Creative Movement & Self-Exploration
with Ash Tree Crofoot
August 22, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Tuition: $100
Materials Fee: $10
This workshop introduces participants to the Tamalpa Life/Art Process, a movement-based expressive arts approach that weaves together creative movement, drawing, writing, and structured reflection to support personal insight and artistic growth. Through guided exercises, students will explore how body-based awareness can open new pathways for creativity, intuition, and self-expression. We’ll begin with grounding movement scores and sensory awareness practices on the meadow, attuning to breath, sensation, and personal imagery. From there, we’ll shift to drawing and creative writing prompts that translate movement-based experiences into visual and poetic form, followed by small-group collaborations and witnessing practices that invite deeper understanding. The workshop will close with reflective writing to integrate themes, metaphors, and discoveries that emerged throughout the process. This session is accessible to all levels—no dance or artmaking experience required. It emphasizes process, welcoming all abilities and encouraging a playful, exploratory mindset.
Plan to bring: layered clothing for outdoor movement, anything needed for comfort on the ground, water bottle, personal writing materials, and basic drawing or simple painting supplies. Oil pastels, newsprint, and yoga mats will be provided.
Photo courtesy of artist
Headshot by Clare Wildhack
Ash Tree Crofoot (she/her) is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Expressive Arts Practitioner. She holds advanced degrees in Body-Based Expressive Arts Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, and Ecopsychology. She is a graduate of the internationally renowned Tamalpa Institute for movement-based expressive arts and is trained in the Somatic Experiencing model of nervous system–informed trauma resolution. Since 2010, she has worked in group settings and private practice, offering a unique blend of somatic psychology and expressive arts approaches to growth, healing, and creative development. She is a native Midwesterner, and the shores of West Michigan have been a place of annual pilgrimage and restoration for generations of her family. This summer, she is thrilled to offer her work in collaboration with this spirited place and its people.