Improv Wisdom Everyday
A Playful Path to Courage, Creativity, and Connection
Jikoji Zen Center, Los Altos Hills, CA * Thu-Sun, March 12th-15th, 2015
or
Mere Point Cottage, Brunswick, ME * Fri-Mon, June 12th-15th, 2015
Enrollment limited to approx. 14 participants for each workshop
The practice of improvisation teaches something that we are hungry to understand: how to be in harmony with each other and how to have fun. –Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom
Improvisation offers far more than comedy, encouraging an embodied presence that breeds courage, connection, and creativity. In short: improv makes life better.
As improvisors ourselves, we know this truth in our bones and we’ve had it reaffirmed again and again with our students and clients. Artists and athletes build resilience in the face of setbacks. Leaders learn to innovate with nimble acuity and authentic relationship. Educators find powerful paths for true development. And seekers of all sorts discover previously hidden wellsprings of insight and joy.
This active and contemplative workshop explores improv wisdom from the inside out. Together, we create a safe, playful, and experiential learning lab that sharpens self-awareness and revitalizes relationship with the wider world. Yes, you’ll laugh a lot. And you’ll almost certainly come to see your world with new eyes and a refreshed sense of possibility and vitality.
More specifically, we’ll help you:
- Find and express greater spontaneity
- Transform your approach to failure
- Increase your sensory acuity and in-the-moment awareness
- Trust your creative leanings
- Reach new levels of generosity
- Improve your communication: better listening, clearer speaking, deeper understanding
- Collaborate with greater ease
- Get resourceful in the face of chaos
- Tell better stories
The view to Casco Bay from Mere Point.
Prerequisites
Do you have little or no prior experience with improvisational theater? Perfect! This workshop’s for you. Those with more substantial improv chops who want to tap its deeper levels are also most welcome. No particular religious or spiritual path is required, but those with an inquiring heart and open mind will gain the most from–and contribute the most to–the experience.
Steeping myself in these principles for peaceful, playful living has been a true gift. Thank you. –Kathy R.
Ted and Lisa are awesome teachers! Patient, kind, and fun; they brought out a sparkle in all of us. –Jen C.
This workshop was everything I hoped for and much more. You created a safe environment for us to play and did so many things to foster our creativity. –Eric H.
About the Instructors
Ted DesMaisons has been synthesizing innovative approaches to learning for over 25 years. Combining humor with gravitas and intention with inspiration, Ted helps create safe spaces for exploring what really matters. Since completing his graduate work at Stanford (MBA) and Harvard (Masters of Theology), Ted has studied improvisation with Patricia Ryan Madson, Bay Area Theater Sports (BATS) and Loose Moose Theater in Calgary, Alberta. He is the founder and principal of ANIMA Learning and a trained Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor. He writes regularly about improv, contemplation, and positive reinforcement on his ANIMA blog (www.AnimaLearning.com/blog).
One of the most recognizable and most beloved teachers of improvisation in the world, Lisa Rowland has performed, coached, and conducted corporate trainings with San Francisco’s BATS mainstage company for more than eight years. Students from Palo Alto and the Presidio to Amsterdam and Arabia rave about the way she combines power and generosity in the service of their learning. A graduate of Stanford University and an uncannily astute observer of what’s needed next, Lisa was named the 2012 San Francisco Actor of the Year.
Location and Accommodations
Our March retreat takes place at the Jikoji Zen Center in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains, just 45 minutes south of San Francisco and 20 minutes northwest of San Jose. The Center’s rolling coastal hills and meditative spaces make an idyllic setting for our time together. For more information about the setting, please visit the Center’s web site: http://www.jikoji.org/faqs/.
Our June retreat will convene in a warmly welcoming summer cottage on the stunning coast of Maine, about 45 minutes north of Portland and 15 minutes outside of Freeport, the home of LL Bean. We’ll enjoy wide open vistas of Casco Bay and the islands, the inspiration of tides coming and going, and the restorative quiet at the end of peninsula. We’ll also allow time for swimming, kayaking, and boat rides if folks want it.
In both locations, we will share three delicious vegetarian meals each day and participants can expect to stay in simple, clean rooms, two to a room.
Cost
$750 per person. Includes all program fees, three nights lodging, and three meals per day. 50% payment due upon registration; full payment due by January 15th. Deposit refundable (minus $25 processing charge) if the workshop is full and you or we are able to find a replacement. $50 discount for any referral who attends the workshop.
Registration/Contact Us
To register, click on one of the light blue buttons above or follow this link. if you have any questions about the workshop, please contact either facilitator. We’d be delighted to talk with you!
Ted DesMaisons: Ted@AnimaLearning.com Lisa Rowland: lcrowland@gmail.com
Sunset view from the trails at Jikoji Zen Center.
Who am I here in this moment? What choice is needed now?
How can I help those around me?
How does this story connect me to something larger or deeper?
