THE WOMAN, THE ARTIST AND THE YOGINI
Running head: THE WOMAN, THE ARTIST AND THE YOGINI
The Woman, the Artist and the Yogini: An arts-based phenomenological study of expressive arts and yoga with special attention to their political implications
Christine June Cromack Selda Doctoral Dissertation European Graduate School
THE WOMAN, THE ARTIST AND THE YOGINI
Abstract
This dissertation looks phenomenologically at the creation of a synthesized methodology of two different fields of practice and knowledge: Expressive Arts and Yoga. The research combined these methods in five group healing sessions to observe the phenomena through the lived experience of six research participants. This study collected data through: (i) six one-hour personal interview transcriptions, (ii) phenomenological writings after each research session, (iii) transcripts of the focus group discussions, and (iv) all of the mixed media artwork and poetry made in the research project. The writer/researcher engaged in arts-based research as another method of data collection to direct the study and write the dissertation as a whole. The conceptual framework for the research focuses on the philosophy and practices that make up the methodologies of both Yoga and Expressive Arts in their separate fields of study. Particular attention is given to all aspects of practice used in the research groups’ synthesized methodology of both fields. Yoga and Expressive Arts have differing world views and philosophies, as well as overlaps in their theories and methods. The research joins the conversation that is already present by looking at some of the practitioners who work with therapeutic art practices together with spiritual practices in professional settings of healing. The findings are mapped through the different aspects of the yogic sacred geometry map of the Shri Yantra. Each participant’s arts-based research of their six mixed media pieces and poetry begin the section. The coding using the structure of the Shri Yantra follows, bringing the essences forward from the phenomenological textual data of the transcriptions as a whole. The Shri Yantra in Yoga is the perfect map of the macrocosm reflected in the microcosm.
The researcher’s arts-based research led the methodology to integrate the dissertation as a whole, with the final revelations being set out in the discussion section. Along with the arts-based research are ‘two takes’ phenomenologically writing about the art process and five phenomenological transcriptions
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of the ‘revelation’ process from the researcher. From this mapping, the dissertation takes its most crucial turn. The big surprise and grace given from this research project is the turn directly towards social justice and the #Me Too Movement. This phenomenological arts-based study finds itself situated in the #Me Too Yoga movement of our time. The ‘living the research’ process became a critical phenomenological aspect of this fusion of methodology. Upon completion of the research as a whole, it is discernible that the addition of phenomenology to the Yoga and Expressive Arts fusion created the capacity for the weaving of the human to the transcendental and creative agency. This methodology resulted in participants having the lived experience causing the capacity for self-revelation and self-empowerment, no guru necessary. The response to the moment is the action of expressive arts and social change. The art promotes, holds, inspires, and transforms into the form of social justice and social activism. The research project concludes with a map of methodology to refresh traditions in a further project to join the conversation of evolving Yoga and Expressive Arts within a phenomenological practice.
Key Words: Yoga, Tantra, Expressive Arts, Phenomenology, Arts Based Research, #Me Too
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Dedication
Devi Kali
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Oceans of gratitude to:
My advisors Stephen K. Levine, Paul Antze and Stephen McNeil.
My children Cedar, Jasper, River, Indigo and my husband, Jamie Selda.
My parents, John and Sylvia Cromack, my brother William, and my Auntie Jennifer. The land of the Sea to Sky, British Columbia, Canada.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1 Purpose of the Research Study:…………………………………………………………………………… 1 Rationale for the Study ………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Researcher’s Definition of Key Terms: ……………………………………………………………….. 5
Chapter Two: Conceptual Framework /Literature Review………………….. 7 Yoga ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 The Tree of Yoga……………………………………………………………………………………………………10
Six Branches of Yoga Main Principles and Practices: ……………………………………… 12
Raja Yoga ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………12
Jnana Yoga………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
Karma Yoga ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13
Bhakti Yoga…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14
Hatha Yoga …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14
Tantra Yoga ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15
Tantra in History:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………17 Worldview of Tantra:……………………………………………………………………………………………………..18 The Three Malas …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….19 The Four Upayas…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….19
Sadhanas: Practices of Tantra Yoga: …………………………………………………………………………………23
(i) Meditation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 23
(ii) Shri Yantra and Bindu ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23
(iii) Kundalini…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
(iv) Chidakasha ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
(v) Pranayama …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
(vi) Asana………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
(vii) Nada ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26
(viii) Mantra ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
(ix) Mudra …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26
(x) Yoga Nidra ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
Creation of New Methodologies- ………………………………………………………………………. 27
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Origins of Yoga Nidra: …………………………………………………………………………………………………..27 The Architecture of Yoga Nidra Practice:……………………………………………………………………..29 Koshas and Associated Practices:………………………………………………………………………………….29 Additional Elements of the Yoga Nidra Practices:……………………………………………………….31
Savasana…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31 Nyasa – Rotation of Consciousness …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 32 Breath awareness: Pranayama ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32 Visualizations ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 33 Chakras …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 34 Sankalpa………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 35
Differing World Views: Tantra Yoga and Expressive Arts……………………………….. 36
Phenomenology & Yoga ……………………………………………………………………………………… 38
EXPRESSIVE ARTS ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 40
Philosophy: Ministering to the Soul………………………………………………………………………….42
Poiesis …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………43
The Third …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….43
Resource & Process Oriented and Architecture of a Session ………………………………….44
Structure, Methods and Theories: Imagination ……………………………………………………….45
Presence & Process ……………………………………………………………………………………………………46
Philosophy of Expressive Arts Therapy: Poiesis and the Therapeutic Imagination
(Levine, 2019)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..49
VIII. Expressive Arts and Social Change………………………………………………………………………….53
JOINING THE CONVERSATION……………………………………………………………………………. 55
Arts-Based Research 2- Stepping Further into Groundlessness Christine June…………….63 Arts-Based Research 3- Circling the Point……………………………………………………………………….68
Chapter Three: Methodology ………………………………………………………………….. 69Phenomenology as Methodology ………………………………………………………………………. 69 Research Design…………………………………………………………………………………………………..71 Arts-Based Research 4- Soul Doll Christine June …………………………………………. 72 Data Sources……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 72
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Data Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 73 Sampling Procedure …………………………………………………………………………………………… 74 The Role of the Researcher ……………………………………………………………………………….. 75 Location of the Study………………………………………………………………………………………….. 76 Researcher’s Epoche………………………………………………………………………………………….. 77
Chapter 4: Findings …………………………………………………………………………………. 79
Transcribed Information from Participant Information Forms with individuals’ Arts Based Research:…………………………………………………………………………………………. 83
Participant P: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………83
A LIFE WELL LIVED ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 83
WOLF MOON ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 84
FOR YOU ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 85
THIRD TIMES THE TRY ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 86
THE DOUBLE-SIDED PUZZLE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 87
Participant B: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………89
CREATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 89
LISTEN………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 90
BEYOND LANGUAGE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 91
DIVINE WILL ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 92
THE HEART OF YOUR CREATION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 93
FULL CIRCLE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 94
Participant O: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..96
1. EMERGINGSHIMMER………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..96
WHAT MATTERS? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 97
I AM LOVING ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 98
BREATH, LOVE, WHOLENESS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 99
STORMY STAR ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………100
NURTURING CIRCLES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….102
Participant G:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 103
LINES AND CIRCLES ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..103
HOME ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 104
UGLY GAPS AND HEART BRIDGES ………………………………………………………………………………………………….106
ALL IS ALL…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………107
BEYOND…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 108
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6. EVERYTHING & NOTHING …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………109
Participant C: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 112
MY HUMBLE BUMBLE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..112
THE SECRETS OF EBB AND FLOW …………………………………………………………………………………………………..113
SPIDER WEBS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….115
HIGHWAY OF TEARS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..116
LIGHT …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 118
Participant J: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 120
LOOKING-PATIENT READINESS………………………………………………………………………………………………………120
UNTITLED ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………121
ECLIPSING VISION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..121
ANTLERS OF THE MIND……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………122
PLAY …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 123
Coding Essences:………………………………………………………………………………………………..126
I. SARVA-ANANDAMAYA CHAKRA, SARVA-SANKSHOBHANA CHAKRA and SARVA-SAPARIPURAKAS CHAKRA ……………………………………………………………………………….. 127
SARVA-SIDDHIPRADA……………………………………………………………………………………………. 134
SARVA-ROGAHARA CHAKRA,……………………………………………………………………………….. 139
SARVARTHA-SADHAKA CHAKRA …………………………………………………………………………. 141
SARVA-SAUBHAGYADAYAKA CHAKRA………………………………………………………………… 144
TRAILOKYA-MOHANA CHAKRA ……………………………………………………………………………. 146
Transcription Essences Bolded for Coding:……………………………………………………..150
Circle and Bindu Coding…………………………………………………………………………………………. 150
Shakti Coding…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 155
Awareness Coding ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 167
Connection and Protection Coding……………………………………………………………………….. 169
Play and Duality Coding:………………………………………………………………………………………… 169
Desire and Expectation Coding ……………………………………………………………………………… 171
Synthesis of Findings …………………………………………………………………………………………173 Chapter 5: Discussion & Researcher’s Arts-based Research ………… 175 Lost And Found: Finding The Map……………………………………………………………………..175
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Arts-Based Research Map…………………………………………………………………………………176 Arts- Based Research Documentation: Following The Third ………………………… 177 Figures 1-53:………………………………………………………………………………………………………..177
Phenomenology of ABR Methodology ………………………………………………………………210
TAKE ONE:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 210 TAKE TWO:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 216
Five Phenomenological Transcriptions……………………………………………………………228
Tracking #ME TOO -My Lived Experience Map ……………………………………………….228
Researcher’s Phenomenological Transcription 1:………………………………………………………….230 Researcher’s Phenomenological Transcription 2 – The Cover Up:……………………………….232 Researcher’s Phenomenological Transcription 3 ………………………………………………………….. 233 Researcher’s Phenomenological Transcription 4 – Disentangle ………………………………….. 234 Researcher’s Phenomenological Transcription 5 – The Call to Rise…………………………….. 235
SOCIAL ACTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………….238 The List ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..241
Why are Yogis susceptible to Perversion, Abuse of Power and Sexual Abuse?…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 242
LIVING THE RESEARCH: FINAL TRANSCRIPTION:…………………………………………..244
ARTS-BASED RESEARCH 5:…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 246 ARTS-BASED RESEARCH 6: Soul Doll Angelina ……………………………………………………………. 251
Further Research Proposal: Refreshing Traditions: The Woman, the Artist and the Yogini…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….252
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………. 255 Epilogue………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 258 References: ………………………………………………………………………………………………261Appendix: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….266
Full Transcriptions ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 266 Yoga Nidra Scripts……………………………………………………………………………………………..342
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Chapter One: Introduction
The first act of Shakti/Shiva: Shristi (Manifestation): The creation of forms within the screen of Awareness.
Purpose of the Research Study:
This study aims to investigate a methodology of practice; to study phenomenologically what
happens to participants when they engage in the synthesis of methods from two fields: Expressive Arts and Yoga. The research focus is a series of group therapeutic sessions that combine the methods of Expressive Arts Therapy and Yoga practices. The research is concentrated on two questions: 1) what is the experience like; and 2) what has meaning in the experience of participating? There is no hypothesis with phenomenological research. Pure phenomenological research seeks essentially to describe rather than explain, and to start from a perspective free from preconceptions. It is not important to change or improve on what came before or prove a difference. Therapeutic work with Expressive Arts and Yoga is already being practiced in the world today. The purpose of the research is to provide phenomenological data towards a theory of a methodology: that of Expressive Arts and Yoga methods practiced together. The purpose of the data is for a greater play range and perspective for those doing this work with people. What is the essence of this way of practicing for participants? What happens when we change the methodology of practice and add Yoga to Expressive Arts Therapy sessions? At its essence, this research study is an ongoing process of phenomenological investigation of the lived experience of participants who practice Yoga and Expressive Arts Therapy together in a group scenario.
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Rationale for the Study
I, myself, am being transformed by the experiments with different methods of practice that I am
doing along with others. I believe it is ethical on my part to provide attention to and critical analysis of what is happening in people’s experiences when they partake in this therapeutic context. Secondly, the rationale for this research is to make space for the phenomenon of this creative act to reveal itself. I hope to raise the level of integrity of this way of working by giving attention to each participant and reviewing the phenomenological processes they underwent during this research. This work is being used and taught to others through the teachers that I have been training over my career. I believe this research will contribute to refining this technology so that it can evolve and be of great value and service to others. I work in the social service sector of my community wearing a variety of different hats at any given day. I work in elementary and high schools, Universities, transition houses, Women’s centres, while also running a private practice, as a clinical supervisor, yoga teacher, yoga teacher trainer, shamaness, energy healer and teacher. The list goes on and I am also a mother to children who will be a part of leading the future. This is probably the reason why the play with methodology has been persistent and relevant for me, professionally. In all my therapeutic work, I am hired to do the same thing. I am hired to hold the
THE WOMAN, THE ARTIST AND THE YOGINI 3 space and be in a relationship with others who are suffering in some way or another. I am hired to guide them back to themselves and provide them with strategies and tools so they can achieve their own self- empowerment. My job is to help them shape a new existence for themselves that can hold the conflict they may have inside so it does not harm them or others. I am hired to inspire new ways of being in the world, to give new perspectives to places of restriction, to provide tools to remember hidden resources or very simply to provide life skills. All my work is based on therapeutic relationship and teaching. I lean heavily on myself as an artist while wearing all these hats. I have always felt that my work is my art. The different spaces I focus on to shape and hold for this community, I feel would not be possible if I were not able to bring my art or use my own artistry. I create curriculum as a collage that I hope will tell me what direction I need to go to serve the students of the moment. I trust the art to hold and guide my teachings and strategies. How do I bring yoga when I am hired to act as clinical supervision for the ministry’s “stopping the violence” counsellors? How do I bring in the Expressive Arts to a yoga class? Why is the research relevant? For me, it is because I am the practitioner that is implementing these new methods into my practice. I want to see any blind spots or cracks in the foundation so I can tend to them before passing these technologies forward. People trust me, I want to be accountable for that. Experimenting with methodology of practice has been my creative endeavour for the past 20 years.
THE WOMAN, THE ARTIST AND THE YOGINI 4 The yogic practices that are used in my work as a whole come from a diversity of sources including: 1) Bhakti yoga, 2) Patanjali’s eight-limbed system of Yoga, 3) Buddhist influences of thoughts and meditation, 4) Shankaracharya’s commentaries and scholarly discourses on the Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita, 5) Tantra yoga’s systems of self recognition through the Pratyabijnahrdyam and Shaivite Sutras of Kashmir Shaivism and, 6) the Shakta texts of the Devi Mahatmyam found in the Markandaya Purana. The poetry of the Upanishads is the guiding text I began sourcing from to form an understanding of what the yogic worldview consisted of by way of practices, direction, and framework. The Upanishads opened my mind, leading to deep self-reflection and giving way to practices that dissolved boundaries and limitations of perception. Expressive Arts has been an ongoing study of mine since I taught my first workshop in 1999. I was asked to do the opening fire ceremony for a Wellness Retreat on Gambier Island. They asked me to also teach a yoga class and an arts-based wellness workshop which I called “Art is Medicine”. In the workshop, participants wrote their life story as a metaphor of a river and then made it into a mixed media art piece that was then shared with the group. At the end of the workshop, a participant came up to me and handed me Shaun McNiff’s book Art as Medicine and asked me if I knew that I was doing Expressive Arts Therapy. I laughed then, I said I know what I am doing but I did not know that it was called that. Ten years later I received my Masters of Arts degree in Expressive Arts Therapy. Life is often like that; it reveals something you are already familiar with and presents it as somehow unique or new. It took me 10 years to get a certificate that said I knew how to do something that I had already been doing successfully for the past 10 years. It took me 10 more years to integrate and refine my practice and to unlearn the strategies that didn’t work in my education so I could continue to practice with my own
methods. So, here I am again, unlearning through learning.
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Researcher’s Definition of Key Terms:
Arts-based Research:
Research that is carried out through the arts, particularly the researcher themselves making art. It also refers more widely to any data collection that is gathered through the arts.
Decentering:
The act of moving away from the problem in an expressive arts session where the art becomes
the centre and a liminal space is held.
Expressive Arts:
A field of study and practice that utilizes intermodal art making as a vehicle for therapy,
education, coaching and conflict transformation.
Feminism:
The social movement and philosophy that bases its work on equality for all women, men and
children.
Healing:
Practices that direct the participant to wholeness and well-being.
#Me Too Movement:
A current feminist movement on social media (hashtag is from Instagram) responding to and
exposing those guilty of sexual predation of women and children and men, globally.
Methodology:
A system of practices and philosophy associated with a style of research.
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Phenomenology:
A branch of philosophy and research that grounds itself in the context of lived experience. It deals
with consciousness, thought, and experience.
Poiesis:
The act of making as knowing. Originally attributed to poetry, in the field of expressive arts,
poiesis refers to any modality of art making.
Sadhana:
The practices of a student of Yoga.
Tantra:
A branch of Non-dual Yoga that has its roots in shamanism with specific techniques and
philosophies particular to it.
Tantrika:
A practitioner or scholar immersed in the study of the system or science of Tantra.
Y oga:
Y ogi:
Y ogin:
Neutral gender, a practitioner of Yoga. Yogini is feminine, Yogi is masculine.
Yogini:
A Sanskript term for a female master practitioner of Yoga.
A doctrine of teachings and practices used for the purpose of self liberation.
Technically, the male term for a master practitioner of Yoga.
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Chapter Two: Conceptual Framework /Literature Review
The second act of Shakti/Shiva: Stitihi (Maintenance): Maintaining these forms.
This approach involves respecting the past and rejuvenating the present. Through refreshing traditions, we can stimulate the emerging and active voice of now. This literature review is setting the stage for the inquiry around the methodology of practice and framing the research. The conceptual framework comprises of theoretical analysis of the principal philosophies, worldviews, methods, and practices of the two bodies of knowledge: Tantra Yoga and Expressive Arts. This chapter will begin with a broader perspective of Yoga historically and discuss the six main branches and practices of the different styles of Yoga. The practices used in this research primarily source from Tantra Yoga methods. Aspects of all the branches of Yoga are within the research group methods of practice and some of the practices of all branches of Yoga are also presented. The literature review will cover each of the principles and practices of Yoga used in the research and follow with the same inquiry into Expressive Arts Therapy and the practices used explicitly in the research architecture. Yoga Nidra is expanded on as one of the main techniques used in the research study and also as an example of a creation of a new methodology of practice combining modern practices and Yogic tradition. Concluding this chapter is a brief discussion of others doing similar work combining arts-based therapeutic work with spiritual practices.
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