School of Creativity
Approach | Courses | Practices | Retreats
Approach
The ANA School of Creativity teaches an original approach to the creative practice through the harmonization of the student’s inner landscape. It is a method that leads students to the source of their creativity, the place from which radiance and authenticity shine forth. By learning to repeatedly return to this space, students begin to access, integrate and embody this radiance in their life.
Ana means “breath inspired” in Sanskrit, because breathing is at the core of this method.
This introspection is best suited for creatively inclined individuals, artists, writers, designers, musicians, entrepreneurs, and all those who wish to mark their life with joyful creativity, a positive approach to inhabiting one’s existence and the world.
To see the flower in the seed,
to make the limit into the chance,
to trust the stirrings of the soul,
to welcome what appears
with humble generosity,
and live this life
inhabiting one’s world,
creatively.
The ANA School of Creativity offers private one to one courses for a made to measure approach to coaching.
Sessions can be held online when confronted with physical distance, in English, French or Italian.
Sophrology is one of the methods used to access one’s creativity and attain inner freedom. Sophrology, better known in French speaking European countries, is a discipline that literally means the study of mind in harmony. It teaches relaxation and concentration techniques that practiced regularly, bring about a state of inner clarity and serenity.
The ANA School of Creativity proposition includes retreats set in nature, to practice in small groups and to harvest the energy of togetherness.
Breath
flows into the body,
like a flood of fresh dew;
it takes me there
where I can meet me,
rest, recover and recharge,
in this fluffy nest within.
Courses
INDIVIDUAL COURSES IN SOPHROLOGY
Sophrology is better known in French speaking countries, and it is literally the study of the harmonious mind. It teaches relaxation and concentration techniques that with regular practice bring about great clarity and calm.
The pedagogical approach to Sophrology allows for total respect and freedom of the students with propositions that encourage independence.
In each of the levels, students will be guided with a personalized response to their experiences, offering support and reflection that can allow for delving deeper into awareness, self-knowledge and transformation
THE BODY
Level 1 | 8 weeks
The objective of this course is to rid the body of damaging tensions, thus increasing the awareness of one’s presence in the world.
This 8-week course provides:
8 sessions of 1 hour with the certified sophrologist, in person or online once a week.
A 15-20-minute recording of a guided meditation to be practiced daily.
Daily writing of a journal that will be read and commented on every day.
THE MIND
Level 2 | 8 weeks
This course brings about the awareness of the mind’s functioning, teaching the students how to observe the thoughts that cross their minds who then learn how to choose positive ones.
This 8-week course provides:
8 sessions of 1 hour with the certified sophrologist, in person or online once a week.
A 15-20 minute recording of a guided meditation to be practiced daily.
Daily writing of the student’s journal that will be read and commented on every day.
MEMORY
Level 3 | 8 weeks
With 8 more weeks of meetings and practice, it is possible to venture into the memory where we tend to keep a spotlight on the most painful episodes. Recovering positive images hidden in memory, it is possible to restore a state of balance and wellbeing.
This 8-week course provides:
8 sessions of 1 hour with the certified sophrologist, in person or online once a week.
A 15-20 minute recording of a guided meditation to be practiced daily.
Daily writing of the student’s journal that will be read and commented on every day.
VALUES
Level 4 | 8 weeks
The following 8 weeks are dedicated to the exploration of the values that inform our decisions. We learn how the world of ideas affects our experiences. The objective of this course is to embody our choices with total awareness.
This 8-week course provides:
8 sessions of 1 hour with the certified sophrologist, in person or online once a week.
A 15-20 minute recording of a guided meditation to be practiced daily.
Daily writing of the student’s journal that will be read and commented on every day.
SOPHROLOGY FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS
To welcome a baby into a serene environment, Rosenda has developed a relaxation protocol for expectant mothers that involves the future father as well. Relaxation and visualization techniques have been used for a long time in preparation for childbirth in French speaking countries in Europe.
SOPHROLOGY FOR CHILDREN
It is never too early to discover the calming effect of abdominal breathing. Actually, when babies come to the world that is their only way. Once inevitable frustrations are experienced growing up, they can become tense and their breathing can become shallow. Children, both individually and in group, learn in The ANA School of Creativity to reconnect with deep, relaxing breathing and find a space to move, paint, write and make “The book of me”, a creative reflection on their own individuality.
THE BODY’S REASONS
As spring sets in fully and the body sheds the torpor of winter completely, ANA proposes four appointments specifically designed to activate one’s capacity to listen deeply to the body. The body communicates through sensations, images, stories and is the repository of its own wisdom. It is the temple, the vehicle that takes us through the experience of being alive, and it never lies.
We will explore together its physical, emotional, mythological and creative truths through guided meditation, drawing, writing and sharing.
Paraphrasing Blaise Pascal who said: “The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of…”, I invite you to befriend your body through these relaxing and invigorating practices, because the body has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.
You will need large sheets of paper (A3), soft pastels or oil pastels, a notebook and a pencil.
No previous artistic experience is required to take part in this workshop, as the creative exploration is aimed at self-knowledge, not at acquiring artistic prowess.
Practices
Individually or in a group setting, we focus on a specific practice, learning how to approach it in a contemplative way. We learn how to find in the inner world the source of our most authentic creativity.
CREATIVE PRACTICES
Contemplative Drawing
Contemplative Designing
Contemplative Writing & Journaling
Contemplative Sounding
MEDITATION PRACTICES
Guided Meditation
Silent Meditation
Moving Meditation
Walking Meditation
In suspension of the habitual,
to seek the germ of freedom.
In the womb of nature,
to see ourselves reborn
into a time of trust and delight,
where we can rest on
this tender pillow
made of us.
Retreats
Organized in nature, a week-long retreat allows for full immersion in practices organized around a theme, such as Voice of the Self , or Home of Joy
VOICE OF THE SELF
The aim of this week-long retreat is to reconnect with one’s own inner self through collective creative work, deeply nourished by nature and sustained by meditation, movement and breath work.
The Chakra system provides a royal path to the inner self, leading to the opening and balancing of the seven major energy centers in the body.
Learning about upward and downward currents of energy, we reclaim our life force and creativity. Aligning our energy centers, we create balance and harmony within transforming in turn our reality.
Creativity in this practice is an instrument and a source of self-knowledge, therefore no previous artistic experience is required to take part in this workshop.
HOME OF JOY
This is a physical and emotional place we land when we dive deeply inside and reach the untouched, untarnished core of our being.
A seven-day retreat is an opportunity to reboot, recharge and restore, a chance to reconnect with one’s own inner self through collective creative work. Harnessing the energy of a small group, limited to a maximum of 11 participants, we will explore the body in dialogue with nature and the elements. Through dynamic meditation, breath work, dance, movement and creative expressions like writing and drawing, we will contemplate the contents of our inner world, operating meaningful transformations. No previous artistic experience is required to take part in this workshop. In this practice, the creative output is an instrument for and a source of introspection.
