• I think there's a lot of focus on systems change and we need all of that, but what we really need is to change ourselves so that we can actually embody the world that we want to be in, so that has a big piece of healing and how art can be a part of that. 

I heard about Kelly McInnes’ (she/they) work from Kim Richards (see e76 and e171) and had a very interesting conversation with Kelly in her kitchen on May 10, 2024 in Vancouver.

Kelly is a queer dance artist concerned with embodying care and creating as a way of remembering connection to Earth. Her craniosacral therapy practice and her passion for collective healing powerfully inspires her artistry, and inspired me as well. 

For example, Kelly’s description of her creative process :

• The part that excites me about community engagement is that creative practice feels like a way into a life process. Not just sharing the product with folks, but actually inviting them into it, like a birthing. 

I was struck by the simplicity and depth of her latest project : Late Stage Remedy, which she describes as a ‘collective dance meditation practice happening twice a month on Saturdays from May to September 2024 at public parks in so-called Vancouver where through an improvised score, a group of dancers offer grounding presence, attention and care to the lands they dance on together. It’s an invitation to remember ourselves as a part of Earth and honor this vital, potent connection.’

We also talked about the connections between her art practice and her healing practices: 

• I think that a practice of life is so important in these times where there's so much to be heartbroken about and there's so much devastation going on with health responses like trauma and numbing. These practices of resourcing ourselves and of finding beauty and resonance are important and essential to imagine and create the worlds we want to move towards. 

This is the second in my ‘community arts’ series in season 5 (the first was e168 felicia young - together through art).

Her recommended books and podcasts were:

• Yintah, a film directed and produced by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell and Michael Toledano
• The point of relation (podcast) by Thomas Hübl
• Healing Collective Trauma by Thomas Hübl
• We Are the Middle of Forever - Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth edited by Dahr Jamail and Stan Rushworth

Photo of Kelly McInnes by Yvonne Chew

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END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on January 9, 2026