Fostering a safe space for creativity - with Shelley Albrich

Shelley Albrich is a high school art teacher based in Eugene, Oregon and a member of the Blue Cliff Zen group led by Shinkai Roshi (who I interviewed a few episodes back). She encountered Zen and Buddhism via a yoga class that Shinkai was teaching, when he invited the class to come on Zen retreat with him.

In this interview, we talk about how her Buddhist practice influences her creativity - both in her personal work and teaching. She describes how she sees part of her practice as fostering a safe space in her art classes for the kids, many of which have difficulties in their lives, to explore their emotions and express them creatively. She also discusses the ripples of difficult feelings and thoughts that arose when she was ‘involuntarily transferred’ from one school to another. Her meditation practice helped her to recognise this as a gift that highlighted her natural tendency to maintain the status quo and an opportunity to practice being less reactive. Towards the end of the episode we explore how sitting with difficult feelings is an act of deep self-love. Furthermore, she describes how the feelings of safety and being held when sitting in the presence of a caring community has helped her touch into painful emotions that might otherwise have felt too overwhelming by herself.

Shelley mentions going on a ‘Breakthrough to Zen Retreat’. For more information on these retreats, see here zenways.org/breakthrough-to-zen-retreats/
I also mention Zen brushwork classes with Noriko Yamasaki. You can find out more about her and her work here https://www.instagram.com/pianopianolife/