Eyes of the heart

Eyes of the Heart

an immersive workshop with

Amber Johnston & Sarah Kowalski

Embodied movement • Energy body explorations • Practices of deep witnessing, fostering empathy, resilience, and connection

We live in a time when it is easy to feel fractured—from ourselves, from one another, from the world. Yet actual seeing is a skill the brain and heart can grow. We don’t simply see what is in front of us; we see through the filters of our past experiences, projections, fears, and stories.

Eyes of the Heart is an invitation to soften those filters.

Together, we practice seeing ourselves and one another with greater presence, generosity, and love—meeting whatever is here with curiosity rather than judgment. When we feel more whole inside, we naturally begin to see the wholeness in others, even in the midst of a broken world.

This is relational healing work. It is about how we witness, how we are witnessed, and how that changes everything.

This immersive experience centers on witnessing—yourself and the other—as a sacred, reparative act.

Through guided practices, partner work, movement, and reflection, we explore:

• How our perceptions are shaped by shadow projections and comparison
• What happens when we offer someone our full attention
• What it feels like to be seen without being judged, fixed, or made smaller
• How presence and attention become pathways to empathy, resilience, and connection

“Attention is the most basic form of love.” -- Tara Brach

Where attention goes, energy flows. And when energy flows, healing becomes possible.

We hope participants will leave with:

• A deeper sense of self-trust and inner grounding
• Language and frameworks for relating more consciously with others
• Greater compassion for themselves and the people in their lives
• New capacity to stay present with difference, vulnerability, and change
• Practical tools for witnessing loved ones—and strangers—with an open heart

This work is especially powerful for those who:

• Haven’t felt truly seen
• Are navigating changing relationships
• Long to feel more connected without losing themselves
• Want to respond to a changing world with love rather than fear

Being deeply rooted in yourself makes it possible to love others—even across difference. This capacity is not a luxury; it is essential for what lies ahead.

Our time together weaves ritual, somatic awareness, energy work, and movement into a cohesive journey.

Ritual welcome & threshold crossingWe begin by co-creating a sacred container—entering together with intention through ritual, tea, and shared presence.

Grounding & guided meditationArriving fully in the body and nervous system, creating safety for what will unfold.

Witnessing & shadow explorationGentle conversations about projection, comparison, and the ways we unknowingly filter what we see.

Partner witnessing practiceGuided visualization and creative reflection, offering language for what it feels like to truly witness and be witnessed.

Journaling & integrationExploring where projections may be active in your life and how they can soften.

Mitrea dance & embodied witnessingA powerful movement practice that invites vulnerability, empathy, and expression—being seen in emotion and movement without judgment or restraint.

Closing circleIntentional listening and reflection on how this practice can ripple outward into your relationships and the wider world.

• Intentionally small group (maximum 20 participants)
• Clear agreements around safety, consent, and emotional presence
• Space for common triggers around seeing and being seen
• No fixing, advising, or performing—only witnessing
• Permission to be big, quiet, unsure, expressive, or still

Seeing another person in their vulnerability is an honor. Being witnessed in yours can be profoundly healing.

Date: Sunday, March 15

Time: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Location: Summit Church Common Room

Cost: $43

You don’t need prior experience with movement, meditation, or energy work. You only need a willingness to show up and meet what’s here—with curiosity and care.

You will leave with a little more room in your heart—for yourself, for others, and for this complicated, beautiful world we share.

Facilitated by Amber Johnston & Sarah Kowalski

Sarah Tarr Kowalski (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, teacher, and healer based in Germantown. Her art explores themes of radical transformation -- personal, cultural, and natural. In 2022, Sarah created Entering the Cave: Sacred Practice for Artists, a series designed to foster community, inspiration, and miracles among artists and creative people facing their next block or pushing against their next edge. She brings a background in yoga, somatics, Buddhist philosophy, shadow work, and Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects into her offerings, which all aim to create supportive containers for liberatory growth. As a facilitator, Sarah has this way of expanding your belief in your own potential. She loves to hone in on the thrum of what sparks you

Amber Moon Johnston (She/Her) is a local Photographer/Artist/Healer. She has always been moved to make art about the human experience. In 2007 she embarked her healing journey, beginning in grad school, making photographs of her body about dissociation and healing from trauma. In the years since she has become a reiki master, studied Vipassana meditation and somatic therapy, and been heavily involved in women’s circles, diving deep into her own experience with self worth and body image as well as holding space for other women to be seen by her camera in her Goddess Photography work. In 2014 she traveled to Australia to become a certified Conscious Dance facilitator. (Dancing Freedom) She has been holding workshops that integrate all of her experience with healing and movement for the past 5 years.

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