Meet Terra Dyer Gill, a 2021 graduate of our Certificate Training Program. 

We are excited to feature her as our  monthly Alumni Spotlight! 

We think you will be inspired by the blend of skills and practices Terra brings to her work as an intuitive wellness consultant and empowerment coach.

Terra Dyer Gill

Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator (REACE)
Somatic Ecotherapy Practitioner 
Shamanic Reiki Master
Transformational Energy Healer
Ancestral Renewal & Communication (ARC) Facilitator

Mid-coast Maine, USA

www.terradyergill.com

Terra Dyer Gill, REACE, ARC, is an intuitive wellness consultant and empowerment coach.
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Her work incorporates a wide variety of both creative and healing practices that work to activate the dormant aspects of the deep soul and psyche. This energy-based work helps catalyze powerful healings and transformational mental, emotional, physical, and psychic awakenings in her clients, in both private and group sessions. 
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As a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator (REACE), Somatic Ecotherapy Practitioner, Shamanic Reiki Master, Ancestral Renewal & Communication (ARC) Healer, PranaShakti Movement Instructor, and End-of-Life Doula, her 'Transformational Energy, Restorative & Ritual Arts' (TERRA) approach is person-centered, somatic, and deeply therapeutic in nature. 
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Terra offers community healings and intuitive explorations that activate the soul and realign the mind, body, and spirit with natural rhythm and flow.
 

Terra, what drew you to the field of Expressive Arts, or motivated you to get Expressive Arts training?

I loved being creative when I was a child, especially outside, surrounded by life’s many natural inspirations. As I grew, I became more focused on left-brained pursuits and sadly lost touch with my creative curiosity and sense of imagination. I occasionally tapped into drawing and painting but was overly critical and self-conscious, consequently limiting my creative expression. Years later, through a number of life's unexpected circumstances, I realized I was in desperate need of a creative revival. I challenged myself to purposely make mistakes, to push myself past my comfort zone and to create art that others would possibly consider ugly or insignificant. I allowed my creativity to breathe and take on new life, but even as my works began to receive praise and recognition, I still felt like a ‘creative imposter.' Following this period, I started teaching a combination of technique and creative process-based arts, but something was still missing. I struggled with self-judgment and limiting beliefs. I was desperate to ‘feel like a real artist’ but was secretly worried I could never be good enough. It wasn’t until I began processing an old trauma - an encounter I had years prior with a Great White shark while swimming in Hawai’i - that something shifted. I started channeling the trauma of the experience into my art. I woke up in the morning to create. I began to live and breathe for my artistic practice, and I started to feel firsthand the healing power of art.

Following this epiphany, I was hooked. I knew I had to create to feel whole. I danced the line of teaching and healing for years until I felt it was time for something more. I decided to obtain a Masters in Art Therapy, with the intention of sharing the healing, empowering potential of art, as opposed to teaching technique through process alone.

While driving cross-country to my master's program, I stopped in Austin, Texas to visit family and was invited into a number of arts and hearts-based communities: a traditional song circle that would meet on the land and sing sacred songs passed down by grandmother elders from various indigenous traditions; a female choir devoted to the songs, works and teachings of Hildegard of Bingen; and an energy- centered, healing dance group. I took printmaking and batique classes on my own and was quickly entranced by all the ways I was exploring and expanding myself through different modalities of creative expression. I immediately knew that just one avenue of art-making was too limiting and I needed a new path. It was at that point that I discovered EAFI and just the phrase ‘Expressive Arts’ changed my world. I signed up for the program and never looked back!  

Kin, 2016. Acrylic on watercolor paper. 

Inspired by open water swims with sharks and humpback whales while living on Kaua’i.

As you began to immerse yourself in this work, were there any unexpected gifts or surprises?

Oh my gosh, so many! Too many to count! The most unexpected gift I received was learning to trust myself, both as a worthwhile human as well as an infinitely creative being. This work helped me remember all the things I loved as a child: making up songs, writing stories and performing them. Sounds combined with visual art making helped me see, feel, and trust how my imaginal realms could liberate my body and psyche. 

My personal EXA (Expressive Arts) journey, combined with my EXA training, allowed me to weave together all the work I had engaged with, including my efforts as an environmentalist and nature-based artist, my pursuits transforming years of trauma into liberation, and my professional training as an intuitive healer and integrative wellness coach. Every aspect of my journey up until that point suddenly made sense and began to magically transform into one cohesive whole. My EXA training turned all of my seemingly disparate passions into a singularly beautiful masterpiece. I remember distinctly when it happened. It was one of the strongest feelings of my life: an almost volcanic eruption from the inside of my being that seemed to justify my existence. It was as if I suddenly made sense in the world. I immediately knew I was always meant to find this work, and it was meant to find me. The Sufi mystic, Rumi, said it best, “What you seek is seeking you.”

The more I pursued my EXA awakening with EAFI, the easier it became for me to accept that I was home. Being witnessed and feeling safe within a modality and a community of like-hearted (and like-arted) souls, was new to me. It was both foreign and wonderful. Since then, this work has become my center. It has grounded and uplifted me beyond words and belief, and as a result, my commitment to it has never waivered. The EXA process has given rise to some of the most profound healings I’ve ever known, both within myself and in my clients as well. 

Terra offering prayers. 

'Foraging & Nature Mandalas' workshop by Sunny Stewart. 

EXA Reunion hosted by Miriam Zimms, Lutz, FL, 2022. 

Photo courtesy of Joy Paris.

How are you currently implementing expressive arts in your personal and/or professional life?
 

My EXA work lives at the heart of all I do. Every day, rain or shine, I make time to create. I find time and ways to express myself through ritual, movement, meditation, visual and sound making arts. I move my body in unexpected ways and find gestures that help me explore more of who I am and how I feel in a given moment.

These types of expressive experiences help me tap into and feel more connected to my most authentic self. They help me heal and expand and become a better, more empowered human. Each and every time I engage with an expressive process, I draw closer to the person I believe I was born to become.

Because I know how powerful even the simplest EXA process can be, I find ways to weave EXA into every aspect of my work.

When working with clients, I do my best to make each EXA experience approachable and fun. Since so many of us have core wounds around creativity, crafting accessible, unique EXA experiences for everyone with whom I work has become one of my primary focuses as a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator and Shamanic Reiki Master.

Integrating my work as an expressive artist and healing arts facilitator, as well as my work as an energy medicine practitioner, has helped me feel into and understand the subtle shifts that take place when someone feels ready to stretch into something new. Learning to trust the Creative Flow and where and how it wants to connect to, invite, and guide each person has actually become one of my favorite (and most challenging!) EXA practices. It’s been such a fun and rewarding experience to learn to trust and allow what the Creative Spirit has in store for each person.

I refer to these person-centered, energetically based EXA practices and sessions, as TERRA (Transformational Energy Restorative Ritual Arts), or ‘Transformational Energy-Arts.’

One of the most consistent processes that shows up during a TERRA Energy-Arts session, are personalized, non-dominant hand processes. Suggesting that someone begin an EXA process with their non-dominant hand helps relieve any pressure or expectation of ‘making something good’ or ‘beautiful.’ It shifts the focus from the product and draws us back to the process.

A favorite example of my Energy-Arts work occurred while helping a friend who was considering running for political office. She was so excited about the prospect of bringing her dream to fruition that she was pushing herself to exhaustion. I offered to walk her through a quick Energy-Arts process and 3 minutes later her random scribbles of color on paper resulted in the simplest of phrases: "Take your time." She was so shocked and surprised that she couldn’t stop laughing! Her creative soul had spoken ;) She ran a steady and balanced campaign and now, two years later, she’s a celebrated and very happy political representative. 

Prometheus, 2012. Acrylic on watercolor paper. 

Inspired by Kīlauea volcano while living on Big Island, Hawai’i. 

Attunement, 2021. Acrylic on canvas. 

Inspired by ExA meditation while living in Austin, TX. 

Guardian of the Forest, 2021. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas. 

Inspired by families of deer around home in Austin, TX.

(Artwork pictured from left to right) 

Terra facilitating a cleansing and grounding ritual.

'Calling Our Ancestors' workshop, EXA Reunion
hosted by Miriam Zimms, Lutz, FL, 2022. 

Also pictured, Helen Lee. 

Photo courtesy of Joy Paris.

How has Expressive Arts enriched or expanded your career path?

My EXA work brought absolutely everything together for me. First and foremost, it helped me experience more of who I truly am and thus, helped me come to know and love myself more deeply.  My EXA training with EAFI helped me realize how much I appreciate performance art, movement based expression, and nature informed art making. 

These EXA awakenings inspired me to pursue new studies and avenues of expression, such as Ecotherapy and sound healing. They even sparked my curiosity, research, and training in various forms of innovative somatic therapies which I have since begun incorporating into my personal and professional life. 

My dedication to the field of EXA work has provided a maypole around which all of my many colorful, creative, energetic, ancestral interests and professional offerings have come together and been able to flourish. 

Engaging with the EXA in all its many wonderful facets - be it through visually focused, somatically based, or sound-centered experiences - has enriched and expanded who I am and what I am qualified to offer others. The field of EXA has given my work a center and the opportunity to witness myself and those around me as the infinitely creative beings we truly are. 

What is your current personal practice and how does it enrich your life?

I believe any EXA process can be a doorway to the Divine; a personal pathway for ‘direct revelation’ and a way of accessing and connecting to Creative Universal Wisdom. Because of this, I make time to create every chance I get, but at least once a day. 

My daily EXA rituals have become some of my most vibrant and rewarding spiritual practices, and can consist of any number of the exercises I love most: centering, stillness, movement, nature connection, visual art, color, sound or rhythm. Committing to these practices offers me a reliable and consistent way to go inward, receive guidance, and gather any hidden gems my soul has to offer. 

Another one of my personal EXA practices is to stay active and involved in the EXA community. I make a point to attend any EAFI classes that will help support me and my work. I also make time for new, expressive, expansive experiences that support my healing, growth, and commitment to the field of EXA. These commitments offer me ways to learn and expand my skill set, which keeps me engaged, curious, and excited about my path and my purpose on the planet. 

Home, 2021. Acrylic on canvas. 

Inspired by inner landscape meditations while
living in Austin, TX.

What do you wish you could tell the world about Expressive Arts?

Committing to a daily EXA practice was one of the greatest gifts I ever gave myself. Showing up for a healing modality that I love, if even for a moment, changed the course of my life. 

When I was in 3rd grade, I found my way to a support group that improved my life for the better. The group's closing prayer was, “Keep coming back, it works if you work it and work it because you’re worth it!” Years later, I attended a high school with an equally powerful motto: “Inveniam viam aut faciam: I will find a way or make one.” 

I find myself turning to these philosophies often, and have found them to be powerful guideposts throughout my life but especially regarding my EXA journey. 

I know how challenging it can be to begin or build a new practice. I also understand how, for so many of us, taking time to care for ourselves and our emotional/creative wellbeing was a practice left out of our upbringing. To me, finding ways and taking steps to express the most expansive, loving, heart-centered aspects of who we truly are is essential to living a healthy, balanced life. 

As Audre Lorde so eloquently put it, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” 

For all the reasons I've mentioned above, EXA has become an absolutely essential part of my healing, spiritual awakening, and self-preservation. When things feel like they are too much to bear, I remind myself to keep returning to the work, because it works when I work it - and my well being is worth it! If I feel too tired or exhausted to create, l find a way or make a way to tap into and express even the simplest of sequences: breathe, make a mark, reflect. I do whatever it takes because I know that my unique, expansive, expressive soul is waiting just on the other side of that divine door.  

Shakti, 2017. Acrylic on canvas. 

Inspired by local landscapes and daily swims in Lake Huron while living in Bluewater, ON, Canada.

What are you currently offering, and what are the ways that people can work with you?

-Online and in person private, 1-on-1 TERRA Energy-Arts Sessions

-Online and in-person, Group Transformational Healings

-Online and in-person workshops

Some upcoming workshop examples include:

-Shamanic Energy-Arts

-Accessing Intuitive Intelligence and Personal Soul-Medicine Through Creative Expression

-Energy-Arts and Ancestral Healing

-Creating a Living Legacy For Ourselves and Others

Terra facilitating a cleansing and grounding ritual. 

'Calling Our Ancestors' workshop, EXA Reunion 

hosted by Miriam Zimms, Lutz, FL, 2022. 

Also pictured, Tamara Teeter Knapp. 

Photo courtesy of Joy Paris.

Anything else you would like to say?

During the pandemic, I was listening to a talk by the wonderful teacher and writer, Tosha Silver, who offered some extremely sage advice about how to deal with the lockdown: “Everyday, do something new or something that scares you.” I was so curious (and scared!) to try it, that I began implementing the practice alongside my daily EXA rituals.

If trying an EXA class or process is something new to someone, or something they are curious or nervous to pursue, I’d urge them to try it out. If nothing else, it’s something to chalk up as a novel new experience, but you never know, it might just change your life forever!  

Professional links - Learn more about Terra

Terra is offering a workshop, live online, on August 4, 1-4 p.m.

Shamanic Energy-Arts: Expressing the Soul

Watch for our Alumni Spotlight on the 1st of each month. We feature graduates of our Certificate Training Program - Expressive Arts Facilitators, Therapists, and Educators. We hope this series will inspire you, help spread the work of our alumni, and demonstrate the scope of practice of the expressive arts field. 

For more information about our Certificate Training Program, Professional Development, and Workshops - both online and in-person, visit us at www.expressiveartsflorida.com

Tamara Teeter Knapp 

MA, NCC, MHC Intern, REACE®

Kathleen Horne 

MA, LMHC(S), REACE®, REAT®