QTIBPOC Grounding Workshop: Circles of Connection

What are grounding workshops?

Switchboard's QTIBPOC Grounding Workshops are free community gatherings, specifically for queer, trans and intersex people, who are Bla(c)k and/or people of colour.

‘Grounding’ means to return to our bodies, in time and place, and reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the land. We bring people together and practice grounding through different expressions and practices.

Recalibrating & Connectivity: A three-part series

Join us for our final workshop in a three-part series, Recalibrating & Connectivity, curated by Jackie Sheppard and Rosie Clynes.

Come and develop your practice of belonging and co-existence, through:

• Connection to place (land, nature, place-based relationality)

• Connection to self (cultivating the inner creative voice)

• Community connection (community making, lateral relationalities & co-operation).

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About this workshop: Circles of Connection

This workshop invites participants to reflect on nurturing our communities and set intentions. As we move into a new year, and through tumultuous times, how can we build more sustainability in through our circles of connection?

Jackie and Rosie will co-facilitate this workshop, beginning with a group meditation with Jackie. Rosie will then present some gentle writing prompts, around what it means to be a community member and to cultivate community around ourselves. We will then have time at the end to share and reflect together.

Jackie and Rosie will share from their cultural frameworks. Jackie will draw from First Nations perspectives on linking personal connections and broader community resilience to our relationship with the land, while Rosie will draw from Asian collectivism, through the Indonesian perspective of ‘gotong royong’ (‘building together’).

This is a great opportunity to connect to nature and practice self-reflection and connection, with QTIBPOC community.

What to expect

We will meet at a location by the Merri Creek, Coburg - exact location will be shared via email two days before the workshop. Some off-path walking will be required.

Expect a group of up to 5-15 people QTIBPOC people. We will be invited to sit on the grass, and picnic mats and camping chairs will be available.

The workshop will be gentle and low-stakes. You can share as much or as little as you would like to with the group.

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About the facilitators

Komang (Rosie) Clynes is a Balinese/Celtic-Australian singer, artist and electronic music producer based on Wurundjeri Country with a background in community arts, wellbeing and youth music.

As an artist, her work explores themes of landscape, ancestral knowledge and Balinese philosophy. As an arts worker, Rosie has a strong interest in community healing and has produced and facilitated workshops for marginalised creatives and young people, including electronic music production workshops.

Jackie Sheppard is an interdisciplinary performing artist whose practice is grounded in dance, performance, embodiment, writing, installation, workshop facilitation, and somatic storytelling.

Through their creations, Jackie attempts to identify and interrogate intergenerational, ancestral, and embodied storylines, interrogating First Nations themes, as relevant to their personal lived experience as a First Nations person.

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Reducing illness in our communities

COVID-19 is a leading cause of death and hospitalisation in Victoria.

In general, a person who tests positive for COVID-19 may be infectious for up to 10 days but are most infectious in the 2 days just before their symptoms start, and while they have acute symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough, and fever). Most people infected with COVID-19 are still infectious after 5 days.

Please stay home if you have recently either tested positive or experienced acute symptoms linked to COVID-19 (which include: runny nose, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills and/or sweats). For more info, see Health.Vic for more information.

Free face masks will be available.

Access needs

If you have access needs or questions regarding travel along the Merri (or any other access needs or questions), get in touch via qtibpoc@switchboard.org.au. We will explore what options are available to ensure your engagement can be meaningful.

Important to note

These workshops are not designed as a substitute for therapy, counselling or professional mental health care services. If you need someone to talk to, or would like to be linked in with these supports, please contact our Rainbow Door helpline or QLife. By registering and agreeing to participate in this workshop, you acknowledge and understand the above considerations.