Hi, I’m Maria, the owner and sole facilitator of Handwork Connections.
I love to create safe, inclusive, welcoming spaces for people to experience Handwork Circles, Yoga and Meditative Art circles as well as Mindful Making Circles. I also enjoy making things with sustainability at heart and sell handmade Mindful Making Kits and sustainable artware.
After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, I went on to study to become a teacher. For 25 years I taught and trained in various specialty areas, from Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Learning and Support, Steiner/ Waldorf Education and Steiner Handwork. My career and life took a turn for the greater good after I experienced mental and physical burnout. I shifted gears, slowed down, returned to practices of creativity and movement that supported my mental health and my physical health. I pivoted to become a qualified 200hr Yoga Teacher with Yin Yoga specialisation.
This journey allowed me to redirect my skills and to work in a way that was more aligned with who I am and my core values:
Authenticity
Creativity
Sustainability
Affirming Individuality
My teaching style is personal, warm, humorous, inclusive, trauma and mental-health aware. I thoughtfully make adjustments to meet you where you are at, as an individual, in a point in time.
My aim is to bring the therapeutic benefits of Mindful Creativity and Yoga to the community, especially people who are neurodivergent or those who care for individuals who are neurodivergent. Mindful Creativity and Yoga are amazing tools that can help people reconnect with their body, their breath, understand their mind, understand their nervous system and to connect deeply with their individuality and their soul.
Creativity and Yoga can support the mental and physical health of every human.
As a parent, a teacher and a neurodivergent person, I have experienced first-hand the many benefits of the connections made between our head, heart and our hands through creativity and movement. I have seen and experienced the impact these connections have on the way we experience ourselves, other people and the world around us.
I would love to support you through Creativity and Yoga…. come and join me!