The Story of:

The Spark Your Sunshine Workshop Series

Spark Your Sunshine Mission Statement

Spark Your Sunshine is an original workshop series created by Kara Danas, a community artist, teacher, coach, and facilitator from Lowell, MA. The Spark Your Sunshine workshop series is rooted in the themes of selfless personal-identity work, self love, and self empowerment. Individuals of all orientations and backgrounds can participate in Spark Your Sunshine, where they will explore the origins of their own self expression, self love, and personal-identity through a succession of introspective and arts-based activities, all in a safe and welcoming environment. During each workshop installment, the modes of movement and dance will be used along with written and oral communication as participants self reflect on how they see themselves on both a personal and community group level. Those involved will walk away from this workshop series empowered with a new appreciation for who they are as unique and inspired individuals in both their personal lives and amongst their teams, coworkers, and fellow colleagues.

CONTACT ME TO BOOK A WORKSHOP SESSION FOR YOUR GROUP TODAY!

EMAIL YOUR INQUIRY TO: karadanas@sparkyoursunshine.com

Narrative

Throughout my time as an individual on this earth, and most recently as I have been coming into my adult life, I have noticed that there is a heavy prevalence of individuals who seem to have a disconnect from their own selves and who they are as a person. Within my own experience of being a dancer and mover within the New England dance community, it has become apparent to me that people of many ages and all types of backgrounds sometimes tend to lose themselves and their own identities while trying to deal with the trials and tribulations that life, and being a member of many different communities, brings.

4 KEY WORKSHOP SERIES LEVELS

1. Self Identity: Potential activities that dive into the world of identity and where a person stands in this world:
* Just by looking at me (images on the surface)
* Forced Identities
* Circle of Privilege

2. Self Actualization/Awareness: Helpful and informative takes on different “you” centered activities and information:
* Self awareness worksheet
* 10 questions we should be asking in regards to self awareness
* Ask yourself why? about the statements and actions you normally live by

3. Self Empowerment/Esteem: Thoughtful activities on what it means to be self empowered and hold a higher self esteem:
* Breathing exercises
* Creating your own positive affirmations to be said by you daily
* Gratitude Worksheet
* Reframing critical self talk
* Challenging core beliefs

4. Centering Oneself: Most likely one of the most important areas of focus for my workshop! This one website holds a great amount of information on what it means for a person to need to re- center themselves and reconnect back to themselves and their inner purpose.
* Intentional Breathing
* Mindful walking and feeling feet on the ground
* Zhan Zhuang stand like a tree

These workshops will be held at a dance studio space that will allow for participants to feel that they are in a safe, judgment free, and community building environment. Dim lighting, mirrored walls, and soft, relaxing background music will be used as tools to create the space that will lead to interpersonal and community sharing among those involved. Creating that safe space by making sure that those involved are comfortable with one another to share between their own selves and others is the main priority of the first part of these workshops. This part will include a group circle up, mood check, introduction time, and group activities within the space in order to build that sense of trust and community, one of the most important being that a main intention for meditation will be set as a group. This will be done before participants break into finding their own spaces to meditate on the group intention before the main workshop activities start.

The general flow of the activities in each workshop will be in 4 stages. The first of these is based around personal and community identity and reconnecting back to your sense of individual identity. The activities will then move into being self awareness and self actualization based. Then, activities centered around self empowerment and self esteem will follow that. All of these activities will have some type of movement component within them, but dance will not be what is most heavily focused on. Partner sharing will be a big aspect of this part of each workshop as well once the inner work and identity has been established. Each workshop will end on the concept of centering oneself and how to get back to doing so in a realistic and reliable way. Participants will then end on a self intentioned meditation and the goal is for them to be able to walk away from each workshop having ideas on how to self empower and re-center at home on their own time so they can use them in their own lives on a daily basis. Those that participated in the Spark Your Sunshine series will then have a new found sense of community and would have created more connections and bonds with those that they had not known before, hopefully creating future collaboration and maybe even some beginnings of further friendships.

After quite a few years of both teaching specifically dance centered workshops and being a participant in several movement and inner-calling, inner-mission workshops, I decided that I was going to create a workshop series of my own that would help anyone who chose to participate in it with reconnecting back to their own identity through the means of re-sparking their own self awareness and self empowerment. This is all in order to re-center themselves as the strong and powerful individual that I believe everyone has the capability to be. My goal for my Spark Your Sunshine workshop series is that in a world of uncertainty, those who participate in this new experience I am giving can at the least walk away with a newfound sense of empowerment and with a new appreciation for who they are as a unique and inspired individual.

INSPO:

This video was suggested by Vattana Thach, more research on the difference between the “what” and “why” when telling your personal anecdotes and inner mission. I am using this strategy during the “circle up” portion in the beginning of my workshop. This will help me form my “hook” before I share what participants will get out of my “Ignite Your Light” workshop series and why it will be worth it for them to experience.