Deep Rest (with Gong) 2 dates

This workshop offers an embodied experience of deep rest.

Even if we have the best intentions, when left to our own devices, we can struggle to find time to wind down, let go and simply be. Our ‘always on’ culture fetishes productivity and activity at all costs. It’s a radical act of self-care to step away from this programming and sink into deep relaxation. This is an invitation to prioritise yourself, your body and the present moment, to drop into being instead of doing.

In this 2 hr session, we will work with evidence-based tools, designed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. In particular, we will work with the vagus nerve, heart rate coherence and activating the mammalian caregiving system.

You will be guided through a series of exercises and relaxation techniques, including a vocal activation, and we will end with a relaxing gong bath. The workshop may include light movement, warming the body up, light breath work, meditation, mindfulness, self-compassion practices, self-massage, some pair work, vocal activation and toning, and a sound bath. In the first half of the workshop, you may be sitting or standing, and in the second half, you will be invited to lie down.

Wear whatever you feel comfortable resting in, for example, soft, loose-fitting clothes; you may want to have some layers to keep warm as you will be lying down for part of the session. You may want to bring comfy items to rest with, such as an eye mask, blankets or cushions, sheep skins or a yoga mat. There will be a limited number of cushions and yoga mats in the space.

Your Facilitator Sarah Vero 

I have been exploring wellbeing and the nature of rest in my work for the past 10 years, prompted by my experience of devastating burnout. I have gathered a toolbox of techniques and practices that allow me to access positive states and deep rest whenever needed. All my work is evidence-based. However, this work also has a deep simplicity; it feels wonderful to drop into deep rest together in a group.

I lead workshops that support people to find a greater sense of wellbeing, deliver corporate training and keynotes to organisations, and communicate the science of wellbeing to the general public. Relevant training for this workshop includes my training in sound healing with the Yoga of Sound in Spring 2017, taught by Thomas Owen Keirnan (Sounds of Light), Pavan Ji (Hanuman Project) and Madeleine Bachan Kaur. I have been working with the gong and vocal toning since then. I trained in Collaborative Vocal Improvisation with Briony Greenhill in May 2022 and practise regularly with Joanna Harvey in Frome.

This workshop is inspired by the work and research of Kristen Neff, Tara Brach, Claudia Hammond, Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Tricia Hersey, Audrey Lorde, bell hooks, Jonathan Goldman, Steven Halpern, Bobby McFerrin, Alan Watts and Eckhart Tole, among many others.

You can find out more about my work at sarahvero.net 

No refunds are available for this event, but you may pass on your ticket however you wish.  Dandelion recommends Ticketswap. 

Mycelium Space is up a flight of 16 stairs and a further flight of 3 stairs; there is a handrail but no wheelchair access currently. If price is a barrier to attending this event, please get in touch with me directly.