Filling Your Mindfulness Cup

An Experience of Movement and Making

This experience is an opportunity to combine mindfulness, movement, and creativity…with intentionality. The time spent with us will allow you to release into the moment, form clay with your hands, explore the movement of your body, and ignite inspiration for your mind.

LESLIE? Need your help here…Our lifestyles are programmed and brimming with tasks and duties to others typically and finding balance, even for an afternoon, can change one’s perspective. We offer you this opportunity to slow down. This experience is intended at a minimum for you to feel rested and carve out time to reflect, and possibly even realize a creative spark.

We will explore movement through yoga—for novices as well as more advanced—and focus on being present in the moment. Our instructor will lead you through a series of …… LESLIE!

In exploring forming clay, we will focus on creating a cup. A cup is one of the most intimate objects many of us interact with daily. We hold a cup of coffee or tea in our hands, warming our bodies and spirit. We will explore pinched cups, coiled cups, and Yunomi tea cups, a handle-less, casual Japanese teacup used for everyday drinking. We will explore design and handle considerations and share stories of our most favorite or memorable cups as we make. We will explore aesthetics and functionality of the humble cup with a mind toward creating not only a beautiful, but functional object that you can use daily.

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Leslie Cargill is __________.

Tamsyn Leigh Bodwell is a ceramicist located in Biddeford, Maine, and owns and operates Mill Pond Ceramics Studio, a community clay space offering classes and memberships. She teaches basic wheel throwing as well as hand-built forms. Bodwell is inspired by the beauty and simplicity of Asian ceramics, including the simple Yunomi forms as well as the spontaneity of wood and Raku-style firing. Her greatest joy in creating the community studio is seeing others become absorbed in making with clay, realizing both the social and meditative nature of the craft.

Location

Set at a working farm in southern Maine, Black Rock Farm, the natural surroundings evoke a sense of peace and contentment. Feel free to wander before or after this workshop and spend time on the property in any of the public areas built for your enjoyment.

Attendees

Workshop size will be limited to ten or fewer to allow space for each participant generous room to make and to move. The workshop is geared toward those with no or very little experience with clay, yoga, or mindfulness, or those who are more advanced who are looking for a change of scenery and environment to help further their skills. This workshop is designed to provide a holistic experience that nurtures your body, mind, and soul.

What to expect?

Your afternoon will begin with introductions of fellow participants and instructors. 

Leslie will then lead you as you focus on breathing and some gentle movement to warm your body and calm your mind to prepare for the making of your cup. 

Once you’ve completed your cup, you will then join Leslie for a _____??_____ yoga session.

To complete the experience, we will offer participants a warm cup of tea or a refreshing sparkling water, to be drunk from a vessel either made by or chosen by Tamsyn Leigh Bodwell to close the circle and prepare you for the rest of your day.

We encourage the sharing of stories, building of camaraderie, but also welcome you to sit in quiet mindfulness and focus on nothing but how you are feeling in the moment.

Finishing your cup

The cup you make during this workshop will be carefully carried to Mill Pond Ceramics Studio for its first firing, then glazed to your specifications, and fired again. This process takes between 2-3 weeks. We will either hold the cup for you to pick up if you are still here in Maine or you can opt for shipping when you’re registering for this workshop.

TO REGISTER

https://www.tamsynleighbodwell.com/shop/p/november2025