Join us for an evening of live music, laughter, touch, connection and love—a special collaboration between Open Sesame and the Human Forest. It's going to be a party!
This will be a final hoorah for Ali, who has been facilitating the Human Forest in Melbourne for almost 2 years. She will soon be gallivanting around Australia in her new van. This experience invites you to immerse yourself in community, the joy of music, the pleasure and healing power of touch, and, most importantly, to have FUN.
We'd love to see you crazy critters let loose, relish in touch, and have a good old boogie.
What Awaits You:
In the Human Forest, participants will come together to co-create a space of spiritual connection, mirroring the harmony of nature itself. Like trees rooted in the same earth and reaching toward the same sky, we will join hands, hearts, and energies to awaken a sense of unity and divine flow.
What is a Human Forest and Open Sesame?
For those of you that don't know, a Human Forest Experience is a human ecosystem connected by consensual touch.
Half of the room will be trees, who will be blindfolded and receiving loving, devotional touch from the other half of the room (the critters). You will have the opportunity to experience being both a tree and a critter.
These events can be powerful, healing opportunities to experience intimacy and joy. Our priority is to support participants in leaving our events feeling open, cared for, and loved. Come be part of a movement that awakens people to the joyful, healing, and restorative power of touch.
Open Sesame is an experience that combines a live band, a facilitator, ceremony, meditation, breath work, sound baths and metamorphic dance journey.
In Open Sesame we work with the three C’s of healing:
Connection: To the self, to the creative process, and to others. When we isolate, hide our expression, don’t ask for what we need, and perpetuate low self worth, we become unwell. Connecting with self and others can be challenging, but when done in a safe and supportive environment, it is deeply transformative.
Cardio: Dancing, stretching, running and jumping accelerate the heart rate, get blood pumping through stagnant areas of the body, and promote vitality and energy.
Catharsis: With the aid of music, breath, movement, visioning and meditation, we can access and express more of our primal nature.
It’s common to inhibit our natural, honest expression. However, as we express more of our energy within through sound and movement, we surprise ourselves, we can enjoy more of ourselves, and create a fuller palette of clarity-enhancing our mental, physical, emotional and physical experience.
See, feel, and explore the magic of Open Sesame HERE - a truly breathtaking collaboration you won’t want to miss.
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IMPORTANT:
In this event we focus on devotional, loving and non-sexually oriented touch. Note: there is no genitalia touch at this event.
All our events have been remarkably healing and opening for many participants, as seen in the testimonials above.
That being said, this is a touch focused event. If you have any history of trauma related to receiving or giving touch, please be in touch with us directly to seriously consider whether this event is right for you.
Participants are required to be on time to ensure they understand how to communicate their boundaries with clarity and respect via the consent and boundaries section at the commencement of the event.
About your facilitators:
Ali - @alicia.c.jade
With touch as her primary love language, Alicia (Ali) has been a long-standing ‘Tree’ at Human Forest events in Melbourne, having first experienced the event at Burning Man in 2017. She is now a facilitator, trained by the Human Forest Project.
As a somatic trauma therapist, Ali’s wisdom, intuition, and sensitivity guide her work. These gifts have been further refined through over 10 years of spiritual practice, including 5 years of teaching yoga, meditation, and coordinating silent retreats at a respected yoga school in Oaxaca, Mexico. Passionate about helping others, Alicia has worked professionally in mental health and holds qualifications including a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Psychophysiology, a Diploma of Mindfulness Therapy, and Triple Vagal Method certification. Ali creates loving, compassionate, and non-judgmental spaces, with a deep love for nature that she eagerly shares with others.
Melvin @melvinsjerps
Melvin is a Men’s Coach & Mentor and is devoted to helping men who have been people-pleasing, lone-wolfing and lacking purpose, to reclaim their POWER, take responsibility and step into the 2.0 version of themselves. He is the founder of Cold Water Vikings and a co-facilitator at The Gathering Of Men.
Melvin has been on his own personal development journey for the last 5+ years and is very passionate about partswork, boundaries and coaching men in living a life of purpose.
Things to note:
Bring:
- Comfortable clothing
- Some nibbles and/or drinks to share with others at the end
- An open mind
- Any friends that might be interested! ;)
Personal responsibility: Please make an assessment on whether you are feeling stable and resourced enough to explore the practices on offer in this event.
No Photo/Video Content Will Be Captured: We recognise that being at an event where content is being captured can impact the personal comfort and nervous system regulation of our community. As such, it should be known upfront that this event is a photo and video free space. No content will be captured. We ask all participants to honor this agreement in respect of the shared experience by placing any recording devices away on arrival.
Arrival: Endeavour to arrive between 6:30pm - 6:45pm. To preserve the experience for all involved, doors will close at 7:00pm. Truly, it breaks our heart to have to turn latecomers away yet the disruption to the whole group experience by virtue of lateness does require management. We ask that you find understanding and consideration for the timebound nature of the container and make every effort to arrive on time.
Driving: Know Centre of You is on Chapel St and ample time to find a car spot is best to be factored into your plans. Park direct on Chapel St (spots unmetered after 5pm) or in Anchor Place, the open-air parking lot in the side street that runs opposite Centre of You (unmetered after 4pm).
Public transport - tram: Both the number 6 tram & 78 tram stop on the corner of High St/Chapel St. This is stop 31 on the number 6 tram (Moreland/Glen Iris) & stop 45 on the number 78 tram (North Richmond/Balaclava).
Public transport - train: Both Prahran & Windsor stations along the Sandringham Line will get you walking distance to Centre of You.
Finding Centre of You: Centre of You is nestled within the arcade that Chapel St Bazaar is in (217 Chapel St). It is up a flight of stairs with a wide landing at the half-way-point. Unfortunately, this current version of Centre of You does not have a wheelchair accessible lift. If you could use support in getting up the stairs or would like to discuss ways to make your experience at Centre of You more comfortable, please reach out via hello@centreofyou.com.au or via DM over on Centre of You Instagram.
Accessibility: At COY we aim to ensure our community and events are inclusive and accessible while alongside upholding the needs and responsibilities of our business and the businesses of our collaborating facilitators. Should you be in a time of financial challenge and unable to pay the full ticket price comfortably, please reach out via hello@centreofyou.com.au or via DM over on Centre of You Instagram
Ticketing T&Cs: We get it, life happens, therefore we will gladly refund you up until 24hrs before the event start time. After that, we have a strict no refund/no transfer to future events policy.
If you are no longer able to attend and wish to pay forward your ticket to someone within the community, be in touch via hello@centreofyou.com.au or via DM over on Centre of You Instagram.
Questions? Email hello@centreofyou.com.au or reach out via Instagram DM.
Tickets: $45.00 early bird, $60.00 general exchange (within 48 hours of event).