Focusing Attitude for You

Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts (FOAT®): Tools for Resilience-Building

Are you wanting to…

• learn tools to foster your wellbeing and resilience?
• listen and access your body’s wisdom and creativity? 
• identify small action steps that carry forward self-care practices into your daily life?

Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts (FOAT®) integrates Gendlin’s Focusing with user-friendly methods for creative expression.  Laury Rappaport (founder of FOAT®), along with her advanced FOAT® Training students will introduce 4 Theme-based FOAT® exercises that are designed to cultivate resilience, access the body’s wisdom, and unfold our inherent creativity for positive change.  

The meetings will include a brief grounding/attunement, warm-up to arts expression, main FOAT® exercise, and sharing in a Focusing way.  These workshops are for all levels of Focusers… and anyone interested in using creative tools for expression (color, line, image, writing, gesture-movement, sound).  

Feel free to attend 1 or more meetings.  With FOAT®, the practice deepens over time.  Our intention is to build a supportive, welcoming community for practice, learning, and connection!

Theme: Focusing Attitude for You

September 23 from 3:30 – 5:00 PM PT

Facilitated by Angie and FOAT Team

The “Focusing Attitude” teaches us to bring a curious and “friendly” attitude toward our inner experience and creative expression– and helps to transform our inner critic.  We will practice the Focusing Attitude– and then find a new “attitude” that we would like to bring into our lives (such as kindness, gentleness, compassion, etc.).

Suggested Materials 

• Gingerbread Template
• Circle Template
• Paper: Any kind or size that you feel drawn– to write and/or draw your intentions and action step
• Drawing/writing materials: Pen, pencil, crayons, markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, etc. Whatever you have is great!
• Optional: Scissors, ribbon, yarn; magazine or collage images/words; simple paints

Future FOAT Meetings (90 minutes; 3:30 – 5:00 PM PT)

October 14 

Theme: Inner Advisor and “Paper Zine” Project; Facilitated by Ally and FOAT Team 

This exercise integrates guided imagery with FOAT® to find an inner advisor– a part of ourselves that embodies our innate wisdom.  Ally will teach a simple process of folding paper to create a “zine”– a little booklet to hold our felt sense expressions (which can be drawings, words, or pictures).  During the guided exercise, we will listen for a question that is wanting to be asked– inviting a spaciousness for the inner advisor to offer a felt sense response.  This exercise teaches us how this inner wisdom lives within and can be called on to offer guidance for a variety of life’s issues, questions, or challenges. 

Suggested Materials 

• Paper: 1 sheet of paper (can be used or blank)
• Drawing/writing materials: Pens and coloring materials (can be markers, pastels, crayons)
• Other: Scissors, glue/tape, any magazine

November 4  (Note: Daylight Saving Time ends… Standard Time begins)

Theme: Source of Strength; Facilitated by Su and FOAT Team

This FOAT® exercise helps to become aware of something in your life that is, or has been, a source of strength or support.  We will take time to focus on a source of strength, get a felt sense and symbol (a word, phrase, image, gesture, or sound) and express it through writing, art, movement, or sound.  This Source of Strength can continue to nourish you in an ongoing way.

Suggested Materials 

• Paper: Any kind or size that you feel drawn– to write and/or draw your intentions and action step
• Drawing/writing materials: Pen, pencil, crayons, markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, etc. Whatever you have is great!

Optional: Scissors, ribbon, yarn; magazine or collage images/words; simple paints