Book our exhibit, workshops or 10-week classes on alternative self-care for mental illnesses mind obstacles.
You Can Be Broke & Self-Care
Photo Interview Exhibit
“You Can Be Broke and Self-Care” is a photo interview project featuring 13 people in LA with mind obstacles practicing alternative self-care.
Our intention is to show that self-care doesn’t require spending a lot of money, or wearing expensive clothes. It is a rebellion against capitalism and societal expectations that productivity always has to be making or spending money.
See our blog post of the exhibit at Nous Tous Community Gallery here.
Through their stories and journal questions, find comfort and resilience, and learn emotional intelligence and self-care.
The exhibit can be up for a week if space is available, or for one day with a 2-hour tour included.
Dimensions of each of the 13 profiles are 4ft x 4ft.
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Self-Care for Mind Obstacles
Workshop
Learn to create your own self-care home practice with yoga, meditation, self-massage, affirmations, and eight methods to calm panic attacks in a community building environment.
Gain grounding, calming, and opening tools to take care of your mind obstacles and yourself as a whole.
Leave feeling more resilient, able to stay calm in tough situations, and able to let go of stress.
2 hours
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Panic Attacks Self-Care
Workshop
After years of struggling, Shannen has been panic attack free for more than a year thanks to her holistic healing approach.
Learn methods on how to help yourself and friends through a panic attack, hear Shannen’s story of her healing journey, and create your own Panic Attack Emergency Card.
See this link for a few examples of these methods.
Learn to help yourself and others through crisis, and to advocate for yourself.
1 hour
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Self-Care Gift Exchange
for Anxiety & Depression
Participants give and receive low-cost to no-cost self-care gifts and heartfelt letters to a partner.
We pair up participants based on advice they need and advice they can give.
Community building discussions take place during the event.
Students will gain empathy, compassion and community from receiving and giving kindness.
1.5 hours
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Meditation for Mind Obstacles
Workshop
Practice meditations to support your mind obstacles. We will also journal and discuss the meditation topic.
Taught by certified 500 hour trauma-informed yoga instructor and the creator of The Strange is Beautiful, Shannen Roberts.
Besides her training, Shannen draws from her own experience using yoga for her anxiety, depression and panic attacks when teaching.
Learn to confront issues surrounding your mind obstacles by creating space, time, and clarity of mind.
See our IGTV and #MeditationMondays posts on Instagram as examples.
1 hour
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Yoga for Anxiety, Depression & Panic Attacks
Learn how to practice yoga to manage your anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
You will be invited to discuss how each yoga practice felt. Based on your response, variations and modifications will be provided for more comfort.
Taught by certified 500 hour trauma-informed yoga instructor and the creator of The Strange is Beautiful, Shannen Roberts.
Besides her training, Shannen draws from her own experience using yoga for her anxiety, depression and panic attacks when teaching.
Gain tools to manage, release, and calm your mind obstacles in your daily life.
1.5 hours – 2 hours
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
10 Week Classes
The Strange is Beautiful
Read, discuss and practice alternative self-care including yoga, herbalism, tarot, self-massage, journaling and more. Based off of The Strange is Beautiful’s blog posts, research, and print publications.
Critically think and analyze alternative self-care resources to decide what self-care is best for you throughout a day.
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Yoga for Anxiety, Depression and Panic Attacks
Learn yoga asana (physical forms), pranayama (breath work), dhyana (meditation), and svadhyaya (self-study) for your anxiety, depression and panic attacks.
You will be invited to discuss how each yoga practice felt. Based on your response, variations and modifications will be provided for more comfort.
Other class discussions and journaling will take place as well.
At the end of the 10 weeks, you’ll have tools to continue practicing at home.
Taught by certified 500 hour trauma-informed yoga instructor and the creator of The Strange is Beautiful, Shannen Roberts.
Besides her training, Shannen draws from her own experience using yoga for her anxiety, depression and panic attacks when teaching.
Gain tools to manage, release, and calm your mind obstacles in your daily life.
Fill out the booking request form below for pricing and more details.
Testimonials
“The exhibit was truly unique because it was a shame-free zone. There was so much vulnerability shared within the crowd and the individuals who were part of the self-care exhibit. I really appreciated that there was questions prompted throughout the exhibit to make us think further than just looking at someone’s story.”
– Jocelyn Flores
“The exhibit was very intimate and showed human endurance facing tough mental obstacles. I thought that the bare bones approach and openness/interaction with the stories was honest and allowed for the art to become usable data for a future exhibit. What impacted me was the different types of ways that people made best their situation without access to mental health resources. Growing up, we didn’t even have the language. To know that even without direct access, and regardless of social media, there are creative ways all around you that are free and just as useful as therapy. The one that impacted me was listening to music and mediating. That helped me so much, up to this point, get by and make best with my obstacle of PTSD and major depression.”
– Carmen Flores
“The photo exhibit was wonderful. I loved seeing the difference mental struggles displayed along with how the individual healed. My favorite method of healing that I read about was by one girl who said she just goes to the park and listens to music while looking at the clouds. That spoke to my soul heavy.”
– Ariel Jimenez
“I loved how raw and real each story was. I felt myself in a part of each story/person featured. Their bravery and openness are inspiring. The first person to the left of the exhibit struck me the most, she also attended the talk or a short period of time. I like that she incorporated meditation in her healing.”
– Ani Kalafian
Featured at…
The Strange is Beautiful (TSIB) makes alternative self-care accessible for mental illnesses mind obstacles. Founded in 2014, we’re a blog, resource site, print publications, and events. We’re featured on Latinx millennial outlet Remezcla (millions of readers) and Lavendaire podcast (20k listeners). Plus, our workshops and zines were offered at Therapy for Latinx’s “Enlace” (35k followers), Nylon-sponsored Mothership Fest (26k followers), South LA’s vegan festival held by SUPRMARKT (18k followers), and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Fernando Valley zine festivals.
Hundreds of articles on self-care are published on our blog. These include yoga for mind obstacles, interviews of healers and artists, other self-care practices, book and media reviews, and #SadcoreSundays songs. Plus we offer free online yoga classes and guided meditations on IGTV.
Zines and print publications we released are “The Strange is Beautiful Alternative Self-Help Guide,” “It’s not as simple as just leaving” on domestic abuse,” and “Tips for Social Anxiety at a Party.”
Out of all of our in-person and online events, two of them are our favorites. “You Can Be Broke and Self-Care” exhibit drew hundreds in Los Angeles plus a high school field trip visit. Online “Self-Care Gift Exchange for Anxiety and Depression” had 158 participants across the United States and in Canada.
Visit us at TheStrangeisBeautiful.com or on Instagram @TheStrangeisBeautiful.
Shannen Roberts (she/her) is the queer, Peruvian-American, founding editor of The Strange is Beautiful, solo artist of Cusi Coyllur, and trauma-informed yoga instructor residing in Los Angeles.
Formal experience in mental health and journalism include:
- Bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge
- Mental Health First Aid training certificate
- 500 hours of yoga teacher training from YogaWorks, and a Trauma-Informed Yoga training
Informal training is her first-hand experience with her own mind obstacles since middle school, and her friends’ and family’s mind obstacles.