Areta & Joalida have teamed up to offer a unique therapeutic wellness opportunity through the combined practices of meditation and art. We will focus on reconnecting with our true selves through intention setting, visualizations and creative expression.

Most of us live hectic lives that drain our attention and energy, keeping us very involved in what is outside ourselves.  The 90 minute sessions will include visualizations and meditations to re-establish an inner connection with yourself.  We will harness this enriched perspective to create art to solidify your inner knowingness.  Let’s show up, find our center to encourage a new, more aligned and productive self!

You will have the opportunity to work with a range of media, from collage, ink, acrylic, even journaling – there is no prescription. The aim is to create an image that symbolizes an intention you set for yourself.  *Over three sessions we will learn to understand the forces that hold us back, the rituals that may keep us stuck and create a path for self-accountability.

For enriched creative expression we offer snacks and bevies, soft, relaxing music and a gathering of like minds. 

Areta Verschoor has been teaching yoga in Lake Forest and in yoga studios along the North Shore for 14 years and is E-RYT 500 Certified.  Areta’s passion is bringing yoga to Every BODY. She has additional certifications in Meditation, Adaptive Yoga for Disabilities, Senior Yoga, Love Your Brain for traumatic brain injury, Yoga for Eating Disorder Recovery, Yin Yoga, and Yoga for 12 Step Recovery.  Areta teaches yoga to inspire and empower physical well-being, spiritual balance, and awakening for everyday life.  She is a long-time resident of Lake Forest and a disability advocate and volunteer yoga coach for the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA).

Joalida Smit is a Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist who lived and worked in London (UK) and Cape Town (SA) for the past 20 years. She pivoted to full time artist during COVID and now runs an art studio at The Gorton Center working on large scale canvases. Currently she is exploring innovative ways to incorporate art in the psychology work of personal transformation.