Heather Emanuel (Danso), GCFP, LMT
  • Home
    • Buy a Gift Certificate
  • Feldenkrais classes and more
    • Feldenkrais classes >
      • Recorded Classes
    • Feldenkrais Sessions
    • Sessions for children
    • Feldenkrais Advanced Training
    • Modalities
    • Winter Retreat
    • Heather's Art >
      • Joy Collection
      • Other Works
      • Concordance Exhibit - Heather Danso: WindDanceMotion.com
      • Facets Heather Danso
  • Blog
  • About
    • The Feldenkrais Method
    • Contact

Joy and love, in the full knowledge of the discouraging truth of the world.

7/10/2016

0 Comments

 
A friend of mine said to me (something like), "You are working with Joy! It is so wonderful to see that, of all the things you could work with, you choose joy." This is absolutely what I do--I had no idea until he said it (thanks, Tom).  All the paintings I have done are joyful in someway, either through the process of discovering the person I am painting, or through the expression of the person in the photographs, or through my playfulness as I create the underlying abstracts that are the structure behind each painting.

And, this morning, a woman came into Miller School of Art to see the paintings of many different people and age groups arranged, mindfully, all together--and she began to cry. And I know (because she told me) that the shootings of officers, the tremendous amount of violence towards Black, Latino, Women, Gay, and all the groups that become the scapegoats for hate in our society--this is the root of her grief. My grief. Our grief. Our great, societal loss.

And that this stems from the way we have systemically deprived parts of our population of what they need to thrive, I know that too.

And I am so grateful that in my work there was joy, togetherness, reflection of the beauty that is possible, and of love. That is perhaps the job of this work--to give joy, to show joy, to offer some brightness and ways of seeing ourselves that we are not able to see reflected in the tragedy/celebrity focused media, in the often ridiculous, horrifying, discouraging realities facing us moment by moment. 

And for me, working with joy and love is my source for healing amidst the difficulties I have with the reality of what is happening with my son, with the realities of what is the truth of the daily lives of many of my students (I am teaching summer LA credit retrieval in Highline School District to impoverished--mainly minority--students). It may seem rather too little to late for us to stand aghast at the horrors that could await them daily (police shootings being perhaps the most extreme). After all, have they not been facing the realities of poverty, racism, and the realities of the associated behaviors--sometimes violent--that indicate (incorrectly) that they are not valuable? And the truth, of course, is that they can be targeted at any time, regardless of their intelligence, kindness, skills, or ability to engage in problem solving discourse--the skills I hope to help them practice through language arts. Irregardless of this discouraging fact, I hope that by engaging in critical thinking skills, these students will have a better chance to take care of their end of any situation they meet--through the way they speak, think, listen, and problem solve. I am hopeful, but to be hopeful requires both an acknowledgment of the odds stacked against us, and yet a willingness to be vulnerable in the face of those obstacles and try anyway. I ask them to do this--to try, in the face of every time they have failed in the past, every time they learned that there was no point to trying except to be faced with failure, to try just incase it could be different this time. I ask this also of myself.

So, there is a dream in the act of creating art, of stepping into each day, of teaching yoga, of doing anything really. The dream is that on some level what each of us does matters, that merely by changing our perspective in the moment, choosing to focus on joy and love, not as a distraction, but in the full knowledge of our discouragement--that can make a difference. 

Thank you all for your support and encouragement every time I have put my work out for you to see. I am grateful, and hope to cheer you on in your efforts to put forth beauty, truth, and love into the world!

Heather
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Picture
    Heather Emanuel, is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Method® Practitioner, Assistant Trainer, LMT, and Awareness Through Movement® facilitator. She also teaches Restorative Yoga. Free and subscription classes also are on PATREON.
    ​ 
    As an artist, she has won accolades for her playful portraits. These days, she's pouring her creativity into her Feldenkrais work. Just as her art explores expression, playfulness, identity, and the possible, so do her movement sessions.  Her art CV is here.

    ​
    Recorded classes on Patreon for free or a small subscription.

    Archives

    February 2025
    November 2024
    August 2024
    January 2024
    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    Back Ease
    Free Class
    Headache Ease
    Movement Video
    Neck Ease
    Referrals
    Spring 2023
    Walking
    Workshops

    RSS Feed

    Contact Me
Heather Emanuel, GCFPSchedule Appointment
Webdesign: Heather Emanuel, Seattle

Heather EMANUEL, GCFP, LMT
NPI# 1427623271
Washington State Massage License MA# 61167672


Emanuel Therapies, PLLC
heather (at) PATHWAYHEALINGARTS.COM

​​© Heather Emanuel 2022
​​
All content of this website is protected by federal copyright laws and may not be copied or used in any way without permission.
The following are service marks, trademarks, collective, or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America in the US:  Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Functional Integration®, FI®, Awareness Through Movement®, ATM®

Contact Heather

    Learn about upcoming events, and more!

Yes, please!
  • Home
    • Buy a Gift Certificate
  • Feldenkrais classes and more
    • Feldenkrais classes >
      • Recorded Classes
    • Feldenkrais Sessions
    • Sessions for children
    • Feldenkrais Advanced Training
    • Modalities
    • Winter Retreat
    • Heather's Art >
      • Joy Collection
      • Other Works
      • Concordance Exhibit - Heather Danso: WindDanceMotion.com
      • Facets Heather Danso
  • Blog
  • About
    • The Feldenkrais Method
    • Contact