THE PRACTICE
The Practice is a Nervous System Reset · A six-week curriculum that repeats
A weekly yoga class with writing, drawing, and ritual woven in. We close with a long guided rest.
Sundays · 6:30 PM · 75 minutes · Drop-in · Echo Park, LA
Melt away the Sunday scaries. Practice nervous system regulation tools in preparation for the week ahead. Learn how to manage stress. Take time to move your body, check in with yourself, and set yourself up for a great week.
PROTOCOL 75MINUTES
0–5 min — A weekly theme prompts free writing
5–25 min — Yoga with integrated breath, tuned to the week's theme
25–35 min — Guided inquiry and creative practice around the week's theme
35–55 min — Yoga continues
55–60 min — Final inquiry and closing ritual
60–75 min — Find Ocean as you rest
LOGISTICS
When: Sundays · 6:30 PM · 75 minutes · Drop-in
Where: Held at Echo Park Creative Psychology, 555 Sunset Blvd Ste C, Los Angeles, CA 90026 (door code provided upon registration)
Open to: Adults 18+. No prior experience with yoga, meditation, therapy, or art required.
A 6-week curriculum on repeat
The Atlas Project
WEEK 1 — COFFINS Containment and internal boundaries.
The Coffins I make are at the front of the room this week. We open with some free writing, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of containment. Twice during the class we pause for a creative practice with the coffins. You draw or write something on a piece of paper, place it inside a coffin, and put the lid on. The coffins can hold something you want to let go of, or contain something for a while so you can give yourself a break. The thing has a place to be. You can put it down for the day and come back to it later, on your own terms.
This is the EMDR Container exercise, made tactile.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
The Echo Project
WEEK 2 — RITUAL BOWLS FOR PARTS WORK Five bowls for five stages of you.
The Ritual Bowls are at the front of the room this week — five ceramic bowls, one for each stage of your development. We open with some free writing, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of parts work. Twice during the class we pause and I'll guide you through a meditation to get in touch with one of the parts of yourself. You'll write a message to that part, place it in the bowl, take time to listen to what the part has to tell you, and write back what it needs to hear.
This is IFS-inspired parts work, made tactile.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
Ritual Bowls for Parts Work → ledaleda.com/tools/ritual-bowls-for-partswork
WEEK 5 — SHADES OF GRAY Locating yourself in the gray.
This week we work with a worksheet from my Shades of Gray project. We open with some free writing, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of dialectical thinking. Twice during the class we pause for the creative practice. The worksheet has opposing words — Loved/Unloved, Anxious/Calm, Brave/Afraid, Cancelled/Pedestaled, Good Person/Bad Person. You'll mark a dot on each spectrum where you currently live, then connect the dots into a personal constellation. You'll see where you're certain, where you're in the gray, and which binaries you've outgrown — where the framing was the problem.
This is CBT and DBT, made spatial.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
Shades of Gray → ledaleda.com/tools/shades-of-gray
WEEK 6 — BLOOD FROM A STONE When to stop extracting.
This week we work with my Blood From A Stone project. The question we open with: where in your life have you been trying to get blood from a stone? Pushing for a feeling that won't come. Demanding answers from a relationship that doesn't have them. Trying to crack open a frozen place by force. We open with some free writing on this question, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of cessation. Twice during the class we pause for the creative practice. You'll find your hardened place. You'll render the stone. You'll write what you've been trying to extract. You'll write the line back to yourself: maybe you should stop.
This is acceptance-based work, made tactile.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
Blood From A Stone → ledaleda.com/tools/blood-from-a-stone
Class created and led by Leda Maliga, associate therapist. AMFT #161245.
Supervised by Vanessa Spooner, PsyD, LMFT #PSY24942
WEEK 3 — 100 WORDS FOR FRIEND The map of your relationships.
This week we work with the 100 Words For Friend diagram — concentric rings, from your inner self at the center, outward through the people you love, the people who hold you, your wider community, the larger world. We open with some free writing, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of relational mapping. Twice during the class we pause for the creative practice. You'll place the people in your life into the rings. Names, initials, symbols. You'll see who's drifted closer this year, who's drifted out, who's missing, which rings are full, which are sparse. The map is honest about who you let close.
This is attachment work, made tactile.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
100 Words For Friend → ledaleda.com/tools/100-words-for-friend
WEEK 4 — MENTAL HEALTH BLOCKS Building the week.
The Mental Health Blocks are at the front of the room this week — wooden blocks inscribed with the things that hold a life together. Sleep. Boundaries. Therapy. Laughter. Reframe. Equanimity. Pleasure Without Guilt. We open with some free writing, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of building a plan. Twice during the class we pause for the creative practice. You'll come up and choose the blocks that name what's currently holding you up, what's missing, what's wobbly. You'll build a small tower at your mat. Then you'll write a plan for the week ahead. A real plan is a tower — some blocks steady, some slipping. The work is rebuilding.
This is behavioral activation, made tactile.
We close with find ocean as you rest.
Mental Health Blocks → ledaleda.com/tools/mental-health-blocks
From past workshops
“With simple tools, lunch hour timing, free access, and an online format, Leda's Healing Arts Hour workshop series provided the rare combination of a highly accessible and deeply meaningful art experience. She combined visioning exercises with drawing and group reflection, offering a powerful entry point to an introspective art therapy practice and an avenue for connection with other creatives across the state. ”
— Erica Garber
“I want to thank you so much for these workshops and all that you shared with us. Your generosity of spirit was inspiring. I was only able to attend two of the four classes but I got a lot out of each one. The mapping lesson project (9 circles) especially resonated with me. I enjoy working with teens and I think that could be a great project to do with them as they navigate that time when friendships are so complicated and always shifting.”
- Julie Williams
“Thank you so much for this class. I regret having to miss the last three sessions due to work commitments, as I truly loved the content of the healing arts hour and was able to take a deep breath after today's class. “
-Huskee