Find Your Voice Narrative Arts Workshop at Woodstock Sanctuary
“The entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.” (Rumi)
In Defense of Animals and Compassion Arts present Find Your Voice, Live Your Heart: Narrative Healing Arts Retreat - an inspiring program for people who care deeply about animals, this transformative retreat consists of two day-long workshops on Oct 5th & 6th at two sanctuaries in upstate New York. Workshops can be taken separately as a single program for one day, or together as a retreat weekend. Workshop space is limited and the registration deadline is 10/3/19 by 5pm at www.idausa.org/healingartsretreat.
FIND YOUR VOICE: Saturday, October 5th (9am-8pm) at Woodstock Sanctuary
Our FIND YOUR VOICE narrative arts day on Saturday, October 5th (9am-8pm) will be held at Woodstock Sanctuary, a safe haven for rescued farm animals in High Falls, NY. Sponsored by Compassion Arts*, the FIND YOUR VOICE program includes an all-day true storytelling workshop by TMI Project, sanctuary tour, vegan meals, and music by storyteller/songwriter EC Lorick* to end the day. FIND YOUR VOICE is for people devoted to animals, to give voice to personal stories and experiences with animals who’ve touched their lives.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
New studies show that true storytelling and story writing about personal experiences can be both healing and empowering. Everyone has a “TMI” story they’ve always wanted to share but felt they couldn’t or shouldn’t. In this TMI Project true storytelling workshop, participants will be guided through exercises designed to help explore personal experiences in a new light by writing about them, boldly. The TMI Project workshop invites participants to find the story they most need to tell, feel supported telling it in a safe space, be guided to tell it in a way that ensures they will be heard powerfully, release shame and stigma, clear space for new perspectives, and fully embrace their power.
WORKSHOP LEADERS
MICAH BLUMENTHAL: In addition to leading TMI Project workshops, Micah serves as the manager at GWI’s (Good Works Institute) Greenhouse Kingston, a yoga teacher at Mudita, and creator of DAY 1 (a New Year’s Day community event). He is on the board of Wild Earth (a non-profit Wilderness School), Radio Kingston, The Center for Creative Education, and O+ (a nonprofit health and wellness festival for artists and creators).
SETH DAVIS BRANITZ: In addition to leading TMI Project workshops, Seth Davis Branitz is a storyteller, singer and songwriter, and acclaimed plant-based chef. He has produced four albums and his essays have been published in the Weeklings and Longreads magazines. He writes about his experiences with mental illness, addiction, fatherhood, and loss. He has won multiple Moth Story Slams and has done readings from Brooklyn to Boston.
ABOUT TMI PROJECT
TMI PROJECT is a Hudson Valley-based nonprofit transmedia organization that offers transformative true storytelling workshops and live storytelling performances that invite storytellers and audience members to explore new perspectives. Regardless of background or experience, TMI Project storytellers become agents of change for social justice movement building by bravely and candidly sharing the “too much information” parts of their stories, the parts often left out because of shame or embarrassment. Since 2010, TMI Project has led approximately 90 true storytelling workshops and staged live storytelling performances by more than 1,750 storytellers, which have been presented to audiences of nearly 50,000 people in schools, colleges, prisons, mental health clinics, theaters, community centers, and the United Nations. For more information visit www.tmiproject.org
ABOUT THE MUSIC
*EC Lorick is a distinctive and soulful contemporary folk musician and storytelling songwriter based in New York. His poignant, haunting, and deeply moving personal songs about animals, the earth, holistic non-violence, and social justice, reflect on the lives we perceive as “other”, and quietly compel and inspire us to examine our relationship with those we share the planet with.
To register for this workshop: www.idausa.org/healingartsretreat
ABOUT WOODSTOCK SANCTUARY
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary rescues farmed animals to give them care and sanctuary, to connect animals with people, to advance veganism, and to advocate for animal rights in alliance with other social justice movements. The Sanctuary welcomes visitors to come and meet animals who are most commonly exploited, abused, and killed in animal agriculture. Animal residents are given lifelong sanctuary and are treated with respect as individuals. Through giving farmed animals the chance to live their lives with dignity and by sharing their stories, the Sanctuary advocates for veganism and aim to reduce suffering for all. To learn more visit www.woodstocksanctuary.org.
Please note: Companion animals are not allowed at the Sanctuary (registered service animals are allowed by law).
EVENT CO-PARTNER ORGANIZATION
We wish to extend our special thanks to our co-partnering organization, IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS, for their support in co-sponsoring this narrative healing arts retreat event with us and most especially, for their important work for animals for three decades, worldwide.
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi. For more information: IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS, 3010 Kerner Blvd, San Rafael, CA 94901 (415- 448-0048) www.idausa.org
SPECIAL NOTE:
ANIMAL STORY
FIND YOUR VOICE participants will be offered an opportunity in the weeks following the workshop, to share or contribute their stories from the 10/5 TMI Project true storytelling workshop for a staged reading performance program, ANIMAL STORY , to be presented by Compassion Arts on Nov 1st and Nov 2nd at The Wild Project Theater in NYC, as the closing event for this year’s Compassion Arts Festival.
The ANIMAL STORY staged reading will be hosted by animal advocate and composer/musician and multimedia performing artist Michael Harren and directed by Emerie Snyder. For more information on this program, see ANIMAL STORY event listing for details and tickets.