Read our full April 2021 newsletter here

It is definitely spring in Portland, Oregon, and the vibrant colors of tulips demand attention.

At the same time, the tensions of our current moment can threaten to overwhelm our bodies and minds. How are you navigating and supporting yourself through the pressures and urgencies we face?

It has been nearly a year since the killing of George Floyd was captured on video by a brave young woman. This video shook the world and super charged the Black Lives Matter movement. This week, the US justice system brought down a conviction for the police officer who misused their authority and killed the unarmed person in their care.

As processworkers, we know the importance of the witness role in an abuse scene. So often it is a missing or ‘ghost’ role, or a bystander caught in painful altered states that create paralysis, freezing or flight.

Accountability brings some relief but the work of bringing our witnessing forward in the face of systemic power requires resilience, persistence, and sustained teamwork.

Deep respect is owed to the countless individuals, families and communities working to make change possible.

I hope you find some resources here to support your work and vision for a better world.

Upcoming Events

Join the Dreambody Medicine Forum this Friday April 23, 7 – 8.30pm for an experience of community and teamwork in holding and unfolding the agony, mystery and meaning of our bodies and body symptoms.

Come along to our next monthly webinar where Susan Kocen will explore Childhood Myth and Creativity, Thursday May 6th, 5pm Pacific time. See more details below …

Plus – save the date and don’t miss the opportunity to experience Arnold Mindell’s open case supervision class, coming up May 21st.

Just three times a year, a special chance to observe Arny working live with class participants on real issues arising in their professional and personal facilitation practice. If you’d like to present in class, write to Arny by May 7th:  moreinfo@aamindell.net (briefly share one sentence about your case)

Sending love from Portland, honoring the original peoples of this land, the people of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Tualatin Kalapuya, Wasco, Molalla, Cowlitz and Watlala bands of the Chinook, and other tribes who have made their homes along the Columbia River for the last 11,000 years and continue today.

Hellene,

On behalf of all of us at the Process Work Institute

How did you get so big?

I stood in the rain, awed by an 800 year old being rising up through the mist. The low grrrrr of ocean waves crashing not far away, I sobbed quietly, overwhelmed by joy and awe in the Pacific Northwest coastal forest.

Western science has just recently understood that forests are collaborative diverse communities. The visible part of the forest can look like a competition for light, space and nutrients. But underground, the forest is a network of inter-species connections used for support and nourishment.

What scientists call ‘mother trees’ partner with fungi to pass nutrients, protection from disease, and information exchange that helps the entire forest flourish. This 800 year old giant has lived with generations of indigenous peoples, witnessed the recent arrival of Europeans, felt the steady deforestation of its coastal homeland, all the while nourishing and uplifting the forest community of which it is part.

As we farewell this year and welcome 2021, I am wishing us time to feel our roots and the invisible connections they make. To wonder at the weave of inter-species process that unfolds between and through us.

Could our roots help us transform the intense polarizations of this time?

Could our mother trees hold us through vulnerability, fears and denial and give us the courage to act with “stubborn optimism” for racial justice and a safe climate future?

Click here for our latest newsletter (December 26,  2020)

Read our November newsletter!

Join us this December to recharge and reconnect – immerse in dreaming at the Intensive Reunion.

Read our September newsletter here

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