Understanding the sensual self after a cancer diagnosis workshop

In collaboration with The Cancer, Sex and Intimacy project, Art therapist Leonie Silye will lead the group on a creative journey through body reclamation and understanding the sensual self after a cancer diagnosis at the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. Cancer can have a profound effect upon our bodies and the way we experience pleasure. The aim of this workshop is to explore the pleasure we can feel within our bodies by engaging the senses in nature through touch, taste, sound and scent.

To start, Leonie will lead a guided meditation where we form a small clay figurine. With closed eyes we will listen to the sounds of the nature reserve and look within our bodies to explore inner sensuality. Next, we will gather the figures in a circle and create space for a shared discussion whilst drinking herbal tea from foraged herbs at the reserve.

We will be joined briefly by Bethnal Green Nature reserve site manager, Edward Simpson who will give a short talk on the various plants and herbs held at the reserve. We will then explore sight, smell, sound and touch as we explore as a group or individually. At the end we will reflect collectively on the experience. This is an opportunity to be within nature and reflect upon your body and its changes outside of a typical cancer setting.

What to expect on the workshop?

The workshop will run for 1.5 hours with a small break in between with tea and refreshments. Bethnal Green nature reserve is fully accessible with a composting toilet on site. We recommend wearing layers for warmth. In the event of bad weather, the workshop may be cancelled at short notice.

Who can attend?

Women, non-binary, trans, and gender non-conforming people with an experience of cancer.

Who are we?

Cancer, Sex and Intimacy is a collaborative project run by Sarah and Cheryl, funded by Macmillan Cancer Support and working in collaboration with Shine Cancer Support. Through workshops, resources and an open dialogue the project seeks to change the way sex & intimacy is discussed and understood for those living with and beyond cancer. Sarah & Cheryls’ journey began with the unwelcome visitor called cancer. For Sarah her diagnosis was in January 2017 and for Cheryl, July 2017. Sex and intimacy was never discussed as part of their cancer care. Feeling the injustice, both women decided to explore the subject through their own work in the cancer community. In 2021 they joined forces to create Cancer, Sex & Intimacy!

Leonie Silye, currently based in Vienna, is an art therapist and multidisciplinary artist in the fields of painting, sculpture and tattooing. She has graduated with a BA in fine art at the City and Guilds of London Art School and has completed an MA in art therapy at the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna. In her artistic practice and her work as an art therapist, she explores spaces of becoming and the in-between, in which through the use of symbols, myths, ritual and storytelling, openings for transformation can take place and aspects of the self can be renegotiated. Silye is currently working as an art therapist at Lebenshilfe Vienna, a center for people with disabilities and has written her thesis on gender related aspects within the field of art therapy, focusing her work on people living with and beyond breast cancer.

Event Venue

Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Middleton Street, London, United Kingdom