“Inner journeying has been a life-long passion for me. As a child, I would happily close my eyes and jump into any inner world. This type of work is also readily used by drama teachers and I have also used it as an actor when I would step into building a character or setting a scene in a play. So when I was introduced to The Animal of My Heart at a session of Deep Imagery it was as if I’d come home.
Since then I have been journeying with my animals and using the techniques of Deep Imagery that I have also studied under Stephen Gallegos from 2008-2011.”
The focus of all of Jessica’s work is to promote Mindfulness in both young people and adults through her book, show, workshops and adult education activities. Find out more about Jessica and her work here.
At the heart of this is helping and guiding her students to find voice and expression through meditation, visualisation and journeying workshops and individual sessions for all ages. Her work is used for people suffering trauma, addiction, family issues, pregnancy, mental health, stress and conflict.
Her approach is deeply influenced by the Stephen Gallegos’ Deep Imagery process which she also studied.
Kids
- The kids are encouraged to draw a picture of the Animal of their Heart
- Once their drawing is finished & the children are over 8 years old, I encourage them to write above their drawing…
‘The Animal of My Heart is ….
S/he asked me to ….”
If we have time, we will go back within to journey more with the Animal of their Heart! - Then they might play, listen for the heartbeat of the Animal of their Heart, listen to a sound their animal makes, dance with their animal or brush or feed the Animal of their Heart.
Adult
There are three elements to the adult Mindfulness workshop. We begin with gentle physical exercises, then move to breathing and end with visualisations. These all allow you to step within and find a positive inner sanctuary to retreat to whenever you wish. This builds your sense of equilibrium & calm
- There are numbers of different exercises ranging from gentle back rolls from yoga, Tapping & techniques from Ayuveda head massage & acupunture (without the needles!).
- The breathing exercises come from the yoga system of breathing called, Pranayama in particular Alternate Nostril Breathing.
- The visualisation element involves all the senses as I take you back to a beach you remember. Here I invite you to see, smell, hear & physically feel the environment to ensure you have. Here I encourage you to breathe with the aid of the waves crashing on the beach.