The Gorgeous Offerings: Healing the Mind and Body
Join Mindy Milam,
LCSW, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Mind-Body
Medicine Practitioner, for two workshops offering mind-body skills to the public, prioritizing needs in
the BIPOC community and focusing on grief compounded by stress and
trauma. In these workshops, participants will learn evidence-based
techniques for emotional well-being and nutritional health in small,
supportive groups.
This is the second presentation of The Gorgeous Offerings, a series of rituals, sacred spaces, workshops, and community gatherings to support healing from the loss and disorientation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To RSVP, contact the facilitators directly at requiemforastranger@gmail.com. The venue for the workshops will be shared with individuals after registration and a brief intake process. Space is limited.
Jalisa Roberts in Requiem for a Stranger Photo by Julie Verlinden
These workshops will explore how trauma and grief can lead people to disconnect from themselves, while mind-body tools facilitate self-discovery and personal empowerment. Participants will learn the science and skills of meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, and self-expression in words, drawings, and movement in small, supportive groups.
This program is part of Inter[SECTOR], the CAC’s three-year multidisciplinary arts programming centering cross-sector engagements with the fields of carceral justice, healthcare, and the environment. Learn more
The “Gorgeous Offerings” are a series of rituals, sacred spaces, workshops, and community gatherings to support healing from the loss and disorientation of the Covid-19 pandemic. These events, open to all, are created to respond to the particular burden of grief held in the BIPOC community: grief compounded by layers of embodied stress and disruptions to communal forms of mourning and healing.
The Gorgeous Offerings, conceived by Renee Benson and co-produced by Jennifer Sargent, were born out of the theatrical creation, Requiem for a Stranger, created by Renee and theater company Vagabond Inventions. Together, these events form a transmedia storytelling project that will offer an array of resources from fall 2021 to fall 2022: integrative health sessions led by staff from the Center for Mind Body Medicine; workshops on “Grief Mapping” and anti-colonial relationships to the land led by Raconteur Alaina Comeaux; and community dialogue and rituals around the experimental film, “The Black Ophelia” which explores Black women’s birthright to fragility in mourning. The culmination of these Offerings is the premiere of the stage performance, Requiem for a Stranger, exploring the heartspace of grief.
More information about the Gorgeous Offerings and the collaborating artists is at www.RequiemforaStranger.com.
This program is part of Inter[SECTOR], the CAC’s three-year multidisciplinary arts programming centering cross-sector engagements with the fields of carceral justice, healthcare, and the environment. During the 2021-2022 season, Inter[SECTOR] examines a diversity of experiences and expressions emerging from issues of health; from the coronavirus to AIDS pandemic, technological innovations and designs in the healthcare field, to concerns of mental health, grief, disease, and ableness. Each project draws upon the artists own experiences and seeks to connect with impacted communities as well as general audiences. Learn more
The Gorgeous Offerings: Grief Mapping Workshops
The Gorgeous Offerings: The Black Ophelia
The Gorgeous Offerings are supported by NPN’s Creation Fund, New Music USA's Creator Development Fund in 2021, Alternate Roots, the Puffin Foundation, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the Network of Ensemble Theaters.
