Love is love - healing from minority stress

As a gay/bi/trans/queer being we often grow up feeling we are the only one and this can create a terrible sense of isolation. Hearing negative things about being gay/bi/trans/queer when you were a child or teen may have caused minority stress, which is the experince of being judged, condemned and criticised for not fitting in with the majority culture's idea of what it means to be a man. We may have then internalised these negative beliefs, resulting in low self worth. Minority stress can cause complex PTSD in some people.

This results in a feeling that there is something wrong, bad or deficient about ourselves which gives rise to shame and low self-worth and we find it hard to trust others.

In this workshop we recognise our shared experince, and by hearing from each other we create a space where each person is held and we can heal through feeling part of a community instead of being alone.

"This workshop was very powerful for me....to imagine that gay boy being valued, celebrated, and cherished -- not just by my now-self, but by his whole community -- was new for me. This new connection felt like progress in healing my inner pain and disconnection from myself."

Book your place here

One of the exercises we do is to identify the negative inner beliefs and transform them into affirming statements that nurture us. We finish the day with an inner child visualisation where we bring these positive messages to our own inner child.

Sharing our stories and experiences allows us to connect and recognise that we were not alone.

In this workshop I'll share stories from my own childhood and teenage years that explore what minority stress is and how it was established in me through these moments of shaming or being made to feel wrong and there will then be space to share your own experiences in small groups and to hear each others stories.

I've led this workshop at the Berlin Stretch festival and in London and people have found a sense of shared experience as they listen to others tell their stories. Hearing our own experiences told by others is very powerful and healing. We often grow up feeling isolated as a gay/bi/trans/queer child and this workshops allows us to feel our connection to others like us.

Click here to watch a video outlining what to expect from the workshop

Date: Saturday 4th May

Location: 21 Effra Space, Brixton

Time: 2 - 6.30 pm

Cost: £59 full price
£29 concession

Even if there are few or no RSVP in this meet up the event is going ahead as people book from a variety of places.

Book your place here

BIO: Nick started meditating 30 years ago whilst at University. After graduating he joined a Buddhist commune for three years. In 1998 he ordained at a Buddhist monastery for 7 years in the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajhan Chah.

Since coming to London in 2005 Nick has trained in Tantra and Sacred Intimacy as well as secular forms of meditation tuition and Tibetan Tantra. He has led the weekly gay/bi/trans men’s mindfulness group since 2009 and teaches meditation to individuals and companies as well as offering massage and other somatic healing work 121.