Somatic Meditations for Soothing & Softening
A 6 week course of live, guided somatic meditations, Feldenkrais & group sharings, to help quieten the internal racket. 23 February to 30 March 2021.
Ways Into Quiet Radiance
We are living in dis-quietening times. Much of our sense of what is ordinary is perturbed and our usual ways of connecting with each other are disrupted. Even so, how do we settle ourselves and our down time more nourishing? There are biological 'prompts' we can work with to help us come to a place of quiet radiance. Slowing down is counter cultural and at first may feel counter intuitive. Especially after a life time of working hard to stay 'on top' of everything. This course will share six ways into a quiet aliveness, in a live group learning environment where there is plenty of time for sharing and reflection. We will gather ourselves together and soften into these final dark months, as we head towards the Spring.
"You can just be. You don't have to always be doing something... naps are soul care." - Tricia Hersey - The Nap Ministry
What it is & what you'll get out of it...
6 live zoom workshops, follow up emails and session recordings, take home practices and group sharing sessions to grow a better rest practice.
Live lessons and group support for growing better rest habits. This course will equip you to keep the flame burning within through the darker times, tend to your inner space and support you to bring your nervous system into a more settled place. You are welcome to do the course as a series of live classes, as a series of recordings in your own time, or in some combination that suits you. Everyone who signs up receives all the recordings, so you can revisit the content when ever you like.
"The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear" - Rumi
Timings
Live group workshops for your diary -
Tuesdays 8.00pm - 9.30pm GMT /
9.00 - 10.30pm CET /
3.00 - 4.30pm EST /
7am AEST
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Recordings and follow up emails sent with in 24 hours of the live workshop.
Course Curriculum
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1
Instructions for this course
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A little bit more about what is in store
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2
Week 1
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Week 1 - The Medicine of the Voice
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Somatic Meditations - Week One Set up
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Week 1 Homework
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Week 1 Session Recording
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3
Week 2
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Week 2 - Darkness as Medicine
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Week 2 - Intro to Darkness as Medicine
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Homework - Week 2
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Week 2 Session Recording - Darkness Medicine
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4
Week 3
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Week 3 - The Medicine of Movement I
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Week 3 - set up. The Medicine of Movement - 1 - Oscillation
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Week 3 Homework
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Week 3 Session Class Recording
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5
Week 4
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Week 4 - The Medicine of Breath
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Medicine of Breath - Intro 1
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Medicine of Breath Intro - 2
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Week 4 Homework
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Week 4 Session Recording - Medicine of Breath
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6
Week 5
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The Medicine of Movement II
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Medicine of Movement II - Intro
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Week 5 Homework
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Week 5 Session Recording - baby rolling
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7
Week 6
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Week 6 - The Medicine of Action in the Quest to Empty Out and Allow Letting Go
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Medicine of Vigorous Activity - Intro
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Week 6 Session Recording
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''And I said to my body, softly,
'I want to be your friend'.
It took a long breath. And replied,
'I've been waiting my whole life for this.''
- Nayyirah Waheed
What people say...
'This Offering Is An Absolute Gem!'
This offering from is an absolute gem.
I really recommend this to anyone who is tired of being tired. As with any new pattern of being, it takes support, time, repetition and community to make a change. You couldn't be in safer hands with Rachel. I really want other people to experience this!!
I'm Still Using Aspects Of The Course Now'
The course helped me change my attitude to rest. Instead of seeing it as just “not doing anything”, I learnt to see it as something I could deliberately practice. Having a regular class helped keep it in my awareness and being introduced to a variety of ways to practice rest allowed me to find ones that worked for me. I am still using aspects of the course now, several weeks after it has finished.
'Unique and Potent, Creative Pre-sleep Tools...That I Have Not Seen Offered Anywhere Else'
Rachel is a fun and inspiring Somatics teacher.
Clear in her experiential instructions, encouraging and supporting students in their own autonomy and developing a personal practice that works for them in their own circumstances. Coming out of her own deep explorations in a wide range of modalities, this course provides some unique and potent, creative pre sleep tools aimed at unwinding your nervous system that I have not seen offered anywhere else in a singular course, that are highly effective.
I definitely recommend this course to anyone seeking quality Somatic instruction to help improve the art and science of their sleep.
'I Can’t Recommend This Highly Enough.'
I can’t recommend this highly enough. Not only does Rachel facilitate with grace, empathy and deep wisdom ... but the journey into soothing rest is one that every human being would benefit from exploring and revisiting no matter what....one of the greatest values I received from the course is that now, in those moments where I am struggling to drop into sleep, instead of dread and frustration building, I have techniques I can use which help me feel empowered.
'For The First Time In A Long Time, I Was Sleeping More Deeply '
This was just what was needed. The invitation to listen and rest once a week, exploring different somatic pathways with others, held by Rachel’s calm, curious and grounded facilitation style, meant that I was able to absorb this into my conscious awareness as a practice. The impact meant that for the first time in a long time, I was sleeping more deeply and finding other ways during my usually busy days to calm and soothe.
'My Whole System Was In Need Of Softening And Resting'
I found Rachel Blackman and her teachings at a place in life where my whole system was in need of softening and resting. Going through a couple of years of highly stressful events I was at a place that mostly resembled complex trauma or burnout. I tried many things, but most did not make any sustainable or notable changes. (I moved) from having the sensation of a tight belt around my diaphragm which made each breath an effort, to the sensation of a soft jellyfish moving in water and breathing softly and easily again. I would recommend the course to anyone in need of slowing down. Softening, finding a deeper connection to the body and getting into a more balanced, softer and receptive state.
'From The First Week I Found Myself Feeling The Benefits'
I can't recommend Rachel's Somatic Meditations for Soothing and Softening course enough. It arrived at a time when I was really exhausted, and from the first week I found myself feeling the benefits. Rachel is a brilliant facilitator, warm and wise, masterfully guiding us to deep places with a light touch. Thanks to this course and equipped with a variety of accessible new tools, I am learning to explore rest as a practice in its own right, rather than a thing that might happen (if I'm lucky).
About your facilitator
Rachel Blackman
Rachel is a daughter, sister, wife, step mother and proud aunty, originally from Australia, living in Brighton UK.
She is a somatic educator, somatic coach, trainer, Feldenkrais practitioner, artist, theatre maker, and mentor.
She trains coaches to work with the body as an intelligent instrument, creates courses and classes which bring us home to biological intelligence and the creative, generative principle which is alive in all organic life.
Rachel honours the traditional owners of the land of her birth:
Her ancestors settled on Yuggera land (now Brisbane) and on the lands of the Eora (Sydney). But the place she spent most of her childhood, the Bunjalung territories, in the subtropical rainforests by the sea, is where she feels her greatest sense of belonging.
She hopes to return one day.
