Art Becomes Therapy

28th Jan,2009- My first day at my ABT class. I was little curious and apprehensive about what is to be followed in the coming week. Yes ,our Workshop I was organized for a week. There our workshop was inaugurated by Sue Jennings,pioneer Drama therapist from UK.
All seven days that followed were full of activities like drawing,story telling,drumming,and of course theory part which about quantum physics!
It is not possible to describe what i have experienced there in one week as it was magnificent and magical.Though i can talk about few Aha moments....
In one of our sessions we created Healing Altars, a place of worship.All of us created it at different places.our group made a tree as our Healing Altar.All of us gathered around it prayed for us all and hugged the tree.In another Altar a group put up prayer Flags.We all stood in a circle around it and recited a prayer by holding hands. It ended with we hugging each other.I could feel the presence of divine power amongst us.
Whatever i write about my Teachers is less as i am too small to talk about them. I have never met such teacher ever. They were smiling ,making us comfortable,patient,gentle,encouraging,motivating and also trusting in our abilities.Their mere presence created a healing and comforting atmosphere.I have experienced that Learning is a joy.
Firs teacher i met there was Asha-first thing I noticed about her was her deep meditating eyes,her sharp voice and her command over her topic.Her narration was lucid and she has an amazing ability to make a topic like quantum physics simpler.
My next teacher i encountered was Anand-Oh my God!He is so full of energy,vitality and life....I wished to know the source of his endless energy,ease ,exuberance and a great sense of humour.'We all are made up energy' -this statement is so true in his case.The way he narrated stories....was so amazing and magical.I wished i could know the secret formula for narrating such stories.
And there was Deborah my drawing teacher. So gentle and creative. Her presence made me feel calm and relaxed.
Zubin is my music teacher.The sheer ease and love with which he plays an instrument is awesome. When i listen him play it gives me goose flesh. I was so apprehensive of him as he was so different from other teachers.He smiled often and corrected my drumming me so gently.Here I was trying to figure out what a Djembe means and how to strike it to create music and rhythm. He was guiding us and making drumming as simple as possible. His way of instruction has touched me the most as i never come across any teacher like him.But in fact it made me so uncomfortable while drumming as i was so used to teacher who scold and treat you as if you are dumb and here I experience totally novel approach.
Learning was a joy.4th Feb,09 my Workshop ended with an examination and load of assignment and a pilot project.
I came back from ABT workshop with lots of magical moments and a new avenue of love and healing which would equip me with necessary skills in becoming an instrument of change in healing people and self.The most importantly I met myself at the workshop.

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