This 5-week course helps you access energy and courage for your ongoing writing.
For many of us, even in the best of times our writing plans are accompanied by the flickering of I can vs I can’t. Fear, tiredness or a sense of overwhelm put the brakes on, just when we want to move forward. In times of pressure, and currently with COVID-19 related isolation and stress, continuing with writing becomes even more difficult.
If there’s an academic writing project on your desk for this summer, you may already be bracing yourself. Oh if only you could switch off or push past what’s in the way and ‘get on with it’! Unfortunately, many times this does not work.
So why not try an alternative approach and welcome the drama of academic writing?
“A transformative experience that bleeds into every aspect of your writing practice.”
This is what Hélène Mialet, a participant in the June 2020 edition, said about the course.
If tips and advice for writing productivity often leave you feeling boxed-in rather than empowered, it’s a relief to know that you can turn to a more inner-directed way of accompanying yourself in your work.
This course teaches you to tap into your capacities for meeting everyday writing challenges, in particular the ‘pulls’ that make you stop or avoid writing. By working with your body and respecting your experience of writing exactly as it is, you’ll cultivate kind and intelligent ways for moving forward.
The Power of an Embodied Approach
Want to get a better sense of what I mean by an embodied approach to writing and how I teach it?
Have a look at my recorded workshop ‘Carrying on With Your Writing‘ from October 2020.
Testimonials
“This has radically changed how I write as an academic and how I feel about writing. I’ve moved past a writer’s block that I did not know I had. I no longer dread that moment of sitting down to write and the fear that the words will not come, or the right words will not come. I have found my flow and my confidence and am now experiencing writing as something playful and creative (and something for me rather than for others).”
Sue Walters, Senior Lecturer in Education
“Catelijne’s course introduced us to ways of writing that became experiments in living. I found my feet and gut as I wrote. Then we played. I wanted to create space for my fear and frustration; others helped me. I re-drew some boundaries in who I write for and why I write. These possibilities turned out to be ready to hand. Through daily exercises, weekly reviews, and shared stories, Catelijne joined us with insight and humour.”
Chin Chuan Fei, Lecturer in Philosophy / Trainee Counsellor
“As a seasoned movement teacher as well as academic researcher/lecturer, I thought I stood on solid ground as far as body knowledge was concerned. My writing, however, remained estranged, a clumsy dance partner that lacked interest and sparkle. Catelijne’s course offered a new encounter, one where the meeting of body and mind unlocked doors to deeply buried habits. Gentle, yet disciplined, structured, yet flexible, Catelijne’s method helped me squarely face the unknown and risk taking that next step towards writing freedom.”
Glenna Batson, Independent Researcher/Lecturer in Dance, Somatics and Science
In her Embodied Writing course, Catelijne created a very productive series of practices to approach the challenges of writing. Writing is not only a practice of intellect and mind but can be approached more holistically to include the body. Using the four elements as a metaphor for these embodied practices created openings to enter the writing process for me and I find that I now have a new palette of tools at my disposal to utilize in my writing practice. I enjoyed this course immensely and appreciated the spirit of empathy, care and community that was generated during the process.
Kristy Kang, Practice-based Researcher in Singapore