Laura Sarah Dowdall is a yoga and Somatic Movement teacher based in Dublin. She is starting a new series of classes in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, next Wednesday – click here for all the details! She recently wrote this beautiful article on the importance of looking within and connecting with our truth. Read on below to savour her wise words.
Movement
We love this article by yoga and Somatic movement teacher Laura Sarah Dowdall, where she talks about the mind-body connection, and how tapping into this connection can facilitate our healing process. Check out her website to learn all about her work!
THIS WEEK’S EVENT: Kundalini Activation Process with Venant Wong
This Thursday, August 2nd, we are thrilled to be playing host to energy, movement and Kundalini expert Venant Wong, who hails from Thailand. He will be with us from 7.00 to 9.30 p.m. in the Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, where he will discuss his revolutionary Kundalini Activation Process.
Venant has trained with three Kundalini Transmission masters: initially Adi Da Samraj (Fiji), then Ratu Bagus (bali), and culminating with Pi Villaraza (Phillipines), after which the capacity to activate the kundalini in others arose. He has been leading Facilitator Trainings & Immersions in this modality, as well as open sessions for groups & individuals in Asia, Australia, and now in Europe. Venant was also an apprentice to David Deida (a sacred sexuality teacher), and has taught the Deida work throughout Australia and in Hong Kong beginning in 2001.
Venant is a Tae Kwon Do 2nd Dan Blackbelt & Instructor. He also worked and trained as a professional dancer for 7 years (jazz/cabaret). His website is venantwong.com.
Venant will be in Dublin from August 2nd to the 12th, 2018, where he will be offering three Kundalini Activation Process transmission sessions – on August 4th, 7th and 9th – and an immersive KAP weekend workshop on August 11th and 12th. To learn more about the three transmission sessions, just click here. The event page for the August 11th and 12th weekend immersion is here.
On Thursday August 2nd, he will be visiting us at Positive Nights from 7.00 to 9.30 p.m. in the Central Hotel, 1 – 5 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, to talk about the fascinating process of Kundalini Activation, and how it can help us to heal. You can book your tickets here.
Unwreck Your Neck: The Gentle Movement Workshop Designed to Relieve Spinal Pain
Our modern-day habits can be tough on our spinal muscles. Everyday actions such as hunching over a computer or continually moving our heads down to look at phone screens can take an enormous toll on our backs and necks. Somatic movement educator Deirdre O’Connor is on hand to help with her workshop, ‘Unwreck Your Neck’, which will take place from 1.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Sunday the 15th of April in the Elbowroom, Dublin 7. Visit the-elbowroom.com to learn more.
These days, we have acquired a lot of bad postural habits that cause us to slouch, deplete our energy, shorten our breath and create tension in our bodies. Common problems that Deirdre witnesses among her clients include clenched jaws, scrunched shoulders and neck compression.
During her workshop at the Elbowroom, Deirdre will teach you how to reverse any bad habits you may have learned, removing painful tension patterns from your body and moving into a way of moving and being that feels light and spacious. Two of the most powerful modalities for pain relief and postural re-setting – Somatic Yoga and Body Rolling – will be used to assist in this process.
Somatic Yoga will wake up your sensory-motor system using natural, sequential and fluid movements designed to re-wire your patterns of muscular tension, effortlessly and without pain.
Body Rolling is a modality that uses your own body weight on small balls to help relieve painful neuromuscular tensions and promote fluidity of movement. The result is a total decompression and elongation of the neck, shoulders and jaw.
Deirdre’s credentials include: Yoga Dip, Yoga Sannyasin, Bihar, DTR movement Dip/Adv, Craniosacral Therapy CST-T Dip, Somatic Movement Educator and Clinical Somatic Ed.
‘Unwreck Your Neck’ with Deirdre O’Connor is taking place at the Elbowroom, 32 North Brunswick Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, on Sunday the 15th of April from 1.30 to 4.00 p.m. Click here for information and booking.
From Our Friends: Open Your Hearts at the ‘Sacred Cacao Ceremony: Movement Of Love’
Interested in enjoying some heart-opening movement and dance, while also partaking in a sacred Cacao ceremony? Then you will want to check out The Cacao Sanctuary’s latest event, ‘Sacred Cacao Ceremony: Movement Of Love.’ It will take place in the Lantern Centre, Dublin 8, from 6.00 to 9.00 p.m. this Friday the 16th of February. You can book tickets by sending a payment of €25 to info@glennsullivan.ie via PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, just email info@glennsullivan.ie and Glenn can send you a payment request.
The Cacao Sanctuary has become a strong presence within Ireland’s conscious dance community over the past few years. The Sanctuary was founded by Glenn Sullivan and Bebe Gardner. It offers a unique fusion of amazing dance music events and ceremonial grade Cacao ceremonies in Dublin and Wicklow. Glenn and Bebe’s goal is to inspire a whole new level of heart-to heart relating on the dance floor, aided by the naturally uplifting effects of Cacao.
If this combination of joyous dancing and Cacoa appeals to you, you will be happy to hear the Glenn and Bebe’s next event – ‘Sacred Cacao Ceremony: Movement Of Love’ – is taking place this Friday, the 16th of February, in Dublin.
‘The Ceremony falls just after St Valentine’s day and Lunar Imbolc (the first dark moon following Imbolc) so the invitation is to work with the themes associated with both,’ Glenn and Bebe explain. ‘St Valentine’s Day is predominantly thought of as being about Love and Partnership, but we’ll be asking: how do we experience ourselves as Love? To what extent are we in partnership with our tender Human selves as well as our Divine selves and Life as Love? To what degree are we in partnership with our beloved Planet, She that holds and sustains us? Imbolc marks a time of transition and is also celebrated as Brigit’s Day. She is the Goddess of Maidens and rules over the movement outward from winter to springtime. This time of transformation takes place in all of us as we move from darkness and inner contemplation towards an outer focus of conscious manifestation.’
The ‘Sacred Cacao Ceremony: Movement Of Love’ will take place in the Lantern Centre, Dublin 8, from 6.00 to 9.00 p.m. this Friday the 16th of February. You can book tickets by sending a payment of €25 to info@glennsullivan.ie via PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, just email info@glennsullivan.ie and Glenn can send you a payment request. You can view the event’s Facebook page here. To learn more about The Cacoa Sanctuary, click here.
By Alison Canavan
As we move out of the winter months we might want to put a spring in our step by upping our physical game. Even with the best of intentions, the winter simply doesn’t lend itself to a lot of physical exertion due to the dark nights and cold mornings. After winter’s gestation period, spring is an opportunity and a time for rebirth. It’s a chance to look at the world through fresh eyes and also try something new.
When it comes to exercise I like to switch up my routine as we enter a new season. To be honest, I get bored and I love to challenge my body by trying new exercises. I’m a huge fan of Reformer Pilates and I can credit these classes with helping me to get back in shape, post-baby, a few years ago. It’s been quite a while though since I took a class but I decided to return to Pilates Performance Ireland in Dundrum and see if the passion was still there.
The Reformer is a bed-like frame with springs and straps attached. Don’t let that frighten you because the best thing about this exercise is that your back and body are supported by the bed at all times which is great for me as I have a bad back from a car accident. The Reformer gives you a full-body workout and it also helps to build a very strong core. Halfway through the session, I felt a huge smile appear on my face as I realised just how much I missed these classes. I felt grounded and really connected physically as the instructors encourage you to really use your breath with each movement. It’s a potent de-stressing exercise for many reasons. The deep breathing helps to calm your central nervous system and the movements help to really move your energy through your body. Your circulation gets a boost, your spine and muscles are stimulated and, of course, those feel good hormones wake up and start to flood your body too.
Because of the strong focus on core strength, your balance and posture will also be improved. In an age of computers where we sit at desks for long periods of time, I welcome any exercise that helps with that. Your flexibility will also increase and what I like is that it really helps to give you a lean shape and stretches out the muscles as opposed to
bulking them.
Pilates Performance Ireland offers a wide range of classes suitable for all levels and abilities. You can also book personal sessions, which I would advise anyone who has injuries or back problems to do. The owner Sarah MacLachann, who is a Pilates master, is excellent and can really help you to get to the root of your problems and work slowly with you to build your strength back up.
visit alisoncanavan.com for upcoming events.
“The World’s problems cannot be solved by the same consciousness that created it.” – Einstein
Choice Point is a powerful new movie featuring world leading visionaries including Sir Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Gregg Braden, Barbara Marx Hubbard, David Hamilton and many more. This inspiring movie will guarantee to change how you see the world forever. A panel discussion will also take place following the screening.
The population of the world is facing a critical choice point in a time where individual decisions made today not only impact the self, but also the world at large. As the world edges ever nearer to its choice point – the tipping point of where it is not too late to decide what our world will be like for future generations – we as individuals also face choices which will determine not only our global outcome but also our own lives, depending on whether we align with where change is going. Choice Point arrives to help us all to take a step back, understand our world and aid us in taking the choice to align our purposes so as to turn the world’s problems into the world’s solutions and collectively create the world we all want to live in.
The Choice Point vision at its core is one that helps us all to attain a healthy, wise and purpose filled life so that collectively we can change the world for the better through three core channels – Social, Self and Health. It’s not just a movie, it’s a movement.
The film will screen in Dublin on Tuesday April 14th in the Stillorgan Park Hotel at 7.30pm, hosted by Seminars.ie.