The Body Knows A Six Week Course, Awaken Your Inner Resource

yoga expression creativity movement flow wellbeing embodiment healing and wellbeing somatic practices courses coaching wild play lab dani tonks the body knows rewilding our bodies course meditation dance
Hosted by The Psychedelic Society
Activity The Body Knows
Facebook event
Enquiries to wildplaylab@gmail.com
Facilitators
Add to calendar Google · ICS
Share
QR code

"It gave me the courage to put the map down and explore the territory for myself." 

The Body Knows is a body-centred group coaching journey. 

This online six week course will help you develop the practical skills to tune into your whole-self using playful somatic interventions & creative body based practice to vitalize your Nervous System's resiliency, reduce anxiety and boost immunity. 

The course is suitable for both newcomers to embodiment and for the more experienced. The course has been designed so that it compliments other programmes led by Dani, such as The Body Knows Taster, Wild Play or Rewilding Our Bodies workshop.  Although it would be useful to have attended previous workshops or courses it is not mandatory. 

In a time where many of us are again, or still, experiencing limitations with embodiment and playful self-expression, an embodied self-care practice can support our wellbeing, ground us and remind us of the freedoms that we always have.

The intention of this embodied self study is for you to process and cultivate a deep and powerful relationship with yourself and the natural world, so that you may live and act from a place of truth and courage. There will be practical and easy tools shared each week for deep exploration & release. 

Through verbal group processing, non-verbal somatic and physical embodiment practices you will tap into your body's natural urges, desires, fears and creativity to increase sensitivity, emotional awareness and confidence.

As your listening skills develop you will get to know yourself in new ways, and have a better understanding of who you are and what you need.

What we are being faced with collectively gives us the opportunity to slow down, and tune into the subtle language of the body.  

 Overview: 

  • You will have one 60 minute private Body - Oriented Coaching session with Dani to support you over the course.
  • Each week you will receive a detailed follow up email & video recap of the practices we covered from each theme. 
  • You will have the opportunity to share in smaller groups to form deeper connections & group support.
  • There will be a mixture of embodied practices, such as movement and meditation, theatre games as well as sharing circles and rituals.
  • It’s encouraged to have a movement journal to document your practice. This can be written, drawn,  recorded via voice notes or video or a mixture of all these mediums. 

 

“I signed up out of curiosity, not knowing what to expect, and now I am amazed by the afterglow effect it left on my life.” 
 

Practices we will cover:

  • Active Listening & Journalling.
  • Alexander Technique: Voice
  • Focusing & Orientation Practice
  • Free Play & Improvisation
  • Hakomi
  • Lecoq The Moving Body: Acting & Clown. 
  • Somatic Movement & Contemporary Dance.

--

Structure:

WEEK 1- Sensing

Opening our embodied sanctuary by turning on our senses; noticing the subtle details and unique textures that each one brings. 

This week we lay the fertile ground for our somatic - embodiment journey together. You will learn somatic practices inspired by Feldenkrais and Taoism, and receive an in depth practical introduction to somatic movement meditation.

Keywords: Discovery, subtlety, fertility, rebuilding, playfulness, creating space.

WEEK 2 - Wild Play 

Leaping into liminal space and tasting what it means to embody your creativity!

In this session you will explore embodied creativity, connection, surprise and risk. You will playfully discover deep contact with yourself and others by learning light and playful techniques drawn from clowning, improvisation and theatre. We will celebrate our fallible and imperfect bodies as the main portal for spontaneity, authenticity and meaning. You will discover the role of body impulses and emotions in tension release, self-expression and presence, and reflect on the role and position of our inner child - like expression through learning, healing and play.  

Keywords: Wild Play, expansiveness, unblocking, clowning, transformation, release, taking space, empowerment.
 

WEEK 3 - Rewilding

Embodying the change you want to become. 

Here we research how malleable we can actually be & how things like self limiting beliefs or negative self-talk literally shape us. Using practices from acting methodology, authentic movement, meditation & ritual you will learn how to rewire your body language. You will dig deeper into your embodied wisdom to let go, shift and make space for your intuitive self to emerge.

Keywords:  Ritual, co-creation, staccato, meditation, reflection, harvesting.


WEEK 4 - Pleasure 

Pleasure is your birthright. 

Welcome to your sensual sanctuary; a place for you to gently practice sensing what feels good. This week we weave together our learnings so far through verbal processing and non verbal somatic techniques to connect or reconnect to your experience of pleasure; this is the celebration of what it means to be human, feeling the pleasures in life whilst also acknowledging the lack of pleasure in our lives and how we can nourish this part of our being. 

Living in a results - base society it’s easy to neglect or reject our right to pleasure. Our bodies then adapt and we find we can no longer feel pleasure when we want to and might even experience numbness or pain. Our bodies are however wise and can always adapt again with practice and time.
 

Keywords: Self - Love, acceptance, bliss, sensuous, grief, release, inner knowing.

WEEK 5 - Rest 

Dreaming and deeply listening to what our bodies truly need from moment to moment.

This week we will surrender to what it means to rest. Gentle and tender somatic movement, self massage and deep soma meditative states. We will come together in community and kinship to share our experience and challanges in feeling our bodies need to rest in a society that is constantly ‘doing’.  We will practice embodied tools to soothe and calm your nervous system and discuss the experience to discover what works for your unique system. 

Keywords:  Surrender, Softness, deep listening, stillness, somatics, group processing
 

WEEK 6 - Integration


Our final week together to reflect and begin to pause for integration.  It is a ripe place to feel into the delicate tendrils of realisation, understand how to metabolize epiphanies and connect the dots between subtle insights. We will weave together your needs for this time and structure what you will put in place to support your integration.

 Note; It is advised to book the following day off so that you can fully drop into your integration process

Keywords: Sharing discoveries and learnings, journaling, ritual, reflection, closing circle

 

"Absolutely incredible, life changing session. Dani is an amazing facilitator who really helps you to embrace your inner child, be silly and play. She transports you to another world and I will be implementing the things she taught us into my everyday life." 

 

This course may be of benefit if you are

  • Feeling disconnected from your mindbody and nature.
  • You are wanting to learn in community and have accountability to practice embodied wellbeing.
  • Are wanting to create your own embodiment - somatic practice or add to your already existing one.
  • Seeking new ways to unlock creative or emotional blockages that are holding you back and want to create more space for self development.
  • Wanting to give your body some self love and attention, to feel fit and healthy whilst having fun too!
  • You're a yoga teacher, therapist or body worker and are seeking a supportive place to practice your existing skills with like minded people.

 

 

About Your Facilitator

 

 

Instagram

Facebook

LinkTree

Dani is an accredited trauma informed Somatic Coach, trained actor, self taught dancer, pleasure activist and workshop facilitator. With over 12 years of practical experience within somatic and embodiment work she has developed a playful and sensitive approach, combining a range of disciplines including acting, contemporary dance, somatics, alexander technique, ritual, meditation and clowning.

Dani is the founder of Wild Play Lab, curating workshops, retreats and facilitating the unfolding of play as a tool for self transformation and wellbeing.

Wild Play Lab has formed collaborations across the UK with Soma Lab, The Psychedelic Society, Medicine Festival, Elevate Studio Bristol, The Collective, House of Togetherness, Love Jam ‘Restival’, Rumble Festival, Noisily Festival, Antidote, Poetry Cafe, Shine Charity, Beat Charity and Bootstrap Charity.

Dani has worked as an international performer, director and workshop facilitator for over 12 years. She has worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and TV, and has toured internationally with self devised shows.

Organisations she has worked with include:

The BBC, The British Youth Filming Academy, Contact Youth Actors Company at Contact Theatre (Manchester), The Royal Exchange Youth Company (Manchester), CYAC (Contact Young Actors Company) and Blue Eyed Soul Dance Company.

Dani is currently signed with acting agent ‘The Narrow Road Company.’

Education & Training:

The Somatic School -  (ICF Accredited Training)

Trauma Informed Facilitation with Bryony Beynon

East 15 Acting School (BA Acting; Somatic & embodiment work, animal studies, archetypal work and Jungian Psychology, contemporary dance, clown, Meisner technique) 

Alexander Technique with Trish Baillie 1 yr (Manchester School Of Theatre)

Bootstrap Charity 6 month mentoring programme

Tough Cookie Mental Resilience Training 

The British Youth Filming Academy (2 Years; movement/embodiment & voice training and acting for screen)

Embodied Activism by Rae Johnson 

Jon Davis Clowning School

Teatr Pieśń Kozła / Song of the Goat Theatre (Poland, voice and prose,biomechanics, classical acting training)

15 years of professional training, teaching & performance within embodiment, movement & somatics

 

Testimonials:

"Absolutely incredible, life changing session. Dani is an amazing facilitator who really helps you to embrace your inner child, be silly and play. She transports you to another world and I will be implementing the things she taught us into my everyday life." Maggie.

“What a blessing to have discovered Dani’s work! I have done one wild play workshop before joining the 6 weeks course because I was totally immersed in the first experience. I signed up out of curiosity, not knowing what to expect, and now I am amazed by the after-glow effect it left on my life. I feel much safer in my body because it’s so much easier now to just be silly and intrigued by whatever arises. Everyone on the course holds space for you—you will find respect, appreciation, love, honesty, vulnerability with different beautiful beings. Whether you consider yourself a wallflower or a wild animal, this is an open environment for everyone! You show up as who you are and be reminded that there is your facilitator’s guidance but also your body’s, so just do whatever you feel. This course was my weekly joy-dose. Thank you, Dani. Much love. ” - Maram.

“It felt like a really natural way of being, of playing, allowing the child self that always sits inside the freedom to unfold without judgment. Dani's sensitivity to the whole, and the way she guided us and nudged us softly in different directions felt really natural and balanced." - Asher Sai B’Hahn

"Dani's facilitation was magical. I felt like I was softly guided into the world of play without even realising that she was taking me there, and then she held me there so gently and unobtrusively that a whole world could develop around me that was beautifully expansive, but also completely safe!" - Maddy Li

---

Investment

I offer three payment options to support people on a lower wage. If you consider yourself to be a high earner then paying an abundant option helps to subsidise places for people on lower incomes. We really appreciate your support.

If you feel strongly called to come but cannot afford the low income option, please get in touch and we can discuss a payment plan or bursary place to support you.

Low income - £220

Standard - £255

Abundant - £290

EVENT DETAILS


You’ll need to create a free zoom account which you can set up here: zoom.us

DATES: Six consecutive Wednesday starting 16th March. Each session is 7-9.30pm
TICKET PRICES: £220-290
DOORS OPEN: 18: 50
NO ENTRY AFTER: 19:00 To avoid disruption to the event, latecomers may not be admitted.

ENQUIRIES: wildplaylab@gmail.com

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website

Our facilitators have agreed to our code of conduct. Learn about our procedure for raising concerns

MEMBERS of the Psychedelic Society get a discount off almost all of our events.
Join from £5 a month and become part of this amazing community with invites to special events and more.

Select tickets

This event started over 1 year ago

Supporter £355
2 left
Standard £255
Low Income £220
1 left
Payment Plan: 1st Installment £110
2 left
Add a donation to The Psychedelic Society
£
Total
£

Your details

Add Direct Debit info to become a member of The Psychedelic Society now (UK only)

By proceeding you agree to the terms and conditions of Dandelion and The Psychedelic Society and understand this event is organised by Dani Tonks.

Feedback on The Body Knows events