An Introduction to Amicasana — Practice Samples

"Integration Stones are a curated set of tactile tools designed to support self-inquiry, emotional awareness and regulation. Through the use of touch and symbolic language, the stones act as mirrors inviting awareness of thoughts, emotions, bodily responses, and personal narratives that are already present. 

Touch Stones are the primary stones, larger in size and carrying heavier, emotionally resonant words. They help bring attention to patterns, emotional states, or themes. Holding Stones are lighter, stabilising stones that provide support and containment, helping the nervous system integrate and regulate what arises during reflection. Holding Stones can also double as daily tokens of support; words of resonance to 'hold', carry in your pocket or have near. This moves the practice beyond reflection and into lived support, offering steadiness within ordinary moments through grounded awareness and symbolism."

"Holding Jars are a gentle practice where worry is externalised and met with care. When a worry arises, it gets added to the worry jar. For every worry, a grounding truth is then added to the wisdom jar. This allows worry to be held and affirmed while also anchoring and empowering oneself, strengthening self-efficacy and emotional regulation, especially in the face of challenges and things beyond one’s control. The practice highlights the link between thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours, creating opportunities to identify and gently reframe those that may be unhelpful, recognising that fears are very real but do not always equal facts. Symbolically, the wisdom jar sits larger than the worry, not to minimise the weight of worry, but as a reminder that no worry is greater than the wisdom you carry."

"Formwork is a contemplative, form-based self-inquiry practice. It is a quiet process of sense-making through material engagement. Using polymer shapes arranged on the ground, inner experiences are explored not through language or analysis but through placement, relationship, and form. Meaning emerges slowly through touch, pattern, proximity, and pause, allowing the maker to see themselves reflected back in what has been laid down. Formwork invites listening and presence. The shapes become mirrors, maps, and containers for inner states or memories that are often difficult to articulate but easy to recognise once given form ."