A Journey into Being
By Aisha Radwan, Educator, Psychotherapist, and Expressive Arts Therapist
Being who we are is like returning home. It feels familiar, there is a sense of comfort, and it takes so much courage to let go of who we think we are or how we should be, and just rest into being.
Expressive Arts have been the path of my returning home, to my body, my core, and my true essence, connecting to my wisdom, allowing life to flow within me, around me, and between me and everyone I come to meet. Through the Expressive Arts I have found a beautiful, intimate way to truly meet with my clients and, as a psychotherapist, connect them to a place within themselves where they connect with their wisdom and resources. Together, my clients and I co-create deep states of safety that allow them to rediscover and explore themselves and reflect on how they view the world.
As well as being the title of this essay, A Journey into Being is how I would describe my collaboration with Markus Scott Alexander. It is a journey that has so far included forty-five students in the two cohorts that we have held these past two years. We spent almost a year preparing for our training programs, uninhibited by borders of nationality, location, and time, allowing us to simply be as humans: first, together and, secondly, in becoming practitioners.
In this collaboration, I learnt so much from Markus’ wisdom, quality of presence and views on the theories of Expressive Arts Therapy.
A question that I always stay with and ask my clients and students to contemplate is this:
“What kind of thinking can embrace chaos without falling into despair?”
We live in a world in which many can experience a feeling of helplessness, loneliness, loss, and even rootlessness; all the more so this past year, when the world has experienced the collective pain of witnessing war in many countries.
My strong belief is that, through the arts, we can get back to ourselves, returning to inner peace as a resource, and root back into our wisdom, thereby weaving a collective awareness. The universe is one being and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories that can be told through the Expressive Arts.
The therapeutically effective, embodied work that we have done throughout the training—held by myself and Markus, along with other international Expressive Arts educators—has created many insights for the participants. But what I care about is the quality of presence in their daily lives that has shifted after having experienced the training. That, and that our time together has touched their lives.
What follows are some words from the first-cohort participants, expressing how this training, as an embodiment journey, has affected them.
Shahira Kamal had this to share: “I have experienced tremendous change since I started my journey with EXA training, as an artist myself, it's a practice that is an eye opener to the magic of unfolding layers using arts and somatics, the gentlest forms of connection and expression. And I only realised how beautiful it is when I established the felt sense through the process myself, it's a lifestyle, not just a healing process. I only wish for the whole world to embrace it.”
Nour Elgohry expressed that “For me, Expressive Arts made me rediscover the painter, the actor, the dancer, the vocalist, the poet, all in one within me!
“How exciting! When I was a child I wanted to be everything, all at once! Because everything seemed to have its own kind of fun! And I believed as a child that I was all in one. But as I grew older I lost contact with my dancer, my poet, my singer. Through the Expressive Arts I was led back to my true being, the love of creating and just having fun! It also made me appreciate life in colours, even in the simplest things, like when I’m cooking and cutting carrots and green peppers and I admire the beautiful, radiant orange of the carrots and that smell of life in the green of that pepper!”
Dalia Nabil, who experienced a great shift through the training, said, “I always struggled to express what I felt. But through EXA therapy it was different. For me, it was like exploring life from the beginning. It felt like a baby taking her first step into her inner world through imagination. After each session I was amazed by how the body was holding that much of beauty, being able to enter from one art modality to another and keeping the flow of your emotions steady and released in a very gentle way. Now I became more self-aware of my flaws and seeing how different and unique they are is priceless and no word will ever be able to describe it. Now I am not afraid to explore myself, knowing that I am working with my problems, not running away from them. I became more present with people around me. Only now I can always ground myself through nature. As simple as hugging a tree or just sitting on the ground and leaning on it. To sum it up with a quote: “You are here, your thoughts come and go, but your body stays,' as Markus always says.”
Rania Samir: “I enjoyed my journey through Expressive Arts Therapy training so much, I discovered many weak areas of myself, and learned how to accept them and deal with them softly, not to deny them, or get shy of them. I learned how to see beauty in ugliness if we call it so, it’s not at all now, as I can see it as a part of the full picture, having some shadow areas complimenting the lighter ones, I learned how to relax and enjoy nature much deeper, and much more things in my process that I can’t just phrase them in words.”
Maisara Salah shared that, “The work [felt in] Aisha and Dr. Markus' training is transformational. They create a safe space for growth, self-expression, academic rigour, art-making, and playfulness. All in one place. I’m so grateful for them holding this deep experience, that will take my work into another level that is full of authenticity, harmony, and healing.”
Life is beauty, and it's with the Expressive Arts increases our ability to appreciate its beauty, and embody it in every way.
Founder and Director of Expressive Arts Egypt Organization
Regional Committee co-chair of IEATA
International Committee Co-Chair of Expressive Arts Without Borders
Faculty, Somatic Expressive Arts Training - Diploma Program
Aisha Radwan is an educator, psychotherapist, and expressive arts therapist. She founded Expressive Arts Egypt and co-chairs committees for IEATA and Expressive Arts Without Borders. Aisha teaches at various institutions, including Behman Hospital, ARCH College, and UNICEF projects. She also received the Rising Star Award from IEATA in 2023.