metaphor that healthy force—processed with intention and curiosity—can help us move forward in alignment with our true purpose.
This workshop is an opportunity to explore our notions of purpose through expressive writing prompts, gentle (mostly yin) postures, and select readings. A space to sit with the present moment and consider the core beliefs that exist under the surface of our decisions, what our social or cultural environments deem purposeful, and how we may wish to redefine our idea of purpose. In this context, we will ask: how do we most wish to show up for ourselves and others this season?
Register online, link in bio!
My next yoga & writing workshop is on Sunday, April 28 where we will move into themes of spring — renewal, purpose, release and growth 🌸
Warmest thanks always to the wonderful folks @yogasantosha and @writersguildab for their collective support and the opportunity to continue growing — as a human and a teacher!
Full description below. Link in bio to register. Please reach out with any questions.
Posted @withregram • @writersguildab
Love yoga and writing? Join us at Write & Restore, Spring Reset with Samantha Warwick
Sunday, April 28th, 1:30pm to 3:30pm MDT
In-person at Yoga Santosha,1800 4th Street SW (2nd floor), Calgary
Springtime brings a shift and shove of new energy: renewal, purpose, inspiration, and drive! Interestingly, the emotion traditionally associated with spring is anger. If we imagine feisty buds and stalks pushing their mighty way from the dark ground toward sunlight, we may extrapolate from this metaphor that healthy force—processed with intention and curiosity—can help us move forward in alignment with our true purpose.
This workshop is an opportunity to explore our notions of purpose through expressive writing prompts, gentle (mostly yin) postures, and select readings. A space to sit with the present moment and consider the core beliefs that exist under the surface of our decisions, what our social or cultural environments deem purposeful, and how we may wish to redefine our idea of purpose. In this context, we will ask: how do we most wish to show up for ourselves and others this season?
before my chicxulub crater adventures feel too far away 😭 an album of moments…
> abandoned haciendas!
> swimming in caves
> 12+ meter ladder descent into secret cenote
> (windy) writing hub on the sands of Celestún
> tropical storms!
> Lulu’s third Mayan pyramid
> beloved barnacle / research assistant
> a dinner out!
> the sunsets, heartbreakers, wah
> dogs allowed, no hats!
slow to readjust after spending February on the road, tracking the half moon of cenotes, caves and coastal villages that mark the periphery of the Chicxulub impact crater (research trip) 💫
Intrepid Lulu — undaunted by all forms of travel, jungle off-roads, cave adventures, tropical storms, flying seed pods, power outages, new beds, resident frogs, new friends. Another (sigh) Mayan pyramid?
“If I must,” she says, surveying the ancient ruins of her empire from the summit.
—a somewhat existential and disorienting return to winter and domestic orbits, ever-functioning wifi (what’s this?), deadlines and appointments. But her smile — this one — keeps me going.
Indomitable spirit Lulu! ♥️
Album soon.
Full wolf moon in Lulu! 💛 🖤
Thank you for this beautiful gift @ejbaird3 and @matthewaequitus — looove it!
portrait by talented wizard @black.cat.creative 💫
Yoga & Writing Session this Friday! 💫 Theme: Winter (Blue January)
Friday, January 19 | 5:00 - 6:30p (warm, with music)
@yogasantosha Mission location, 1800 4th St. SW
Community partnership with @writersguildab
Capacity 16 or so 💫 Advance registration.
Link in bio!
Answers to some recent questions & elaborations on the inspiration behind these sessions 💫
Yes! Do consider this session a happy hour reset. Many of us benefit from an uplifting outlet in a warm (not hot or humid) studio to reset our minds and bodies, perhaps especially at the end of the week and during the coldest month of the year.
Imagination and creative writing are muscles that grow stronger from use in the same way our physical bodies benefit from movement.
The purpose is to harness embodied presence, creative flow and clarity — in writing and in life. The writing prompts are designed for those interested in developing craft and voice, as well as for those looking to broaden perspective to process emotion. Widening the aperture of our narratives and awareness is a practice!
Yoga sequences and postures are deliberately straightforward. Our intention is to create a warm, inspiring and uplifting atmosphere where all participants can enter a meditative state in both mind and body and leave feeling lighter.
Looking forward to seeing those of you who’ve registered! Please reach out directly with any unanswered questions, curiosities or for the WGA member or low-income promo code.
Which reminds me — mats are available to rent for $1 at the studio, parking is $2.50 in the parkade and please arrive 15 min early 💙
It’s okay to have mixed feelings on NYE 😝
Very excited to start teaching again in the new year beginning with this yoga/movement + writing workshop on Friday, January 19!
Warmest thanks to @writersguildab @yogasantosha @ashleyjjwhite @jadealexis.ca @lisartierney + to returning students for the encouragement and support as I continue to develop this concept ❤️
Posted @withregram • @writersguildab Calling all Calgary Writers!! We’re SO excited to bring you this workshop!
Blue January Yoga & Writing Workshop with Samantha Warwick.
Friday, January 19th, 2024
5:00pm – 6:30pm MST
Yoga Santosha (1800 4th Street SW (2nd floor) Calgary)
Mid-January is commonly believed to be a seasonal juncture of lowered resilience, when our intentions for the new year may begin to slip. To boost clarity, perspective and will, this session is an opportunity to breathe into our present moment and to weave between expressive writing prompts and gentle yoga sequences.
We’ll explore themes of attention, awareness and voice, seeking to uncover our most pressing questions and move toward a deeper understanding of what is occupying our minds the most.
The studio will be heated to a warm temperature to invite our imaginations and physical bodies to drop into a transportive sense of inspiration and release.
Bolsters and blocks will be provided to create comfortable sitting arrangements and writing surfaces. Wear comfortable exercise/yoga clothes and bring your notebook and pen.
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/2n8npfcd
Regular workshop price: $35
Price for WGA members: $25 (Promo code in WriteClick)
Email Ashley with any questions ashley.frerichs@writersguild.ab.ca
@writersguildab holiday party (yyc) — here with wizard program coordinator @ashleyjjwhite + executive director @giocsev ❤️
— & such poignant / animated readings by authors @marchlynch @kinikkin @lori_hahnel + @uche_peter_umez — a warm & lovely evening!
Thank you to the team @unitedforliteracy for inviting me to defend Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein for the 22nd annual @gillerlightbash in support of literacy education across Canada.
Warmest congratulations to all @gillerprize long & shortlisted authors & shout out to my brilliant friends @deborah.m.willis (Girlfriend on Mars) and @thatkevinchong (The Double Life of Benson Yu) 🫶
Congratulations to *all* writers harnessing the imagination and perseverance it takes to get their stories into world.
And thank you for listening to my fireside chat, providing I figure out how to repost this video 😆
Posted @withregram @gillerlightbash
Check out @sam_and_lulu_ defending our 5th and final @gillerprize shortlisted book, Study for Obedience by #sarahbernstein, published by @knopfca
#unitedforliteracy #gillerprize
#gillerlightbash
Still grinning into space one week after reuniting with author and friend Charlotte Gill @wordfest
It seems impossible that our lives have been intersecting for almost 20 years. So grateful for the time we were able to steal, holed up in a booth nursing a 64 oz carafe of coffee while circling the sun in much overdue conversation.
Charlotte’s new book, Almost Brown, is a thought-provoking, moving and unforgettable memoir that I will devote a separate post to when I resume weekly book content!
In the meantime — with an abundance of highlighted passages I love — I’ll close this post with a short quote drawn from one of many poignant sections:
“My true ethnic home is really no place at all. It’s a small island nation of the imagination that doesn’t exist on any map and not in geologic form. You can’t get there via any airport. You can only be born there by fateful accident. Half in and half out, formed from two worlds, belonging to both and neither.”