THE Practice
The Practice is a weekly yoga class with writing, drawing, rest, and ritual woven in.
Sundays · 7 -8:15 PM · Drop-in · Echo Park, LA
A Sunday class where yoga meets the ideas I use in therapy. We move, write, draw, and work with a set of objects I call Tools for Sympathetic Magic. You'll leave looser in the body and clearer in the head, with a better sense of how you want to meet the week.
PROTOCOL 75 MINUTES
0–5 min — Free writing on the theme of the week
5–25 min — Yoga with integrated breathwork, tuned to the week's theme
25–35 min — Guided inquiry and creative practice around the week's theme
35-50 min — Yoga continues. As insights bubble up, you’re encouraged to write or draw.
50-60min — Final inquiry and closing ritual
60-75 min — Guided nervous system reset with breathwork and visualization designed to expand your ability to enjoy your days with more ease, awe and joy.
LOGISTICS
When: Sundays · 7 to 8:15 PM
Arrive at 6:50 so you have time to settle in. Once the door is closed, there are no late entries.
Where: Held at Echo Park Creative Psychology, 1555 Sunset Blvd Ste C, Los Angeles, CA 90026 (door code provided upon registration)
How much: $20
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, Grief, 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 loss. 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, if letting go seems impossible right now, you can use the coffins to contain something for a while so that you can give yourself a break. You can put it down for the day and come back to it later, on your own terms. Sometimes the grief wants permission to exist to loosen its grip.
This is based on the EMDR Container exercise, made tactile.
The Echo Project
WEEK 2 — RITUAL BOWLS FOR PARTS WORK
Five bowls for the five stages of you.
I make Ritual Bowls for Parts Work. This week, they are at the front of the room as a visual aid—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 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.
Ritual Bowls for Parts Work → ledaleda.com/tools/ritual-bowls-for-partswork
WEEK 5 — SHADES OF GRAYLocating 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, black or white thinking, and how we might find more of a middle path. 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 see where you're certain, where you're in the gray, and which binaries you've outgrown.
This is CBT and DBT, made spatial.
Shades of Gray → ledaleda.com/tools/shades-of-gray
WEEK 6 — BLOOD FROM A STONEWhen 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. Are you addicted to the longing, the striving? We open with some free writing on this question, then move into yoga tuned to the theme. Twice during the class, we pause for the creative practice.
This is acceptance-based work, made tactile.
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 FRIENDThe map of your relationships.
This week, we work with my 100 Words For Friend worksheet, based on my dictionary that names friendships with as much nuance as some cultures have words for snow. We open with free writing, then move into yoga tuned to relational mapping. Twice during class, we pause for the creative practice. You'll place the people in your life into concentric rings, from your inner self at the center outward through the people you love, your community, and the wider world, using names, initials, or symbols. You'll see who's drifted closer, who's drifted out, who's missing, and which rings are full or sparse.
Relational work, made tactile: part parts-work, part boundary-setting, part the freeing practice of letting go.
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 some ideas for your self-directed healing journey. What do you need more or less of? Is there a modality you want to try? The theme is about self-directed neuroplasticity and what we need to make the changes we want to make. We open with some free writing, pick a block to have with you for the class, then move into yoga tuned to the theme of building a plan. Twice during the class, we pause for the creative practice. The healing path is a balancing act. There will be ups and downs. You’ll find your balance, and you’ll fall. And you’ll find your balance again.
This is behavioral activation or DBT, made tactile.
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