Dreams can often be startling, bizarre, terrifying and beautiful, especially when we are faced with a crisis such as an illness, end of a relationship or a major disaster like the earthquake and tsunami last year. At first, dreams may appear to have nothing to do with the current situation at all, but with a little simple dreamwork, they can become powerful allies.
Based in Minnesota, Sheila McNellis Asato regularly leads workshops internationally on the relationship between art, dreams and healing and we are pleased to have her as the luncheon speaker on her visit to Japan in February. Ms Asato is a visual artist with more than 30 years experience exhibiting and teaching in USA, Europe and Asia. At the February Luncheon, she will focus in particular on the relationship between dreaming and the body. Can paying attention to our dreams help improve our overall health? Are there any differences between the dreams of men and women? These are just some of the intriguing questions that will be covered in Ms Asato’s presentation drawing on research on trauma, gender and dreams.
	Sheila McNellis Asato has an MA in Human Development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, with a focus on the role of the unconscious in creativity and healing, and a BA Cum Laude in East Asian Studies and Fine Art from Gustavus Adolphus College. A past board member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), she is currently the Healing Arts Program Coordinator at Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s Penny George Institute for Health and Healing and serves as a provider at Pathways and Wayside House, helping people cope with the dreams and nightmares that arise during crisis, illness and recovery from addictions. Ms Asato is also a faculty member of the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts where she teaches courses on the creative process, dreaming and Japanese paper arts. Bilingual in English and Japanese, Ms Asato is a certified embodied imagination coach and the founder of Monkey Bridge Arts for art, dreaming and creative development. She is the recipient of the 2006 IASD award for her original research on dreaming, creativity and healing.

 Luncheon Program Coordinators: Joanna Chinen
                                                    Akiko Samura