VIBRANCE: Expressive Arts

Vibrance: Expressive Arts Retreat
March & April, 2021

Teachers: Ellen Watson & Daphne Tse
Translation: Shinnosuke Ide - Japanese, Susi Ismiati - Indonesian, Klaus Schmitt - Mandarin
Location: Mimpi Resort, Menjangan, Bali

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Info • Teachers • Venue & Accommodation • Curriculum • Registration

Bali is a culture that honors and uses music, art and dance to call in wisdom, share stories, create community, and facilitate healing. In this retreat we will tap into these Balinese traditions and those learned from travels around the world, as we embark on a creative journey of self expression that will lead us to a deeper understanding of self.

This is the 2nd in our series of 3 Transformative and Reformative Retreats. Each retreat may also be taken with additional Teacher Training classes as part of a 200-Hour certification program. This path and the additional classes will lead you to sharing Vibrance around the world.

If you prefer to simply take this time for experience, healing and rasing your vibrations, this makes for a life changing lifestyle retreat.

About Vibrance

Vibrance fuses cross-cultural spiritual and philosophical truths with Western psychology and modern scientific research. A fusion of the eight chakras and the five elements, we begin with the root chakra, powered by your breath and your heartbeat.

Accessible to everyone, this moving meditation invites you to realize physical and metaphysical fitness by opening your heart, freeing your voice, letting go of the past, exploring your breath, strengthening and detoxifying your cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and toning your digestive and reproductive systems.

When we sing, the breath, heart, mind and body resonate together. SoulSong uncovers the songs in our hearts and awakens our true voice. You can learn to use your voice as medicine -- no musical background required.

SoulSong’s natural pranayama exercises invite sound from all parts of your body, your musical instrument, opening space, new vitality and balance.

SoulSong is an experiential practice that creates a safe space for everyone to express the heart song they have deep inside, waiting to be shared with the world. Tap into the liberated state of being a child, open your throat chakra, and immerse yourself in the healing power of sound.

Through movement, music, breath, sound, song and visualization, we can transform ourselves, our relationships, our communities and our planet. This is the intention of Vibrance.

Vibrance is Good Medicine.
Morning, Noon, & Night:
Early Morning Vibrance energizes for the start of a GREAT Day,
Mid-day Vibrance refills your energetic cup,
Evening Vibrance, a slower, restorative, calming practice.

Using our map of the 8 chakras; Vibrance activates your 108 meridians, shakes your 206 bones, moves your 660 muscles, calms your mind, opens your heart, and activates your breath.

Vibrance’s series of 60 – 90 minute musical compilations provide you with ‘ready to dance, sound, & sing’ without putting on your DJ hat.

Teachers

Ellen Watson
Now an Internationally renowned Somatic Arts Educator, Ellen began her studies and practices in the 1980’s at The Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA. Ellen rebirthed and directed Esalen’s Movement Arts program, studied, practiced and joined the faculty of Esalen®Massage & Bodywork.

After certifying as a 5Rhythms® teacher with Gabrielle Roth, Ellen developed SpiritDance to incorporate her complementary practices in Esalen® Massage, Holotropic Breathwork™, Continuum Movement, Yoga, Clinical Hypnosis, Gestalt Awareness Practice, Singing Gestalt, and sound healing.

Today, The Vibrance Practice is the culmination of what has inspired Ellen, Daphne, and Ashley

Daphne Tse
Daphne Tse is a spirited, soulful musician and teacher. After falling in love with yoga more than 20 years ago, she has explored merging her spiritual practice with her music, combining mantras, folk and world music.

She developed SoulSong to inspire everyone to sing the song that lies in their heart and awaken their true voice. She travels around the world, sharing her music and SoulSong teachings with performances and classes.

Ashley Johnson
Ashley believes in the power of music, dance, story and song to facilitate wellness in a culture, vibrance in the individual and change in the world. She is a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. She was born moving in the sacred rhythms of the earth and has also trained in ballet, tap, jazz, 5Rhythms, Soul Motion, is a Vibrance facilitator and Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher.

Ashley’s classes and workshops crack open constrictive patterns, inspire freedom in the body and mind and cultivate an expanded sense of creative possibilities. Her playful and integrative approach to creating community through singing and dancing catalyzes a trans-formative experience for students that results in an enlivened sense of well being.

Venue & Accommodation

Mimpi Resort, Menjangan, Bali
On the North-West coast of Bali in the village of Banyuwedang, Mimpi looks out towards the Menjangan Island. The area is notorious as a hot-spot for diving and snorkelling and just a little further down the coast a regular dolphin hangout.

Mimpi's most special feature is its waters, as the resort is built across land with several natural hot springs. The careful architecture and landscaping makes for several shared natural hot spring pools across the 3 hectares of land. Inevitably the water and it's high mineral content is totally refreshing, rejuvenating and holds it's own healing qualities. For us the pools are perfect for aquatic bodywork, where we dance in the water to feel true fluidity.

Classes take place in the Wantilan. A large space with wooden floors, the sounds of birds and some gentle breezes. We decorate the wantilan with beautiful silk hangings and bring a range of equipment from musical instruments, to dancing scarves, yoga mats, yoga balls and of course an excellent sound system!

Patio Room

Mimpi's standard room is the patio. Stylishly finished and available with twin or double beds these rooms are home for most of our students through programs and regularly receive excellent feedback.

The rooms are spacious and very comfortable, making them easy to share with another guest whilst maintaing plenty of personal space.

Courtyard Villa

The Courtyard Villa is a pleasant and affordable upgrade to the patio room. With it's own garden and it's own private hot spring tub, the CY Villa is a taste of luxury.

The CYV also has an additional mezzanine that is perfect for families with children or private space for meditation.

A further addition is the private garden terrace and outdoor seating area making this ideal for sitting in the open air sunshine whilst keeping some peaceful solitude, alone or with your partner. If booking a shared space in this room category, you must book with a partner.

Curriculum & Certification

This retreat/immersion will focus on the 5th chakra - Vishuddha which is the gateway chakra between the body and spirit. Opening and exercising this chakra strengthens the connection with your own inner truth and your ability to express it in the world. Our voices carry the vibrational imprint of our soul. As we connect to and open our voices so too do we connect and open to our true nature.

We come together for these 9 days in the spirit of Love that is BHAKTI YOGA. Bhakti yoga, like any other form of yoga, is a path to self-realization, to having an experience of oneness with everything. And so we devote ourselves to the practice of expressing ourselves truthfully, to vibrating with one another, and loving one another as we come closer to knowing ourselves and the ONE vibration from which we all came.

In this retreat we will learn and experience:

Dancing through inertia & imitation, allowing your imagination and intuition to guide you into the land of inspiration
Freeing your body from the stories held in your tissues; to transform fear into courage, curiosity and fascination
To dance with fear, anger, sadness, joy, and the empty place of compassion
To write poetry, to dance and sing to that poetry, to turn your stories into art
Vocal Empowerment and SoulSong techniques and exercises to uncover and strengthen your authentic voice
How to create foundational rhythms for singing and dancing
Nada Yoga: Sound Healing techniques and tools
Bhakti Yoga: mantra and kirtan
Poetry writing
Songwriting
How to listen for the music that is already being made around and through you all the time so that the whole world becomes a song.
Spinning & dancing with Rumi