“Where I once saw just a collection of natural ‘objects’ that I felt very, very distant from, I now see life, wonder and dynamic creative expression. Quite frankly this has had such an impact on my life that I just wanted for everybody else to be able to experience this shift in perception. I can feel how wonderful it is to experience a sense of connectedness to all around me every day and I am acutely aware of how is has given a more tangible dimension to my ethical beliefs and actions toward nature.” from Emma’s dissertation

Experiential Workshops:-

“Adventures in Perception”, “Re-cognition”, “The Dynamic way of Seeing – Inspired by Henri Bortoft”, “The Art of Seeing: An Evolution in Being”

To create a truly sustainable world I think it is imperative that we explore our current ways of knowing and doing, so that we can transcend them and develop our capacity to get to know the world in terms of itself . By developing a ‘living’ thinking that is alive as life itself we can live healthier and more peaceful lives and expand what it means to be human.

By responding to the world with curiosity and wonder, we can allow new possibilities to emerge. We can nurture our inner transition, and global transition, cultivating the ability to become more sustainable by giving the world our full attention.

Through lifting the veil of judgments and assumptions that fix and categorize our world, we can reveal a way of seeing that is more dynamic and relational, allowing us to experience the living nature of what we are engaging with – and in turn develop living, dynamic ways of knowing within ourselves.

This reveals a whole new side of life to us – and a new set of organic patterns, relationships and ways of being.

I aim to grow people, and communities, by cultivating more integrated ways of knowing from within. I do this by leading people into a more sensuous/intuitive ways of perceiving and experiencing, by delving into directly observing and experiencing the qualities and expressions of the life that is in front of us.

I mostly do this work in a very practical, experiential way. I use a gentle, playful guidance into observation, with plants, people and ideas, that allows people to experience this shift in perception. I aim to nurture and guide, rather than to impose.

I am greatly influenced by my former teacher, Physicist and Philosopher of Science, Henri Bortoft, especially his work on the Wholeness of Nature and the Dynamic Way of seeing in European thought.

If you would like more information about the workshops that I develop and teach, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly: emmakidd81@gmail.com

 

Sensing Life – Wellbeing Workshops

 “Learning to Sense Life in our everyday lives”

Craft Ed.Building, SchumacherCollege, Dartington

Saturday 22^nd March 10am-1.30pm £15 (£10 conc.)

Email to book: emmakidd81@gmail.com 

How can our sensory focus and attention improve our wellbeing everyday? In offices? In homes? In classrooms?

Aesthetic (sense) experience is when:

– Our senses are operating at their peak

– We are present in the current moment

– We are resonating with the excitement of the thing we are experiencing

– We are fully alive!

Educator, writer and researcher Emma Kidd will explore practical ways in which we can improve our wellbeing by becoming more open and alive to the world around us. This will be the first in a series workshops made up of practical indoor and outdoor exercises from her new book: “First Steps to Sensing Life: Practicing a Dynamic Way of Seeing in Everyday Living”.

 

Photo credit: J. Van As

New Workshop!…Dates TBC “Re-cognition”:

Re-cognition – A Pathway to Living Knowledge

Workshop Outline – Emma Kidd

 

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

One cannot help but be in awe

when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity,

of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.

… It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend

a little of this mystery every day

Never lose a holy curiosity.”

~ Albert Einstein

Re-cognition is a practical set of skills that can contribute towards developing a relational whole person cognition and perception; a way of seeing that suspends what is ‘known’, and embraces the unknown by developing a pathway to a living knowledge that lets nature; life; a person; or a situation be known in terms of itself.

During this course you will learn how to practice a phenomenological way of getting to know the world. I will guide you in this process of how to meet with Life, and to know it in terms of itself; rather than just relying on abstract, second-hand knowledge about it.

Together we will ask questions such as: Am I letting go of my pre-conceptions? Am I present? Am I attending to what is directly presenting itself to my experience? Am I attending to detail? Can I use my intuition and imagination to get a sense of the whole picture?  Am I exploring its living context and relationships? Am I being actively receptive? Am I seeing with fresh new eyes? Am I attending to what is arising within me, as well as outside of me?

To develop Re-cognition means employing all of our faculties as human beings, including our intuitive, imaginative, and emotional ways of ‘knowing/understanding’, as well as (not instead of) our intellectual, analytical capabilities. Most contemporary education is specifically directed towards maximizing our intelligence quotient, but to facilitate an ‘understanding’ of the world around us in terms of itself, rather than just projecting ‘knowledge’ onto it, new methodologies need to be employed. Rather than just an ‘educational’ approach, we need practical, creative and intuitive methodologies focused on self-learning and discovery rather than just taught ‘knowledge’, which result in an evolution in being human.

Through the dynamic way of seeing that develops, a new pathway is created which is crucial for any attempt at ‘Sustainability’. Re-cognition concentrates on evolving current ways of seeing, being and living, and through this creates dynamic, context, and process focused pathways for imaginative and innovative solutions to our current environmental, economic and social crises to emerge.

There will be a combination of indoor and outdoor sessions formed of practice, discussion and reflection. Re-cognition draws on a range of influences, including; recent studies on the bi-modal brain such as “The Master and his Emissary” by Iain McGilchrist; Phenomenology; the work on a dynamic way of seeing by my former teacher Henri Bortoft; whole biology, such as Goethean Science; and modern interpretations of Eastern traditions such as the Zen of Seeing.

This course is suitable for anyone interested in expanding their existing capacities of ‘knowing’ the world and in developing new organs of perception. In a professional development context it would be especially relevant to educators, coaches, business consultants and senior managers, to learn how to employ new ways of seeing in their professions and industries. However it is also equally relevant to all individuals for personal development, especially those who are interested in evolving their current way of meeting with and responding to life. All participants can benefit from the tools and exercises that we will practice during the week, by taking them home and integrating them into their professional work and personal practice of developing relationships in everyday life.

Be prepared to leave all that you think you ‘know’ at the door, and get ready to be warmly welcomed into a safe but mind expanding space of getting to know all things in terms of themselves.

Email Emma for more details: emmakidd81@gmail.com

 

Photo credit: Tim Strasser

Workshop dates:

Seeing with New Eyes – an Adventure in Perception (Free Skillshare)