What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 4am Tuesday 10am - 4am Friday 10am - 4am

ESNSE, 4/36 Railway Street, Blackwall (2025)

05/09/2025

✨ EAQs. the Questions Waiting to Be Asked ✨
As ESNSE grows, I know there are wonderings bubbling up… about what this work is, how it feels, and who it’s for. So I’m gathering them here, not as a strict FAQ, but as Expected (to be) Asked Questions. A playful way to share what makes this work different, and maybe spark some new questions of your own.

Have a joyful weekend! ♥️☀️

29/08/2025

🫆Why do we make and view art? And why do I work out of an art gallery? .au

Because it feeds our humanity… it sparks imagination, expression, connection, and meaning.

• We create art to communicate when words fall short, to transform our inner worlds into something tangible, to heal, to explore, and to belong.

• We gaze at art, and something within us slows - our nervous systems calm, imagination awakens, and emotions stir. Neuroscience shows that viewing art activates brain regions tied to emotion and reward, not just visual processing.

• Art nurtures the nervous system by reducing stress and cortisol; whether through art therapy or other expressive therapies that engage the imagination and creative impulses, we tap into neuroplasticity, emotional regulation, and cognitive rest.

• Recent studies show real benefits. A 2025 review of 38 studies involving over 6,800 people found that even a single exposure to visual art - whether in a gallery, hospital, or virtual space, can significantly enhance eudaimonic well-being (feelings of meaning, purpose, and personal growth).

• In another study, simply contemplating beauty in art prompted more abstract, expansive thinking and helped people mentally step back from daily anxieties.

• “Arts on prescription” programs and cultural activities have also been shown to decrease depression, anxiety, isolation, and even lower stress hormones physiologically.

All of this suggests art isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline. Whether you pick up a brush, wander through a gallery, or pause on a painting online: art grounds us, expands us, and reminds us who we are.

Make art. See art. Be changed by it.

Featuring art works by: , , Jason Te Puia, .oconnell.art and .art

28/08/2025

♥️What’s in a name?

ESNSE (ˈɛs.əns) n. The art of perceiving with awareness; essence unfolding through the senses.

It looks like sense, it sounds like essence.

It holds the tension of both - perception and being.

ESNSE is about seeing differently, feeling deeply, and letting your awareness become a compass. But it’s also an invitation to ask:

🫆Are we aligned with our purpose?
🫆Are we willing to let go of the fear of being judged?
🫆What happens when we meet ourselves with curiosity instead of critique?

Because creativity often emerges when fear loosens its grip, when mind and body reconnect, when we belong to the rhythms of life, and when we rediscover the spark that’s always been inside us.

Its essence expressed, sensed, and shared.

27/08/2025

What’s On in September with ESNSE

As spring arrives, September invites renewal - a season to reconnect with creativity, community, and the senses. Here’s what’s blooming next month:

Spring Writers’ Circle
A creative gathering for writers of all stages. A space to share words, spark ideas, and connect in community.

Making Sense Workshop
A 2.5-hour sensory wellbeing workshop exploring the 8 senses, breathwork, and expression. Come curious, leave connected to your inner compass.

Find Your Essence
I’ll be opening enrolments for this 6-month journey into reclaiming your senses, rediscovering your expressive archetype, and finding your flow - stay tuned!

The Quest in Early Education
I am continuing to collaborate with early education centres to deliver The Quest - a Reggio-inspired program designed to help educators reconnect with creativity, curiosity, and their inner compass.

Art Advisory Project - Central Coast Council Mentoring local artists to bring creative expression into new spaces, creating calm and sensory aware spaces.

The Survivor Hub
I’m honoured to be co-facilitating this group for survivors of sexual abuse - a safe and supportive space for healing and connection.

🎈However you choose to join ESNSE - whether through words, senses, education, or community, September is about renewal, expression, and flourishing.

☀️DM for details or check the link in bio for bookings and enrolments.

26/08/2025

Hello, I’m Sam - just in case we need a reintroduction . I’m so glad you are here. ✨

I’ve always been drawn to what some call the ‘third space’… the in-between meeting point where our senses, our stories, and our creativity shape the way we heal.

As a psychotherapist, writer, and artist, for the last 20 (!) years I have been researching the link between art, the senses, and wellbeing. Through this I have discovered many things, most importantly that engaging our imagination and sensory world can be profoundly regulating for the nervous system and deeply transformative for how we experience ourselves and others. This has led me to develop ESPT (Expressive, Sensory, Perceptual Theory).

🫆My own expressive archetypes are the Philosopher and the Storyteller, meaning I love exploring ideas, finding meaning, and weaving words, feeling and metaphor into connection. But there is so much more to it… I could go on and on… (as many of my friends and family already know).

I live and work on the CC Peninsula with my two beautiful kids (6 and 4), hubby Al, and two quirky cats. I love coffee or a good dirty chai, and when I am not at work I am probably at home rearranging the furniture. (Sorry fam).

And yes, red is a vibe.

I created ESNSE as a body-meets-mind approach that blends neuroscience, expressive practices, and philosophy. It’s rooted in the belief that perception is the foundation, our senses our compass and creativity our essence.

A workshop with me is fun, expressive, experimental, but always gentle. I’ll invite you to play, explore, and discover how your senses can guide you back to calm, joy, and self-trust.

And if you’d prefer to work solo in a traditional therapeutic context, I continue to hold space for select clients via 1:1 sessions. Reach out if that feels right for you, and we’ll find a time together.

♥️Welcome to ESNSE. Here we explore how senses and creativity shape our wellbeing. I believe this work is essential - but I’ll let you be the judge ;) Making Sense and Spring Writers Circle enrolments now open with more offered soon.

☀️Link in bio.

25/08/2025

The ESNSE Philosophy

♥️ Creativity is our essence

At the heart of ESNSE is a belief: At the heart of ESNSE is the belief that creativity is our essence, the way we express, connect, and find our compass back to joy.

Creativity is not just about art, it is the act of becoming visible to yourself through your senses, your choices, and your presence. For thousands of years, humans have used voice, rhythm, symbol, and story to release tension, connect, and heal.

Modern science now validates what our ancestors always knew: the body holds our history, and expression is how we return to balance. This is why we’ve developed Expressive Sensory Perceptual Theory (ESPT) - a framework that blends perception, sensation, and expression as pathways toward flourishing.

ESNSE is your invitation to embark on that journey, to reconnect with your essence and to pave your own way to joy.

✨ Your essence is your compass.
✨ Your creativity is your language.
✨ Flourishing is your birthright.

25/08/2025

Welcome to ESNSE: A space for creative and sensory wellbeing. This is where psychotherapy, art, science and lived experience meet to help people reconnect with their inner signal, discover new ways of expressing themselves, and find joy. It’s not about fixing… it’s about flourishing. I can’t wait to walk this next chapter with you.

Our three pillars include:

Workshops, Tools, Programs.

Delivered through Creativity, Connection and Curiosity.

To my 1:1 clients, and those who seek individual support I will always be here for you. Please reach out if you would to make a time xx

25/08/2025

✨ Today I am launching something new. Something bold. Something brave. (Something red!) And if I’m honest, I’m nervous! (But we know what happens when we decide not to listen to the voice that says “stay small”…

For years I have walked alongside people as a psychotherapist, writer, and artist. It’s been incredible. I’ve listened to stories, studied the nervous system, and explored how we heal through creativity. But I’ve also lived it.. discovering my own expressive archetype, learning when my nervous system feels safe to express, and finding the conditions where I slip into flow.

What I know is this: creativity is not a talent, it is our essence. It is the compass we carry inside us, guiding us back to joy, self-trust, and flourishing.

This is why I’ve created ESNSE.

ESNSE is not pure therapy. It is a journey. A weaving together of ancient practices and modern science, of expression and perception, of philosophy and lived experience. It’s fun, it’s flourishing. It’s joy knowing that we have lived, have bruises, broken hearts and.still.show.up.

It’s self trust and radical self acceptance (thanks Tara Brach).

Today ESNSE is born and I’ll share our pillars. And over the coming I’ll be sharing more about the workshops, programs, physical tools (that are in the pipeline!) and stories that invite you to reconnect with your own essence. To find the language that belongs to you. To flourish in what can be an overstimulating world.

I am walking the walk… moving beyond the safe edges of standard therapy, and stepping boldly into what I know to be true: expression heals, perception transforms, and creativity is (no matter how you create) a doorway to joy.

♥️ Welcome to ESNSE.

25/08/2025

Second pillar: Programs

🎈Journeys of expression and flourishing

ESNSE offers more than one-off workshops. Our programs are immersive journeys into expression, designed to help you reconnect with your body, your creativity, and your inner compass.

Our flagship program, Finding Your Essence, is a 6-week exploration of ancient practices and modern psychology. Each week, we open a new doorway - voice, clay, rhythm, story, symbol, to help you regulate, express, and flourish.

This is not therapy. It is a guided return to your essence, a chance to understand yourself more deeply and carve your own path to joy.

✨ Launching soon.

16/05/2025

Winter news -

ESNSE

05/09/2025

29/08/2025

28/08/2025

27/08/2025

26/08/2025

25/08/2025

25/08/2025

25/08/2025

25/08/2025

16/05/2025

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