Outbreath: Somatics, Artmaking and Impermanence

Outbreath is a weekend immersion led by the core team of WildHeart, based on our core mission: to ignite culture shift through the intersection of artmaking and embodiment. Through an embodied engagement with the creative process, we awaken fresh responsiveness to the realities of our time. What becomes possible when we consciously create as a channel for love and freedom?

Together, we will explore embodied anatomy, sensory awareness, partner and self-touch, movement, and song. These embodied practices will lead into artmaking from a place of presence. Bring a project you’re already working on and eager to develop, or come with nothing and see what emerges in the moment. At the end of the weekend, we will share our creations in community, free from judgment.

In alignment with the season of late fall, we will begin with the outbreath: letting go, the small “d” deaths in everyday life, and impermanence. What happens when we allow ourselves to ride our breath all the way to the very end of the outbreath? What is the felt experience? How does it move? What happens next? We will hold these questions together, not to find an answer, but simply to be in inquiry together, with our bodies and our art.

The weekend begins Friday evening with a potluck intro circle followed by an opening ceremony. This is our time to land together as a community, share our hearts and aspirations, and find collective ground within creative ceremony. Saturday and Sunday mornings will consist of gentle embodiment practice, building into more dynamic movement. After lunch, we will dive into a creative prompt and practice.

Saturday evening includes a special night of cooking and eating together in a creative culinary experience led by WildHeart’s in-house kitchen witch, Niki. You can look forward to learning new things about the food you are creating, cooking with intention, and eating to feed more than just your body. Sunday evening will conclude with an artshare and a closing ceremony.

More about the practices

Embodied anatomy sessions
We will learn about anatomy and be guided to feel and sense it from within. Self and partner touch, somatic movement, and vocalization will be offered as ways to enter into your inner experience. Drawing inspiration from Body-Mind Centering®, we will learn to orient toward certain body systems, noticing what information is alive there and uncovering deeper body intelligence.

Movement
Each day we will move our bodies for pleasure and joy! Look forward to dynamic, life-filled movement each morning before lunch to add energy and enlivenment to your day. All movement guidance will be accessible for all bodies and encourage present attunement to what is needed in the moment.

Singing
We will sing, sing, sing! You do not have to be a “singer.” We will bring our voices together, sometimes improvisationally and sometimes in song, to find the inherent rightness in singing together. May we live in harmony—literally!

Artmaking
We begin with a short creative prompt. As many makers know, sometimes time to create can land you in an abyss of lack of inspiration. The prompts offer a specific direction to begin, which you can unfold and follow—or depart from entirely and move toward something different. Feel free to bring a project you are developing, or create spontaneously in the moment. We’ll take a moment at the end of the retreat to share our creations with one another.