The Body Knows: A Four Week Somatic Exploration with Dani Tonks

"The body knows things about which the mind is ignorant" - Jacques Lecoq

The Body Knows is a four week online journey of learning to listen to the innate wisdom of your body.

The intention of this work is for you to 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, 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: 

• Each week you will receive a detailed follow up email with video recaps 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. 

Practices we will cover:

• Lecoq: The Moving Body
• Intuitive Movement & Yoga
• Somatic Methods
• Meditation & Mindfulness
• Embodied Leadership
• Voice Exploration
• Active Listening & Journalling

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Structure:

I am greatly inspired by cyclical living, and have created this structure to follow the cycle of the seasons, so that we may explore the different energies and opportunities that each one brings. 

WEEK 1 SPRING - Rebirth
Fresh, new beginning, discovery, anew, seeing the world with new eyes, positive shedding,  growing, noticing, rebuilding, creating space

WEEK 2 SUMMER - Wild Play
Wild Play, expansive, unblock, move, shift, dance, shake, shape shift, spaciousness, expressive, transform, release, take space, empowerment

WEEK 3 AUTUMN - Rewilding & Ritual
Gathering, ritual, group work, co creation,  meditation, mindfulness, reflect, harvesting, prune, sharing what we’ve learnt, take stock

WEEK 4 WINTER - Loving Attention
Self love, gentle, slow, soft, deep listening, breath, solo, inward, rest, personal, stillness, somatic, yin, closing circle 

This course may be of benefit if you are:

• Feeling disconnected from your mindbody and nature.
• Seeking new ways to reconnect with your bodies natural rhythm.
• Are wanting to create your own embodiment practice or add to your already existing practice.
• 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 fitter and healthier whilst having fun too!

About Your Facilitator:

Dani is a performer, movement director, activist and workshop facilitator. She has a playful and sensitive approach, combining a range of disciplines including acting, contemporary dance, physical theatre, 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 Mind Over Monkey, The Psychedelic Society,  The Collective, House of Togetherness, 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:

East 15 Acting School (BA Acting)

Teatr Pieśń Kozła / Song of the Goat Theatre 

Tough Cookie Mental Resiience Training 

Embodied Activism by Rae Johnson 

Jon Davis Clowning School

The British Youth Filming Academy

Contact Improvisation

Alexander Technique

Testimonials:

“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 was very receptive to the groups needs. The workshop was fast paced, which kept it dynamic and allowed us to stay in the playful uninhibited state, away from the rational brain." - Genevieve

"Dani's facilitating 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

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Investment

I offer three payment options to support people on a lower wage. If you consider yourself to be a high earner then paying to 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, or to set up a payment plan do get in touch. 

Low income - £75 
Standard - £85 
Abundant - £100

EVENT DETAILS

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

DATES: Four consecutive Wednesdays starting 18 November Each session is 7-9:15pm
TICKET PRICES: £75-100 
DOORS OPEN: 18: 45
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

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