Delve more deeply into your inner wisdom as guidance for life
Playful Resilience Life Practice Program 2021 Online
Draw on your innate resilience to engage with the beauty and complexity of life in these times
Natalie Abdou,
Agnotti Cowie,
Sukhmani Kohli, and
Soyinka Rahim
ONLINE
Sats & Suns, Jan 9-10 & Mar 27-28, 2021 • Tues evenings, Jan 12 – Mar 30, 2021
The Playful Resilience InterPlay Life Practice Program is an embodied and creative way to engage with the beauty and complexity of life in these times. For anyone who feels empowered by the body wisdom practices of InterPlay, this program is a chance to delve more deeply into your inner wisdom as guidance for life. We will play with the birth rights practices of sound, storytelling, movement, dancing, connection, and stillness, in order to have our expression, nurture our creativity and draw on our innate resilience. We will also play with the forms and tools of InterPlay and slowly integrate the wisdom they offer as a way to resource ourselves. These bodywise ideas and practices can support you in creating what you hope for inside and out, for yourself and your community.
For those still new to InterPlay, it is a practice and system of learning that enables an increased capacity for our body-spirits to attune to its inherent wisdom. We do this by drawing on and leaning into more ease, affirmation of our inner knowing, incrementality in change processes and up, down, sideways deep raucous playfulness as a way to release stress and tap into more of what uplifts us.
Why Playful Resilience?
Playful Resilience is a collective of diverse, intergenerational, gender-fluid InterPlayers from around the world. Seeded in the early days of the COVID pandemic, Playful Resilience seeks to bring play and levity during these challenging and complex times. We value slowing down, accessing creativity and inspiration, and finding new ways of connection in a time of global crisis. We are folks who are all rooted in practices of social justice, community healing, celebration and change - and we warmly welcome folx of all grooves in life to join us. To learn more about the Playful Resilience Collective, please visit our Facebook page.
So, what does a Playful Resilience InterPlay Life Practice Program look like?
We will take the time to delve deeply into the wild world of InterPlay with the added lens and framing of social justice, equity and social and personal transformation. We are a diverse body-wise group who feel and reflect deeply on the particular socio-political aliveness of our times. We draw on our personal, collective and ancestral wisdoms to guide us in how to live into and embody the values of a free, just and radically loving global community. We are going to get political, silly, funky, cranky and all the in-betweens!
We will come together as a consistent group of playmates who meet regularly over a three month period including two weekend online retreats and Tuesday evening 2 hour sessions. We will play, learn, stretch and grow alongside each other and draw in this community of support as we journey together. We will have the space to identify a personal intention for the program and beyond - nurturing this desire as you attune more deeply to your own Body Wisdom. You will also receive two focus sessions as part of the program - this is specific play time where you get the chance to explore an aspect of life - a desire, curiosity, challenge, anything - using the tools and forms, while held in the container of community and guided by the program leaders.
Schedule & Details:
Immersive Weekends: January 9-10 & March 27-28, 2021
The program will begin and end with an immersive weekend of play - a chance to create and ground into our shared body-wise space with one another as the foundation and conclusion of the program. Soyinka Rahim will be joining the opening and closing weekends as a Weekend Weaver.
Weekly Playtime - Every Tuesday evening January 12 - March 30
4-6pm PT / 5-7pm MT / 6-8pm CT / 7-9pm ET
These weekly gatherings will be the beating heart of our program - slow and steady. We will gather weekly to connect, tune in & explore together. We will play with the various InterPlay forms and tools and engage in personalized focus sessions held in community. This is where we get to incrementally weave the wisdom of our being into our lives through incremental sharing, witnessing & noticing.
Opening Weekend - Saturday, January 9th & Sunday, January 10th (4 hours/day)
9:00 am - 11 am & 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PT
10:00 am - 12 pm & 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm MT
11:00 am - 1 pm & 2:30 pm- 4:30 pm CT
12:00 pm - 2 pm & 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm ET
This will give us the opportunity to connect and build our connection with one another, give shape to our playspace container and a chance for you to plant a seed of intentional for this journey.
Celebration Weekend - Saturday, March 27th & Sunday, March 28th (4 hours/day)
9:00 am - 11 am & 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PT
10:00 am - 12 pm & 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm MT
11:00 am - 1 pm & 2:30 pm- 4:30 pm CT
12:00 pm - 2 pm & 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm ET
This will be a chance for us to come together at the end of our journey, celebrate our body wisdom, tap into the diversity of our community and its gifts & to simply BE & PLAY with one another.
...and if you are looking to become a Certified InterPlay Leader stay tuned for the Playful Resilience Secrets of Leading & Teaching Practicum weekends which we hope to launch in April or May of 2021! After taking the Life Practice Program, you will be ready for the InterPlay Leader Training Program. More details to come.
Since its creation 25 years ago, the InterPlay Life Practice Program. has been an active, creative way to change your life and change your world. Although some previous experience with InterPlay is encouraged, there are no prerequisites for taking part in the Life Practice Program.
The Elements of the Playful Resilience Life Practice Program
• A series of 2 online weekends and 12 Tuesday evening gatherings with your Life Practice Program group for play, presentation, discernment, and interaction, where you will have a chance to explore new creative possibilities in a supportive community.
• Receive 3 focus sessions during which you receive personal support from the program leaders to learn how to access your body wisdom, learn a new tool/skill, and apply it to whatever situation you desire. One of the three focus sessions is optional and can be scheduled outside of the workshop series.<
• A Body-Spirit Celebration during the final weekend, to play with the InterPlay forms and share them with each other in a celebratory and honoring way.
• Reading, writing and art processes which will help you apply InterPlay insights to your own life.
• An InterPlay Core Elements Self-Study of several of the elements of the InterPlay system that will give you a more in-depth understanding of how InterPlay works.
• The Secrets of InterPlay weekend retreat is included in your tuition. It also includes participants who took the Art & Social Change Secrets in 2020. Participants may take another upcoming Secrets of InterPlay which is required if you are pursuing the Leader Training Program.
For those still new to InterPlay, it is a practice and system of learning that enables an increased capacity for our body-spirits to attune to its inherent wisdom. We do this by drawing on and leaning into more ease, affirmation of our inner knowing, incrementality in change processes and up, down, sideways deep raucous playfulness as a way to release stress and tap into more of what uplifts us.
Why Playful Resilience?
Playful Resilience is a collective of diverse, intergenerational, gender-fluid InterPlayers from around the world. Seeded in the early days of the COVID pandemic, Playful Resilience seeks to bring play and levity during these challenging and complex times. We value slowing down, accessing creativity and inspiration, and finding new ways of connection in a time of global crisis. We are folks who are all rooted in practices of social justice, community healing, celebration and change - and we warmly welcome folx of all grooves in life to join us. To learn more about the Playful Resilience Collective, please visit our Facebook page.
So, what does a Playful Resilience InterPlay Life Practice Program look like?
We will take the time to delve deeply into the wild world of InterPlay with the added lens and framing of social justice, equity and social and personal transformation. We are a diverse body-wise group who feel and reflect deeply on the particular socio-political aliveness of our times. We draw on our personal, collective and ancestral wisdoms to guide us in how to live into and embody the values of a free, just and radically loving global community. We are going to get political, silly, funky, cranky and all the in-betweens!
We will come together as a consistent group of playmates who meet regularly over a three month period including two weekend online retreats and Tuesday evening 2 hour sessions. We will play, learn, stretch and grow alongside each other and draw in this community of support as we journey together. We will have the space to identify a personal intention for the program and beyond - nurturing this desire as you attune more deeply to your own Body Wisdom. You will also receive two focus sessions as part of the program - this is specific play time where you get the chance to explore an aspect of life - a desire, curiosity, challenge, anything - using the tools and forms, while held in the container of community and guided by the program leaders.
Schedule & Details:
Immersive Weekends: January 9-10 & March 27-28, 2021
The program will begin and end with an immersive weekend of play - a chance to create and ground into our shared body-wise space with one another as the foundation and conclusion of the program. Soyinka Rahim will be joining the opening and closing weekends as a Weekend Weaver.
Weekly Playtime - Every Tuesday evening January 12 - March 30
4-6pm PT / 5-7pm MT / 6-8pm CT / 7-9pm ET
These weekly gatherings will be the beating heart of our program - slow and steady. We will gather weekly to connect, tune in & explore together. We will play with the various InterPlay forms and tools and engage in personalized focus sessions held in community. This is where we get to incrementally weave the wisdom of our being into our lives through incremental sharing, witnessing & noticing.
Opening Weekend - Saturday, January 9th & Sunday, January 10th (4 hours/day)
9:00 am - 11 am & 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PT
10:00 am - 12 pm & 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm MT
11:00 am - 1 pm & 2:30 pm- 4:30 pm CT
12:00 pm - 2 pm & 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm ET
This will give us the opportunity to connect and build our connection with one another, give shape to our playspace container and a chance for you to plant a seed of intentional for this journey.
Celebration Weekend - Saturday, March 27th & Sunday, March 28th (4 hours/day)
9:00 am - 11 am & 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PT
10:00 am - 12 pm & 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm MT
11:00 am - 1 pm & 2:30 pm- 4:30 pm CT
12:00 pm - 2 pm & 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm ET
This will be a chance for us to come together at the end of our journey, celebrate our body wisdom, tap into the diversity of our community and its gifts & to simply BE & PLAY with one another.
...and if you are looking to become a Certified InterPlay Leader stay tuned for the Playful Resilience Secrets of Leading & Teaching Practicum weekends which we hope to launch in April or May of 2021! After taking the Life Practice Program, you will be ready for the InterPlay Leader Training Program. More details to come.
Since its creation 25 years ago, the InterPlay Life Practice Program. has been an active, creative way to change your life and change your world. Although some previous experience with InterPlay is encouraged, there are no prerequisites for taking part in the Life Practice Program.
The Elements of the Playful Resilience Life Practice Program
• A series of 2 online weekends and 12 Tuesday evening gatherings with your Life Practice Program group for play, presentation, discernment, and interaction, where you will have a chance to explore new creative possibilities in a supportive community.
• Receive 3 focus sessions during which you receive personal support from the program leaders to learn how to access your body wisdom, learn a new tool/skill, and apply it to whatever situation you desire. One of the three focus sessions is optional and can be scheduled outside of the workshop series.<
• A Body-Spirit Celebration during the final weekend, to play with the InterPlay forms and share them with each other in a celebratory and honoring way.
• Reading, writing and art processes which will help you apply InterPlay insights to your own life.
• An InterPlay Core Elements Self-Study of several of the elements of the InterPlay system that will give you a more in-depth understanding of how InterPlay works.
• The Secrets of InterPlay weekend retreat is included in your tuition. It also includes participants who took the Art & Social Change Secrets in 2020. Participants may take another upcoming Secrets of InterPlay which is required if you are pursuing the Leader Training Program.
Financial Assistance
Diversity is a great gift in the InterPlay experience. Based on our commitment to Racial Equity and Transformation (read our statement here) and our understanding of other structural and personal inequalities that exist, Body Wisdom is committed to making our programs financially accessible.
Financial considerations need not be a barrier to your participation. Financial support and flexible payment plans are available. Please email Stephanie@interplay.org (or call 510/465-2797), or feel free to speak to one of the leaders of this program.
Continuing Education Credit
Up to 40 CE credits for various healthcare and allied healthcare professions are available for those practicing throughout the U.S. and for educators only practicing in Illinois. CE approval is required before you register for this event. Email Jane Siarny at interplaychicago@sbcglobal.net to APPLY for CEUs. There is a charge of $25-$40 per program. CEUs are offered through Continuing Education Institute of Illinois or R. Cassidy Seminars.
Cost: Special $300 discount: $1,950 (includes tuition for Secrets of InterPlay) / $1,000 for repeaters
Registration/Information: Registration Questions: email Lucia@interplay.org. For financial assistance: email Stephanie@interplay.org.
Leaders
Natalie Abdou
I have been on a life-long journey of curiosity and creativity, and have spent the last 10+ years connecting and collaborating with diverse communities, in North America and the Middle East, by co-creating learning environments that are founded upon shared values of diversity, love, respect and self-empowerment - embracing a vision of solidarity, social justice and change from the inside-out. I weave in elements of embodied wisdom, Theatre of the Oppressed and other visual/movement/story arts into my practice and see/feel the arts as portals for personal and collective transformation, providing space for our souls to dance, breathe, heal and unleash the deep wisdom that resides within. That is why my heart exploded with resonance and childlike joy when I came into connection with Interplay in 2015 - since then I have had the gift of mentorship and leadership within the Arts & Social Change program, of mentoring alongside Cathy Ann in the Life Practice Program, and co-creating with Interplay POC community as we explore and better understand the ways in which this diverse unique group body plays. I feel deep gratitude for the way in which InterPlay has danced its way into my life bringing with it so many quirks and magic.
Agnotti Cowie
Agnotti Cowie attended the first ever “Art & Social Change: InterPlay for Millennial Leaders” in 2010. Since, she joined InterPlay’s national board as well as becoming a certified InterPlay leader. For the past two years, she returned to Oakland as a facilitator of the Art and Social Change training. Agnotti facilitates workshops worldwide employing a variety of pedagogical techniques such as InterPlay, Theatre of the Oppressed, and Devising. Currently she is based in Chicago where she does workshops in schools, organizations and with social movements. Recently, she has taken her work around the globe teaching workshops in Vietnam, India, and Germany.
Sukhmani Kohli
Sukhmani uses theatre, clowning, body wisdom practices and her skills as an empathetic facilitator to assist others in releasing shame and practice self acceptance. She first experienced InterPlay in 2014 when she participated in the Arts and Social Change Millennial program in California. She has been leading InterPlay ever since. She believes practices like interplay are powerful entry points for moving through conflict and connecting with your own sense of magic, moving from scarceness to abundance. She works with children, young adults, working professionals, communities and organisations. She runs Purple Mangoes, a company of facilitators who call themselves experience builders, gleaners and artists.
Soyinka Rahim
Soyinka Rahim (GSP) is a grassroots spiritual practitioner who is the founder and artistic director of BIBOLOVE.US which stands for "breathe in breathe out love." She was also the founder of OurThing Performing arts company, where she created the modern-day folk dance play An Altar Piece to Alter Peace, a multimedia, intergenerational performance piece for peace. Her work BIBOLOVE taps into the power of sound, movement and visual art, raising the love vibration of peace, love, joy, happiness, health, grace, and ease. BIBOLOVE supports our personal and collective life challenges by feeding the love frequencies for generational, cultural, racial, body, and economic unity. Soyinka has brought her wisdom as a spiritual director, conference weaver and workshop leader to InterPlay Certified Life practice, Facing Race, National Association for Independent Schools for Teachers of Color,
Boys and Girls Clubs, Spiritual Directors International Conference, and the Parliament of World Religions.