A Forest Celebration
Join us for an evening of live music, laughter, touch, connection and love for a special collaboration between Open Sesame and the Human Forest. This is a new year celebration to honour and be with the most important person in your life, YOU!
As the new year rolls out and the business of the holiday season relaxs, it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of goal setting, achieving and obligatory gatherings. Unplug from the digital noise, let go of the stress, be with the community and immerse yourself in the joy of music, the heartiness of cacao and the pleasure of touch as facilitated through a Human Forest. Together we will celebrate the beauty of the here and now, recognizing and honouring the gift of being alive in your body with presence.
To open the evening, and open our hearts, we will sit together in circle and share Cacao together. Cacao is the raw ingredient of chocolate, and has been drunk in traditional societies throughout Meso-America for thousands of years. It is known as Heart medicine, and if you choose, we will be using this as an opportunity to drop deeper into presence, receptivity and connection. This particular Cacao is from an indigenous Mayan family in Guatemala, who Patty was honoured to meet and learn from in recent travels.
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 receive 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 for participants to experience intimacy and joy. Our priority to supporting participants to leave our events feeling opened, cared for and loved.
Come be part of a movement awakening people to the joy filled, 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 get sick. Connecting with self and others can be hard, but very potent when done in a safe and supported environment.
- Cardio:
Dancing, stretching, running and jumping accelerate the heart rate, get the blood pumping through stagnant areas in the body and help promote vitality and energy.
- Catharsis:
With the aid of music, breath, movement, visioning and meditation, we can allow ourselves to access and express more of our primal nature.
It’s very common to inhibit our natural honest expression. 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 to function within our mental, physical, emotional and physical experience.
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WHAT HAVE OTHERS SAID ABOUT THE EPOCH GROVE HUMAN FOREST?
"Can we please do this every day!?"
"I have never felt so supported in my life"
"I just feel like honey melting down a warm stove"
"I can actually feel my body, myself and other people. I feel so connected."
"I can't believe people can share so much intimacy with so much reverence and respect for each other. It's MIND BLOWING!"
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:
Shlomit - @shlomit.samantha
As a truth seeker, dancer, rebel and purveyor of pleasure, Shlomit developed a deep connection to her rich internal world from an early age. For the past 8 years, somatic practices inducing flow states and travel to 49 countries has been Shlomit's strongest medicine and companion in cultivating internal safety, self love and trust. Open hearted, open minded, Shlomit brings an embodied sensual playfulness that gives others permission to soften and let their full expression be welcomed and seen. Shlomit is passionate about curating spaces where people can access their inner world, safely explore their edges and honour their boundaries as a means of deepening self trust and internal safety, expanding their capacity to receive the fullness of love that is their natural state of being. Shlomit offers 1:1 devotional body work to restore, worship and provide loving touch and presence to your body and soul.
Matthew - @matthews.labs
Matthew has had an interest in self and relational exploration. Curious about how play can be harnessed to find more integrity he has used the experiences of overcoming his struggles as fuel to be in service to others. In the mid 2010s he became a certified massage therapist and yoga teacher. Over the past few years he has deepened and embodied a more expressive relationship with himself and others through exploring workshops and trainings such as Ecstatic Dance, Authentic Relating, ISTA, Breathwork, Process work and of course, The Human Forest. His struggle with social anxiety has been deeply supported by Authentic Relating and The Human Forest more than he ever could have imagined. Matthew values creating and holding spaces that are kind, clear, expressive, and exploratory. He brings his own unique flavour of play and exploration to his facilitation. He loves holding spaces where people feel safe enough to show up as the beautifully messy humans that we all are. He believes strongly in meeting everyone at their level and that finding coherence as a group involves everyone’s input.
Ali - @alicia.c.jade
With touch being her primary love language, Alicia (Ali) has been a long standing ‘Tree’ of the Human Forest events in Melbourne and experienced her first Human Forest at Burning man in 2017. Today, she is a facilitator of the Human Forest Experience, trained by the Human Forest Project. As a somatic trauma therapist, her innate wisdom, intuition and sensitivity are her guiding light. These gifts of awareness have been further refined through a dedicated spiritual practice of more than 10 years which included 5 years spent teaching yoga, and meditation, coordinating silent meditation retreats and various workshops at a well-respected yoga school in Oaxaca, Mexico. Ali has completed a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology, Bachelor of Science Psychology/ Psychophysiology, Diploma of Mindfulness Therapy, and Triple Vagal Method practitioner certification. With all this experience, Ali holds loving, compassionate, and non-judgmental spaces and has a profound love for nature that she can’t wait to share with you.
Patty - @pattymac.truth
After years in the corporate arena as an entrepreneur, accountant and executive, Patty began to wake up to the reality that life can be so much more than we are told. Through a spiritual journey that's unfolded over more than a decade, and has led to him living in 7 different countries, Patty has explored the far reaches of our human experience. Profound experiences with plant medicine, 10-day silent meditation, tantra, cold water immersion, breathwork and philosophical study, have helped him cultivate a deep curiosity for how to optimise our lives, alongside an ever-growing sense of faith and gratitude for the magic of life all around us. You might know Patty from other events he's run at Centre of You before, including Red Pill Rituals, Ecstatic Dance, Spirit Animal Activations, Cacao Circles, Calling of the Kings, and Of Mermaids and Mermen (that ended in his proposal to now wife Emina). He is also passionate about helping spread awareness about the critical role of the Dingo in the health of Australia's ecosystem.
Cam Mineo - @cammineo
Singer facilitator guy! For well over a decade, Cam has been writing songs and playing music as a solo singer songwriter with a guitar, and a singer-drummer when with the band. With a unique blend of acoustic pop, hip hop, soul, folk, reggae, funk, dance and rock, Cam primarily enjoys and encourages audience members to dance and sing and connect through music. Through all types of challenges over the years, he continues to pursue his craft for the simple love of musical creation and connection.
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.
Arrival: Endeavour to arrive between 5:45pm and 6:00pm. To preserve the experience for all involved, doors will close at 6:15pm. 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 grace@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 grace@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 grace@centreofyou.com.au or via DM over on Centre of You Instagram.
Questions? Email grace@centreofyou.com.au or reach out via Instagram DM.
Tickets: $66.00 early purchase, $77.00 general exchange (48 hours prior to event).