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“This is the simple path: to return to the simplicity and naturalness we once had. The path of the breeze that gently whispers through the trees, of the bird that climbs into the open, clear blue sky. The way of the simple flowers that blossom without effort and through Wu Wei catch the warmth and blessing of the sun. The way of the waters that run through the veins of the earth and pass at last into the wide ocean.
To feel Wu Wei is to know the inner pulse of the Tao, which is reality itself.”
Lao Tzu c 6th century BC
Previous Living Tao Course Participants
The Living Tao Barefoot Training course is a profound journey of self healing and transformation. Living Tao healing offers a journey out of the isolating illusions of the ego into directly experiencing your true nature and your relation with all of life. As you become an integrated part of the whole your relationship with life, yourself and others are all transformed.
Living Tao healing combines ancient Taoist practices and meditations with contemporary personal growth work. Together they form the integrated way of transformation that we have developed over the last twenty four years. Through these years we have found that these Taoist practices open up a most profound yet simple way of consciously accessing
and living at one with the essence of your being and thus with all of life. Combined with personal growth methods that are highly effective in our culture, they create a healing way that works with every aspect of yourself - the physical, emotional, sexual, animal, mental and the spiritual. Working in such an holistic way enables you to cultivate a loving, integrated inner state that generates respectful, caring and fully connecting relationship with yourself, your body, your environment, the planet and with others around you. This will support you to live in a way that fulfills you, and is rich in loving relationship, healthy community, natural well being, in harmony with nature and all of life.
Throughout the course there will be information about, and practical opportunities to experience, working with others in this way. As you integrate the understandings and healing practices in your life you will be able to work with others or add to your existing practitioner skills.
The Tao (pronounced Dow) is the undivided unity of being, both the essence and way of the universe. Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao te Ching c. 500 BC: “There is something obscure which is complete before Heaven and Earth arose. Tranquil, quiet, standing alone, unchanging, infinite, eternally present. It is the mother of everything. I don’t know its name and call it Tao.”
All things are one within the Tao, all emanate from it. We become at peace, fulfiled and enlightened, when we fully realise our oneness with the Tao.
This training will support you in being able to -
• understand and move beyond limiting and self sabotaging conditioning and behaviour patterns
• be fully present and centered.
• be able to work constructively with fears or difficulties and respond creatively to the challenges and stresses life presents.
• have healthy relationships free of the compromises and traps of co- dependence.
• live and love fully and freely.
• free your life energy flow in a way that energises, heals and empowers.
• come out of separation and struggle into flow with nature and life.
Making changes, healing and growing often involves facing fears - the frightened places within that often don’t want to make any change at all. The course will teach you how to empower your will in the face of these feelings and fears. You will find out how to put your essential presence, into the drivers seat instead of unconscious behaviour patterns and learn ways to take care of and integrate these aspects of yourself.
The nature of the committed group makes a very safe, supportive space for the deepest healing and growth. In such a group a community is formed that is rich in love and conscious awareness which allows any residual patterns from the past, from family and childhood to be brought to the surface for healing. We work with this consciously and clearly as a valuable part of the healing process.
In depth notes accompany the course which build into a self help manual. We give support and information throughout the course on what is involved in holding space for others focusing clearly on issues around trust, safety, confidentiality, boundaries, projection, transference and so on. We also set up a mutual support system within the group.
Our commitment to participants is that we do our best to ensure group safety and to support integration on each stage of the journey.
Prerequisites:
This course is only for those who are wanting to work very deeply and are fully willing to heal and grow. We ask that participants commit to being honest and self responsible within the group and to fully engage in the healing process. It is your willingness to work with the practices and processes in your life between groups that brings the results.
You will need to have done at least 4 individual sessions and preferably have done an introductory workshop with us. (See information on the weekend course we are running in September) If you have difficulties in integrating the material of the course we recommend you continue doing regular sessions with us to help this process.
Prerequisites on addictions.
Addictions are an issue that we will work with during the course as they affect almost everyone. However the course will not work for you if are addicted to and regularly take mind altering substances. These include alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and nicotine. We can help dealing with such addictions in personal sessions and strongly recommend programmes that specialise in these areas to help you address your addiction before coming on the course. If you have problems with addictions and want to do the course, please talk to us.
As new elements are introduced on each weekend they will build on the previous elements and step by step integrate together into a whole system. There are indepth notes to accompany the course which build into a manual to help integrate the experience of the healing journey
Nov 16 - 18 Presence and the Tao
Taoist meditations for centering in presence. The Tao and the nature of your being Awakening to who you truly are. Emotional healing, body awareness, self healing and holding in love and compassion.
Dec 14 - 16 Conscious breathwork
Conscious breathwork has roots in ancient Taoist and Yogic breathing techniques and brings about deep clearing, release and healing. It was brought to the West in the 70’s under the name of Rebirthing. This breathwork acts in a direct, simple and safe way with all levels of being - emotionally, energetically, physically, mentally and spiritually to free and release whatever prevents free flow of energy and full presence. Through it you can enter into a profoundly aware state of being - a heightened and grounded awareness of what is happening in your body, emotions and mind and beyond your body
Feb 15 - 17 Working with patterns, imprints and survival strategies
Focus on core beliefs, patterns, imprints and survival strategies to enable self understanding and conscious awakening. Freeing and healing inherited family imprinting and cultural conditioning.
Understanding the ego and the nature of false identity - where we believe that the patterns of thought and behaviour, and the imprints and emotions are the self. Addressing the nature of addictions and self sabotage/ self destruct patterns. Exploring who we really are and shifting the focus of identity to the presence of our being.
Mar 14 - 16 Healing and integrating inner fragmentation
Healing and integrating the inner child, animal and other hurt, shadowy, lost or separated aspects of the fragmented ego, mind and emotional body. Integrative inner dialogue - a very useful way of self understanding and moving out of separation and fragmentation into unified conscious presence
April 18 - 20 Soul Healing.
The journey to full spiritual and physical embodiment. Birth, womb and conception experiences and imprints. Freeing body and soul from emotional and energetic patterns from the past. Karmic clearing. Re- integrating soul fragments. Spirit, mind, body, emotions, soul and the Tao.
May 16 - 18 Relationships
Interlocking patterns in relationships. Co -dependence and collusion. Working with conflicts, hurt, fear, anger, blame and arguments. Developing self responsibility, trust, safety and healthy boundaries. Opening to love and the healing that love creates. Creating and maintaining healthy, conscious, loving relationships that support mutual healing and growth.
June 13 - 16 Sexuality and nature 4 day
Taoist sexual energy practices for healing, clearing and inner unification within the body. Freeing the flow of energy and life force. Sexual energy as healing energy. Healing sexual fragmentation and conditioning, trauma or abuse. Male and female sexual healing. Integrating sexuality with spirit, heart and all the energy centres - becoming whole, empowered and fully present in your body. Conscious lovemaking. Reclaiming natural innocence and aliveness.
Our relationship with nature and our place in the web of life. Being on the earth, with sun, sky, plants, fire, day and night. Elemental healing with earth, air, fire and water for physical, mental, spiritual and emotional healing and rebalancing.
We ask everyone to stay on site so we can live together on the land for these four summer days. (starting Friday 11am, finishing Monday 4pm)
July 11 - 13 Integration
Becoming whole - bringing mind, body, spirit and emotions into oneness. Reclaiming and integrating lost power and energy. Coming into full presence, creativity and self empowerment.
Physical grounding, living food, body care and support.
Integration of all aspects of the course into a whole system.
Living in Integrity & Completion (date to be agreed)
Coming out of separation and struggle to come into flow with nature and the ability to live at one with it. Coming into trust with life. Livelihood with integrity, healthy community and healthy grass root support systems. Supporting others to make changes.
Advanced training courses are offered on completion of this course for those who want to go more deeply into what is involved in holding space for others in the self healing journey and for relationship and sexuality practitioner training.
For previous participants feedback on this course, click here
Venue: Avalon Permaculture Gardens, Nr Glastonbury.
Times: Fridays at 7.30 for 8pm -10pm Usually on Saturday the times will be 10am - 7pm and Sunday 10am - 4.30 pm.
Cost: The cost of the course is £1400 - £800 on a sliding scale according to your income
Deposit: £150.
This is a committed group and the balance is required at the start of the group. For those who need to pay by monthly installments we have devised a way to make committed payments over the year.
Talk with us about this if you need to make this arrangement.
If you are interested in taking part in this course please talk with us about it. We only take people onto this course that we feel are ready for it. This ensures a strong focused group of people all ready to embark on this journey. The level of interest in this course is high so it is advisable to talk with us as soon as possible to ensure a place. There is a maximum of 16 places.
Food and accomodation:
Food: we provide simple organic vegetarian lunches on Saturday and Sunday. For supper on Saturdays you may like to bring ingredients for a communally prepared pot luck supperFood: we provide simple organic vegetarian lunches on Saturday and Sunday. For supper on
Saturdays you may like to bring ingredients for a communally prepared pot luck supper.
Camping is available at £6 a night
Staying communally in the heated group space which includes foam mattresses at £8 a night.
We also have 2 heated caravans which can accommodate 2 people each at £12 a night per person.
These prices all include hot camp style showers and simple self serve organic breakfasts.
B&Bs There are many good B&Bs locally and in Glastonbury (5 miles away) please ask us for details.
We can realise this oneness by developing the ability to know ourselves as the essential presence within the self, and recognise it in others and within all of life. This is a process that is beyond words or concepts: it happens deep within ourselves, it happens as we become fully present and conscious in our bodies - it happens when we become fully present within the depth and breadth of what is in this moment.
This is an earthy, grounded process - illusory ways of living fall away as we come into the actuality of who and what we truly are. It is a journey to awakening, a journey to become strong and aware in heart, body, mind and spirit, fully alive and able to play our part in life.