“Taking the Stage” is designed to support those who have a dream of sharing themselves more deeply with others through creative modalities such as singing, public speaking, teaching, or acting, but who feel inhibited by fear of performance.
This workshop is for you if performing in front of others is part of your life dream but you feel held back by fear. “Taking the Stage” explores ways of walking compassionately with this fear and, in the process, moves toward enabling you to express yourself in front of other people, whether through singing, speaking, acting, or any type of performance. Together, we strive to accept the current state of our own growth,to embrace our experience fully and with compassion, and allow ourselves to be challenged in new ways.
As a participant, you will be guided through a series of experiences based in mindfulness including opportunities to practice performing in front of others, identifying fears and goals, studying the role of the mind in creating fear, and making a plan for manifesting performance in your life. You will have the option to take part in additional sessions of meditation, yoga, and singing to supplement workshop activities
This workshop draws on the work of Steven Hayes and others who have developed a therapy method called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It is also rooted in the mindfulness of meditation, as taught in Eastern religions for centuries and by Western teachers such as Jon Kabat-Zinn. “Taking the Stage” is based on a belief in the divinity in all of us, as seen in our everyday lives as well as in our calling to self-expression on a creative path.
Topics to be addressed:
- the role of the mind in creating fear
- living with fear in the body
- what to do when you feel afraid before and during a performance
- creating support through inner and outer resources
- developing a vision of what is really important to you and learning to focus on that vision as a source of inspiration
Heather Wertheimer comes to this workshop with 20 years of experience as a therapist specializing in the areas of substance addiction, trauma recovery, and body-centered therapy. She taught yoga for 10 years and has a master’s degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University. Heather has been a full-time musician since 2002 and has been involved with music much of her life. Her desire to help others realize their dreams comes from being an anxious performer and from experiencing a prolonged stage of severe panic related to performance.