Kalaa Dhari

About Me

My name is Ilaria & I am a social arts facilitator and Focusing trainer in transition. What I will transition into, I still do not know but I sense it’s emergence. I am a mother of two daughters, and I feel within the call to reconnect more to the “woman who runs with the wolves” inside of me. Storytelling saved my life and I hold space for letting the plurality of stories emerge through body movement, poetry writing, and participatory storytelling with images. In the last three years, I have increasingly experienced my work shift from story-telling to story-listening. While there are still images, words, body sculptures and movements in this process, it arrives in a wider space of silence, grounded awareness, and Presence.

Stories that Reconnect

Stories that Reconnect (StR) is a methodology that emerges from my own need of connection, compassion and courage in these times of polycrisis. It practices deep listening, fosters empathy and self-empathy, and nurtures creativity and imagination.

This workshop offers an experience of story-listening, where participants practice deep listening, anchored to the body, suspending judgement, cynicism, and fear while sustaining a compassionate and courageous presence.

Story-listening is a practice within StR that combines the Focusing method with the framework of the four levels of listening from Theory U.​ The experience is mediated and amplified through an aesthetic and synesthetic space, inviting participants to explore bodily, visual, and poetic language.

What we will do:

●​ First part: The group connects with the Earth, their body, and themselves through grounding and movement exercises.

●​ Central part: Participants practice deep listening in pairs, in a safe setting based on awareness and radical acceptance. The theme will be “honoring the pain of the world.” The sharing process will engage multiple sensory channels, using words, images, poetic writing, and body movement.

●​ Closure: The workshop will close with a sharing circle, where participants reflect on their experience and share their key takeaways