Free Poetry Class: Forms of Attention


Dear Reader,

It's a beautiful, warm day here in New England. It almost feels like summer again, but the leaves are starting to change, and the days are getting shorter. As we enter this new season, which calls for more subtle forms of attention, poetry can be a companion.

I hope you'll join me next week live online for a completely Free Masterclass: The Poetry of Attention. I'm offering the class three times next week; sign up for the time that works best for you.

The Poetry of Attention: Free Masterclass

Can't make any of the times?
Sign up for Friday's session
(September 20th) to get the recording.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke says about poetry:

“The work of the eyes is done. Go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you.”

The other day, I was spending time with a dear friend who had a life-threatening illness. On the outside, she looked completely healthy. But she and I both knew that there was a whole other story that she was living.

At times of great trial and transition, what do we turn to? I turn to my spiritual practices, and I also turn to poetry, which, for me, is both an art and a devotional practice. It helps me see underneath the surface of things, to what is really important. It helps me discover for myself, my own inner compass, my own heart-work, my own space of understanding and meaning.

With everything going on in our busy, struggling world, it's all the more important that we practice tuning into our inner vision and reconnect with that inner knowing.

I hope you'll join me in next week's free class as we explore how, through poetry, we can tune into ourselves. Whether you're a complete beginner or a seasoned poet, this class is designed to welcome you into the joys of poetry with new awareness and deepen your writing practice in any genre.

In next week's free Masterclass, we'll:

  • Use poetry as a guide to listen more deeply with our ears and also with our heart, body, and inner intuition.
  • Look closely at the ways in which poets such as Mary Oliver, Walt Whitman, and Lucille Clifton translate the work of the heart.
  • Explore techniques and skill sets that poetry teaches so that you write with more precision, and a greater ear to language, nuance, and meaning—whatever genre you work in.
  • Dispel some of the common myths and misconceptions about poetry.
  • Enjoy time meditating and writing together.
  • Have time for questions and answers.

If you have something in you that you are yearning to express and want more tools so you can attend to it more deeply and put it on the page, I’d love to see you in this (completely free) Poetry Masterclass. You don't need to consider yourself a poet to join! :)

This Masterclass will last 75-90 minutes (depending on the number of questions I get) and is for writers of all levels of experience. Choose the time that works best for your schedule, and if you can't make any of them live, sign up for Friday's class (the 20th) to get the recording. :)

  • Thursday, September 19th at 3pm ET / 12pm PT / 8pm England
  • Friday, September 20th at 12pm ET/ 9am PT / 5pm England
  • Monday, September 23rd at 7pm ET / 4pm PT

I'll hope to see you there next week. :)

As always, reach out with any questions. And invite friends to join us in the Free Masterclass by sharing this email or this link. :)

with love,
Nadia

PS: Want to go deeper and immerse yourself in the inner work of knowing and making? I'm so looking forward to being together in person with a small group of writers in myFinding Joy through Poetry Retreat. September 29th-October 4th.There's still time to sign up! This will be an Immersive 5-Day Writing Retreat at the beautiful Omega Campus in Rhinebeck, New York. Be inspired by poetry, write (in any genre), meditate, move, listen deeply, connect with nature, and join a small, intimate community of writers. This promises to be a space of transformation and magic that will last far beyond our week together. Learn more and register here (Space is limited, so sign up now).

Nadia Colburn, PhD

Join 30,000+ other mindful writers and find tools, tips Find tips, classes and resources Align Your Story Writing School, we bring traditional literary and creative writing studies together with mindfulness, embodied practices, and social and environmental engagement. Join a community of over 25,000 other mindful writers. Get the tools and community to write your best work.

Read more from Nadia Colburn, PhD

Hello Reader My first real love as a writer was for poetry. And today, in honor of the spring, my son's 26th birthday (I started to write poetry seriously when he was born), and poetry itself, I invite you to join me next week for a free Poetry Masterclass. In the class, we look closely at poems by Mary Oliver, Walt Whitman, and Lucille Clifton and explore the ways poetry helps us pay greater attention to language, ourselves, and the world around us. The free class will be available for you...

Dear Reader, It's April; spring's here in Cambridge. The days are beautiful, and yet, I'm also aware of violence and injustice. I want to share a poem from my book I Say the Sky, a poem about coming to accept one's own story, while also seeing the ways in which none of us is separate. It can sound easy to say we're all interconnected, but being interconnected isn't easy. In my writing classes, one of the things students struggle with most is how to tell their own stories when their stories...

Dear Reader, I hope you're taking care. For those of you who celebrate Eid, Eid Mubarak. And for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, happy spring equinox. We've tipped into spring and longer days—the first blooms on the trees and the first bulbs are flowering here in New England. I was at a silent retreat last week, and this Saturday, Eric and I spent the day at the ocean, watching the waves crash in and out. In the afternoon, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out. We walked by witch...