Embody : Events & Workshops
Embody is where you can go deeper through exploring a yoga workshop, a gong bath or wheel of the year workshop. Perhaps you have been attending classes and feel like there is something else to taste as you open up to different experiences. My workshops and gong baths are a fantastic way to explore and open up in new ways.
Most ‘yoga’ or ritual workshops I offer session will conclude with a ‘sonic tonic’ soothing (usually 1 hour) gong bath and sacred sound symphony. Where the body will be bathed in sounds and waves of vibrational energy enveloping the space. These tones are heard not just by the ears, but felt kinaesthetically by the entire body as a collective ear, resulting in a profound sense of well being and inner peace.
“The precise origin of the gong is unknown. The first gongs are thought to have been fashioned from stone during the advent of agriculture, with metal ones originating during the Bronze Age. Over millennia, gongs have been used for both ethereal and earthly purposes, playing an important role in temples and ceremonies but also used to frighten enemies in war. More recently, gongs were in vogue during the Victorian and Edwardian periods in wealthy households to summon domestic help or signal that dinner was served.”
– Aidan McIntyre –
What is a gong bath & how does it work?
The Gong creates a soundfield that can help people to experience higher states of being, to go beyond themselves and enter a place beyond space and time, with deep, healing vibrations. During a gong bath various feelings may be experienced, the only thing to do is observe, accept and let go.
In the words of Ramana Maheshwari: “Let come what comes…Let go what goes… And see what’s left”.
The parasympathetic nervous system is ruled by sound. The sympathetic nervous system is ruled by vision. Often the Sympathetic nervous system needs to be regulated. The Parasympathetic nervous system regulates the sympathetic, therefore the gong can be a helpful tool to strengthen the parasympathetic.
What is a gong bath & how does it work?
The Gong creates a soundfield that can help people to experience higher states of being, to go beyond themselves and enter a place beyond space and time, with deep, healing vibrations. During a gong bath various feelings may be experienced, the only thing to do is observe, accept and let go.
In the words of Ramana Maheshwari: “Let come what comes…Let go what goes… And see what’s left”.
The parasympathetic nervous system is ruled by sound. The sympathetic nervous system is ruled by vision. Often the Sympathetic nervous system needs to be regulated. The Parasympathetic nervous system regulates the sympathetic, therefore the gong can be a helpful tool to strengthen the parasympathetic.
What is sound therapy & how does it work?
In sound therapy many instruments are used varying from multiple gongs, crystal bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, koshi chimes, and voice.
Sound therapy is the audio-vibratory treatment of healing and recovery by which the body and our whole being, at the cellular level, can be brought back to balance. Sound therapy has been traced back to the five main ancient Vedic methods of healing, due to its vibrational qualities.
As water beings, the human body is comprised of 60-75% of water (dependent on gender and age). Due to such a high water content, sound waves can penetrate deep into the tissues of the body. This can create a harmonious balance and relaxation through all the cells on a physiological level, as well as psychologically. Water is an impressionable element, meaning to say it takes the form of whatever is holding it. Therefore it can receive and hold vibration because of its high resonance capacity and sensitivity.
What is sound therapy & how does it work?
In sound therapy many instruments are used varying from multiple gongs, crystal bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, koshi chimes, and voice.
Sound therapy is the audio-vibratory treatment of healing and recovery by which the body and our whole being, at the cellular level, can be brought back to balance. Sound therapy has been traced back to the five main ancient Vedic methods of healing, due to its vibrational qualities.
As water beings, the human body is comprised of 60-75% of water (dependent on gender and age). Due to such a high water content, sound waves can penetrate deep into the tissues of the body. This can create a harmonious balance and relaxation through all the cells on a physiological level, as well as psychologically. Water is an impressionable element, meaning to say it takes the form of whatever is holding it. Therefore it can receive and hold vibration because of its high resonance capacity and sensitivity.
The gongs I work with
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
– Michelangelo –
Solar & Lunar Magic: Wheel of the Year Workshops & Lunar Gong Baths
Are you Interested establishing more rhythm and ritual in your practice and your life? We can work with the cyclical energies of the Sun and the Moon.
Honouring the change of seasons as the sun moves through the wheel of the year can be experienced within our bodies: if you’re feeling disconnected and out of alignment establishing a practice based in the external cycles of nature (without) can help us to look at our own cycles (within), deepening our relationship with ourselves.
I offer a series of workshops weaving in the wheel of the year, Chinese five element medicine with yin yoga and sound therapy. Sound is the tool that moves matter! – these workshops offer an alchemical experience that will give you as embodied sense of the cycle of the year, together with the practical tools for you to implement in your everyday life how you can use its wisdom to support and enhance your practice and your life.
Traditionally the ancients began the cycles at winter solstice, however many systems show that things begin and end all the time. For example: the astrological new year is with Aries at the end of March; with the start of the zodiac, the Celtic New Year is Samhain, etc. A good reminder that each moment is an opportunity to begin again.
As the Wheel of the Year marks the journey of the Sun in the Sky, this mirrors that of the the journey of the Moon on a monthly basis.
The New Moon correlates with the Winter Solstice time energetically, and the Full Moon correlates with the Summer Solstice energy. etc
You might initially be drawn to working more with the Sun or the Moon initially, however ultimately it’s the macro and microcosm, so by working with one you will invariably work with the other too. Within this special series of workshops & lunar phase gong baths, I bring in current astrology aligned with the energy imprint of the relationship with the sun and the moon to support you with practices and guidance that are seasonal and relevant.
“As Above, So Below
As Within, So Without
As the Universe, So the Soul”
“As Above,
So Below.
As Within,
So Without.
As the Universe,
So the Soul.”
The Wheel of the Year is broken down into Quarter days (Solstices & Equinox’s) and Cross-Quarter days (Fire Festivals which intersect the quarter days). These can be called Gateways/Portals for working with the seasonal energy.
The 1st gate is Winter solstice, the gate of initiation birth & rebirth.
Winter Solstice celebrates the return of the light when the sun is at the lowest point of the sky, it’s the longest time of night. Winter Solstice marks the point that the Sun begins to rise again and the light is reborn.
The 2nd gate is imbolc, the gate of emergence.
Imbolc is a fire festival that marks the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, Imbolc means ‘in the belly’, it’s the time of the quickening and the burgeoning of the seeds planted. We need to trust what’s happening unseen, ‘in the belly’.
The 3rd gate is Spring Equinox, Ostara the gate of resurrection.
Equinox literally means ‘equal night’. It’s a time of balance in the wheel of the year, we are on the threshold of greater light now, as the Earth will tip on her axis towards the sun (at least here in the northern hemisphere). At this point of equinox the Earth is at 0 degrees in relation to the sun. Spring Equinox is connected to Ostara and the festival of Oestre/Easter is the first cross quarter festival of the Celtic calendar. A time when the flowers are awakening from the sleep of winter. For three days the sun remains balanced between light and dark, before the cycle shifts and the days become longer than the nights.
The 4th gate is Beltane the gate of union & fertility.
Beltane marks the midpoint between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, it’s a time of fertility, abundance and creation, the flowers precede the fruits. Beltane means ‘bright fire’. It is a time to honour life and dance around the Maypole.
The 5th gate is Summer Solstice the gate of ascension & enlightenment.
Summer Solstice is the highest point of light, celebrated and honoured before we move into the dark half of the year. Summer Solstice (Litha) is the longest day of light and the shortest night, There is a ripeness and fullness in the land which is celebrated and embraced through offering gratitude to the sun.At this point in the Celtic wheel, light is triumphant and the days have become longer than the nights. Summer pays homage to all new life, like the cultural festival of Midsummer; this time of year brings new growth bursting with life to demonstrate the exuberant power of light, creativity and purpose.
The 6th gate is Lammas/ Lughnasadh the gate of sacrifice & harvest drawing the light down & in.
Lammas is the Midpoint summer solstice & autumn equinox and is a celebration of sun & light & Union between Earth & Sun that brings the grain of harvest, we honour the Suns golden energy by sharing our resources for sustainance and nourishment.Lammas, comes from the word ‘loaf-mass’ because loaves of bread were baked with the first grains of harvested wheat. Not only is this a physical harvest of breaking the bread, but an opportunity to become aware of, and be thankful for, all the abundance and blessings that are filling your life.
The 7th gate is Autumn Equinox, Mabon the gate of truth & balance.
At this time the Libra sun is showing us the scales of balance as we embrace the transition towards the darker months and winter from now until Winter Solstice, the days will grow darker. The leaves will turn, the air will feel crisper on our skin, and whatever crops we have gathered will have to tide us over until the next growing season.
8th gate – Samhain gate of death & final descent of the dark of the sun.
Samhain/Hallowe’en comes after the balance point of autumn equinox, and marks the midpoint between equinox and Winter Solstice. The sun is in its pathway of descent through the dark half of the year. This is a time of release and shedding: just as leaves fall from the trees and the land fallows, pauses and regenerates, it is an important time to honour the ending of a cycle so that we can honour and begin a new cycle, with the wisdom of the past becoming the soil of the future.
Sandrine Giacobino and I host together these wheel of the year workshops also, co-creating with Cacao Yin & Sound – special ceremonies we have been holding together since 2018.
Charlie holds Wheel of the year workshops at Triyoga Ealing (click here for workshops).
Charlie & Sandrine hold Wheel of the year workshops at The Life Centre (Notting Hill) and Yoga West (Acton).
“Experiencing Gong Bath Timelessness is like tasting the Nectar of Eternity and being totally awake while being totally asleep.”