Cahaya Expressive Arts Therapy

26/06/2025

29/05/2025

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF HKCC HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE
🌍✨ HKCC Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Community College is inviting residents of the Ku-ring-gai community to a special open art session as part of its 100-year celebration!
The concept for the artwork is to celebrate its diverse community through art, with over 121 nationalities represented.
Participants will paint a small magnetic canvas using acrylics to symbolise their country of origin—a national flag, iconic flower, animal, or landmark. Each piece will become part of a Centennial Collage, representing the beautiful cultural fabric of Ku-ring-gai.
🖌 When: Monday, 2nd June
🕜 Time: 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
📍 Where: HKCC Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Community College Level 1, Suite 2/45-47 Hunter St, Hornsby NSW 2077
🎁 Plus, there will be time to create an extra mini artwork to take home!
This is an open/drop-in session—all welcome, no art experience needed! 🌟
📌 Who can join?
Residents of these Ku-ring-gai catchment suburbs:
Wahroonga • Warrawee • Turramurra • Pymble • St Ives • Gordon • Killara • Lindfield • Roseville
Check your suburb here 👉
🎨 This event is fully funded by the Ku-ring-gai Council Financial Assistance to Community Groups Program.
Bring a friend, bring your story, and help us paint a picture of community and connection 💛

'Ku-ring-gai Council - Maps' (version 0.1 - beta launch)

17/05/2025

A stroll in nature. The smell of wet soil. The sounds of birds and bats. Colourful autumn trees. Lush green foliage. The sound of flowing water. Walking on wet leaves. Sitting on a wooden bench. Soaking the sunlight. A peaceful place to chill on a Saturday morning. Parramatta Park.

05/04/2025

Ciao, if you are like me and love Italian food, here is a cosy place where you can enjoy some authentic Italian food. What a wonderful surprise it was to come across Baci Café in the food court at Westfield Parramatta. Emmanuel, the Italian barrista with a lovely Italian accent, made a delicious coffee . I bought a baguette with tomato and cheese from the friendly young lady at the counter. A variety of salads cost between $ 5.00 small to 6.50 large. Lots of vegetarian options. Yummy. Gnocchi in semi dried tomato & pesto sauce cost $ 12.90 S and $ 16.90 L. Non vegetarian options are also available. Highly recommend this place.

05/04/2025

Walked past this stand this afternoon. Lots of religious statues, candles. gifts. The stand was on level 4 at Westfield Parramatta. For more information visit BESPOKE & CO. CANDLES.

04/04/2025

Callistemon also known as Red Bottlebrush is an Australian native plant
The first image is retrieved from the Australian National Botanic Garden website. Please refer to their website if you want to read the full article at www.anbg.gov.au.

All photos were taken by myself🙂 on my daily afternoon walks. Beautiful texture. Soft to touch not brittle. Enjoy.

19/03/2025

Happy to share this link.

Menopause and mental health struggles don’t clock out at work. But more than 4 in 5 women we surveyed believe their employer or colleagues wouldn’t be supportive if they took leave for this reason. And 3 in 4 fear that using leave for menstrual or menopause concerns could be used against them in the workplace.

Register now for ‘The Menopause Mind field’, a free online panel event unpacking the link between menopause and mental health, on April 2, 12-1pm AEDT. Visit bit.ly/41glwVY.

19/03/2025

An event to look forward to.

Join us as we celebrate Ku-ring-gai’s cultural diversity.

11/01/2025

Beyond Blue’s Wellbeing Action Tool helps you identify what you naturally gravitate towards and why it works for you. Check out the Wellbeing Action Tool at bb.org.au/WAT.

Thank you Beyond Blue.

11/01/2025

🌟 What Does It Mean to Be Whole? 🌟
An invitation for reflection:
• What does it mean to be whole?
• What image comes to your mind when you think of
wholeness?
• How do you experience wholeness—in your body, mind, and spirit?
• What do you need to know, understand, or do to feel whole?

Make this process interactive and fun:
🎨 Visual Exploration: Take a large sheet of paper and some art materials. Use colour, and texture to express yourself. You could even start with a metaphor—mine is a broken vase being mended to hold water again—or create your own.

🖋️ Cognitive Exploration: Write your thoughts or create a collage using images resonating with you. Use words or metaphors to guide you, such as “a tree with deep roots” or “a mosaic made of many pieces.” Create a mosaic.

🌀 Kinesthetic Exploration: Explore wholeness through movement. Imagine your body as flowing water, a bird taking flight, or a tree swaying in the wind. Let your movements be natural and instinctive.

👋 Tactile Exploration: Work with clay, play dough, or any mouldable material. Feel the textures, and shape the clay into something that represents your sense of wholeness. Let the process of moulding, smoothing, and reshaping be a metaphor for your journey of integration and self-discovery.

To support your reflection, here are three quotes from Carl Gustav Jung.

I invite you to choose one to start with. Take some time to reflect, create, and move. Wholeness is a journey of many steps.

✨ I’d love to hear about your experiences, metaphors, or creations. Feel free to share in the comments or keep it private. ✨

Disclaimer:
This activity is intended as a reflective and creative process for personal exploration. It is not a substitute for professional therapy or medical advice. If you are experiencing significant emotional distress or have specific mental health concerns, please consult with a licensed therapist or healthcare professional.
Feel free to engage with these prompts in a way that feels comfortable and safe for you.

31/12/2024

✨ How to Close the Year That’s Ending and Welcome the New One ✨

The following is a brief snippet of Marie-Pierre Dillenseger's
guidance to help individuals align with natural rhythms and enhance personal vitality as they transition into the New Year.
She is a French-American expert, author, and speaker specialising in Chinese timing and spatial assessment techniques aimed at fostering personal empowerment and enhancing life energy.

1️⃣ Take Inventory
Make a list of what you don’t want to carry from the current year (2024) into the next. Move into a new energy without carrying baggage that no longer serves you. Start acting now. To do this, go to step 2.

2️⃣ Truly Listen to Yourself (step 2)
Identify two or three things in your environment that you no longer wish to keep. Within 24 hours, find a place to donate or give them away — or where they will live better (a plant might thrive more in a forest than dying in your living room).
✔️ Keep it simple.
✔️ Ground yourself in this moment and time — this moment is at the service of new adventures and new encounters.
An act that allows us to turn a page is an act that accompanies renewal.

New Year’s Eve
Be at the service of joy: a promise, as much as possible, that leans toward joy and vitality. This doesn’t mean ignoring pain or struggles but rather embracing and enjoying moments of happiness with the people you love.

When you say, "Happy New Year," take the opportunity to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Let them know you appreciate them.

3️⃣ Welcome the New Year
Open your window and say out loud: "Happy New Year!" Voice it out.

4️⃣ Make Resolutions
Let go of resolutions you made two or three years ago that you keep carrying over year after year without accomplishing.