Make Meaning Workshop: Moving from Loss to Found

with Alexandra Vassilaros

Wednesdays, April 19th, April 26th, May 3rd, May 10th, 2023 | 6:30pm-8:00pm ET

In the Make Meaning Workshop we intentionally create a communal experience that is boundaried and compassionate.

Crisis can knock us right off our feet and fill us with resistance, fear, and stress. In this writing workshop, participants will explore the alchemy of grief and learn how we can use it to initiate growth, self-compassion, and emotional progress.

During the workshop we simply write, read and listen to one another. There is no criticism, interruption, or commentary from participants. Writing prompts are provided as creative catalysts to engage our inner voice and identify our innate capacity for curiosity, wisdom and resilience.

Deep listening is a useful aspect of this work, allowing us to listen from a deep receptive place within ourselves. It is a practice that cultivates clarity and connection.

This process offers primary tools for continuing emotional health and balance.

Absolutely no writing experience is necessary.

Throughout the series, participants will:

· Explore the extraordinary details of their lives on paper in a safe and respectful environment

· Practice the skill of deep listening

· Experience how a writing practice can become a stabilizing ritual in their lives

· Bring gentle awareness to obstacles that compound grief, stress, and fear

· Practice suspending judgment long enough to create space around thoughts that leave us feeling isolated or stuck

· Express and awaken our capacity for engagement and aliveness

Feedback from a former workshop participant:

“I just want to say how much I love the workshop! I've never taken a class like this before, and I'm finding it to be so rich, poignant, and gratifying. It's a terrific group, and I so appreciate your leadership and encouragement. The prompts are really cool. The sharing has been awesome. Very grateful to be on this journey with you.”

About the Teacher:

In 2016, one year after the passing of her husband of 23 years, Alexandra pivoted from writing for the theater and founded the Make Meaning Workshop. Her work as a playwright is extensive. She was a co-finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2004 for the play Omnium Gatherum. In 2016 she founded the Make Meaning Workshop.

She has led workshops for many notable community organizations, including NYC's The Bowery Mission, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, ARTYARD, The Brooklyn VA, Harlem Wellness Center, and Bevival. Alexandra continues to work with hundreds of women and men facing the challenges that loss, crisis, and grief inevitably bring. She is a widow and the mother of 3 wonderful young men.