Whether you’ve looked at our website or heard about us from a friend, we hope you’ve begun to be curious and even inspired by what we’re up to. WOVEN is an emergent creative and nurturing community, made up of people with a shared vision of facilitating individual and social transformation. Our purpose is to empower individuals to discover and actualize wholeness through creative exploration, human connection, and community support. We do this through three kinds of experiences: our installations, our gatherings, and our workshops. (See more about those here.)
One of WOVEN’s key commitments is providing multi-sensory experiences that engage participants’ whole selves.
Why is this so important to our approach? We, like the many wisdom-keepers and healers who inspire us, believe that engaging our senses and our bodies is a necessary part of any journey towards wholeness. (In Western therapeutic treatments, this is called somatic therapy. To learn more, you can read work by one of our influences, Bessel Van Der Kolk.) For this reason, at any WOVEN activity you will encounter beauty, rich scents, music or sounds, flavors or textures, opportunities to move, and more--all intentionally crafted to accompany and enrich the purpose of the event. For example, our unique tea gathering events engage music, art, touch, and aroma throughout the crafting and enjoyment of teas to guide participants on a journey designed to inspire curiosity, share wisdom about the role of plant medicines in health and wellbeing, invite creative engagement and connect people.
This approach allows us to engage and connect with the art, ourselves, and each other in a deep and holistic way. Rather than simply observing a piece of art or listening to a teaching, we are able to move towards embodiment. Embodiment allows us to align our thoughts, our emotions, and our physical sensations so that we are grounded and attuned to our inner and outer world. We also acknowledge that bodies and abilities vary widely and multi-sensory experiences open doors to the participation of our whole community. We hope this brief explanation has been helpful, and perhaps even piqued your interest in knowing more. Our blog will be a place where we share more about who we are and how we are structured, as well as discussions of our values, the people who inspire us, and what’s coming up. We hope you will feel inspired to join our community in whatever way you are called and look forward to seeing you at a WOVEN event soon.
Check out our upcoming events