Resilience, the latest buzzword in today’s wellness world. After almost two years of a pandemic, people are yearning for skills to “come back stronger.” Resilience in the way it’s referred to today is something that is desired, positive, and celebrated. The more resilience, the better. But what does resilience really mean for adoptees? Looking at how we as adoptees have grown up with the ability to adapt to our surroundings no matter what, resilience has often been less of a choice but a way of survival. Whether or not we chose how to be resilient as adults, it is part of our “natural” skillset that we already embody. Resilience has helped us in many ways, to thrive and to grow, and to become who we are today. But there may also be ways in which it may have stopped us from taking chances, building trust within, or in relationships.

The purpose of the “Resilience and the Adoptee Body” workshop is simply to explore resilience as adult adoptees and identify what it means to us today. We will do this using creative expressions such as light movement (including breathing exercise), drawing or painting, and writing. By using creative arts, we can access our resilience from a place of imagination, creativity, and play. This will help us explore the different ways resilience relates to our adoptee identity.

* WHO: Adoptees only
* WHEN: Monday, January 24, 2022, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
* WHERE: Balance Arts Center (151 West 30th Street, 3rd Floor)
* COST: Free for members, $5 non-members (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)
* RSVP: just show up!

This workshop will give space for sharing in group or in pairs for those who wish, but sharing is optional.

Arts & Crafts material will be provided. Dress comfy, we will be moving around- not necessarily dancing.

Focus/Exercises: Explore resilience in the body and life
+ Explore resilience in the body
+ Identify how resilience serves us/doesn’t serve us
+ Recognize and celebrate

Purpose: Identify what resilience means to me as an adoptee

What to bring:
+ Yourself
+ Notebook/journal (recommended)

*** The purpose of Also-Known-As adoptee forums are to create a confidential and safe space for adoptees to discuss personal topics. These forums are only open to adoptees. While we welcome community supporters, friends, and families of adoptees to many of our events, our forums are closed to non-adoptees. ***

About the Facilitator
Anna is a transracial/transnational adoptee from Indonesia, adopted to Sweden as a 30-day old infant. She moved to NYC in 1997 to attend dance school and has spent most of her life within the creative arts. Having over twenty-five years of dance and movement experience, Anna uses her knowledge to coach clients through their own journeys as a BodyMind Movement Facilitator. She is deeply passionate about the body-mind practice and works to nurture that connection for people via movement in her signature method and class Unstructured, which is offered in-person and online. Anna includes various holistic modalities in her teachings and practice that she has studied throughout her life. In addition to her somatic background, she holds a certificate as a resilience trainer, and as an applied positive psychology coach. In her spare time, she loves to write, read, and chill out with her two cats TBD and Snarla.
https://www.annagrundstrom.com/