I am offering several workshops, all are described below!
Spring, Summer Fall workshops:
1. My signature workshop is Mindful Art & Donkeys. It combines experiential time spent with the donkeys, nature, and mindfulness. It also includes engaging and accessible creativity projects that everyone can do!
2. Meet The Herd is an informative and experiential visit with the donkeys, no art-making, see below
Winter only:
1. Winter Wellness Workshops, 1 or 2 people in 3 protected spaces, donkeys + art-making
2. Mindful Art workshops and retreats happen several times a year and will be posted here.
My signature sessions
NEW! Mindful Art Workshops – Denman Island – dates TBA SOON!
For your creative heart, inspiring workshops celebrating both mindfulness and art making.
I am so excited about Mindful Art and I want to explain what this is. Mindfulness simply means being connected to the present moment, using our breath, attentive and aware, connected to our senses. It’s a practice that can alter our patterns of thought
For many, trying to meditate can be so difficult with thoughts keeping us locked in their grip, often repetitive and we feel stuck. We ruminate about the past, we agonize about the future, or maybe we’re thinking about what to have for dinner.
Maybe we just fall asleep! None of this feels helpful and nothing has shifted.
But here’s the thing — when we’re engaged in making, in creating, in connecting with our senses and when we can actively include breathing — this is the practice of Mindful Art!
And it’s brilliant! Why? Because through this we can regulate our nervous system, become grounded, enter a flow state, and allow ourselves the pleasure of being engaged in process. We can promote nonjudgmental awareness and feel empowered. Shifts can occur as learning and engagement happens.
This workshop is for 5 adults who are keen to engage, curious and interested in self-development Where: My art studio
Registration Fee: $80 per person by etransfer to mixedmedia@cynthiaminden.com
What’s included: tea, snacks and all art materials
What to bring: your lunch
Amenities here: warmth, camaraderie, fridge, filtered water, outhouse
Choose to explore your creative nature. Embrace the spectrum of possibilities with my gently facilitated offerings. These are accessible art projects that all can do. No experience is needed!
MEET THE HERD
Just want to hang out with donkeys? Join Cynthia Minden and four miniature donkeys for an hour long session all about donkeys!
Donkeys have been companion and working animals for eons. Indeed, there are depictions of donkeys on cave walls, numerous biblical references, even bones buried with nobility. Today donkeys are still essential workers to families and farms in many parts of the world.
Following the core values and concepts of Equine Facilitated Wellness, I will introduce you to these remarkable sentient beings. You’ll learn to appreciate how donkeys can help us to regulate our nervous system, to be more present and to appreciate the natural world.
In these gently facilitated sessions, we’ll discuss physiology, ethology, non-verbal communication, cues and body language and the unique attributes of these members of the equine family. Grooming, leading and intentional energy work may also be included.
As prey animals, donkeys are keenly aware of their surroundings, using all of their senses to perceive the world around them. We humans, as predators often take for granted these subtleties. Donkeys can teach us to reconnect.
Who is this for? Individuals or groups of up to six adults and teens aged 14 and older.
About your Facilitator: Cynthia Minden is an artist, educator, and donkey lover. She is a certified practitioner in equine facilitated wellness (Pro-EFW Canada) and a certified therapeutic arts practitioner (CiiAT). She is also a long-time student of positive reinforcement animal training.
Fees: Sessions for 1 – 2 people cost $60 total. Groups of 3-6 cost $90 total. Pre-registration is necessary by emailing: cynthia@cynthiamindenartsandequine.com
Winter Wellness Workshops
during the cold, wet weather, we’re still available for you!
Imagine this: you are in a charming art studio, warm fire in the wood stove, cup of tea. You are learning a new skill, perhaps it’s simple printmaking, the pages folded into tiny books, perhaps you are making a length of plied rope from long leaves harvested from the Fall garden. Maybe you are coming up with ideas for a daily practice, something that you can use to focus and get your creative thoughts flowing during the months ahead.
Later, you share space with four gentle and wise donkeys in the comfort of their sweet barn, learning their ways, allowing them to help you connect with yourself. And you sit in quiet contemplation up in the snug hay loft, perhaps with a poem or a tongue drum or a notebook.
These are three spaces, protected from blustery weather, where you can renew, breathe, and feel possible in these uncertain times.
Longer sessions for small groups and individuals are also available, weather permitting.
If you can get here through rain and wind and snow, we are here and offer Winter Wellness Workshops on Denman Island. 1.5 hours for individuals, age 16 and older.
$85.00 per person
Register: cynthia@cynthiamindenartsandequine.ca
