Shift Poetry in the time of COVID-19, a Zoom class…

Wellness Curator and Co-Founder of ShiftPoetry™ , Barbara Ligeti introduces us to a spiritual and creative writing program.

Howard Kern and Wellness Curator, Barbara Ligeti

The founding partners, Howard Kern and Barbara Ligeti are offering an exclusive workshop for HipSilver on Wednesday, May 27th, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. please note ***Eastern Standard Time - These writing classes will be repeated monthly and topics will change with each class.  

The May 27th class will be available at no cost for the first twenty HipSilvers that sign up here. Once you have signed up, you will receive a confirmation, and Zoom Video to join them for this wonderfully creative and spiritual class.

They are taking their inspiration from their new book called ShiftPoetry in the Time of Covid-19 as a way for all of us to come to terms with a new reality. “In it, you’ll find a collection of poems written by our members and friends during our series of Zoom workshops addressing the topic. When taken together, the poems represent an ongoing exercise in self-reflection, self-expression, and self-healing.

“This anthology also allows you, the reader, to participate in the process with its “do it yourself” workbook feature, designed to bring ShiftPoetry™ directly into your homes and hearts,” said Barbara and Howard.

We have written out a flow chart of the ShiftPoetry™ workshop and what to expect during your two-hour session. See below: 

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1. Meditation lead by Ligeti to “settle in and settle down” and to create a safe and loving supportive space to pursue the work.

2. Prompts generated and delivered by Kern – to inform “sprint writing” at ten-minute intervals.

3. After writing – participants read aloud to the group. Because Kern’s prompts are designed to open the heart and leave the ego behind, much of what is written can be intimate and powerful. We say “what happens in ShiftPoetry™ stays in ShiftPoetry™. By the way much of what is written is exciting and fun.

4. On reading one’s work, the group then thanks to the writer as we move on to the next participant. There are no critiques about the writing itself and no comments about the content. We say that anything we write is perfect. Kern adds “perfectly imperfect” as a goal.

5. After we all share writings we have more cycles of writing and sharing. There may be surprise writing moments and word games to enliven the process.

6. After we are done there is ample opportunity to process what one has written and revealed – largely to self – both with Kern and Ligeti and with the group if that is desirable.

7. ShiftPoetry™ was initiated less than two years ago and in that period the process has helped so many people to heal, make positive life changes, heart-based decisions that have had a great personal effect.

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Note that once you write in the room – spontaneously and without “correcting” or feeling self-conscious – you own your words and can tailor them for public consumption or publication. We have had ShiftPoetry™ participants seed books, one-man shows, other forms of theatrical or literary writing.

“We are so thrilled to share our ShiftPoetry™ session with the HipSilver community,” said CoFounders, Howard Kern, and Barbara Ligeti

Three readings from the book, ShiftPoetry™ In the time of COVID-19

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