Toby Gillingham is a somatic researcher, facilitator and practitioner. He has studied as many physical art forms as he possibly could: including vinyasa yoga, Capoeira, Brazilian Jiujitsu, physical theatre and improv. He is constantly searching for the deeper truths offered to us by the physical worlds of our bodies. He is the founder of Mana and Wak - a retreat centre in Hertfordshire where he is offering a program of events that push the limits of what people think is possible to discover with their bodies through the power of physicality. To find out more visit: https://www.manaandwak.com/ or follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mana.and.wak/

Simonetta Alessandri is an Italian dance artist and a somatic educator based in London. She applies the Feldenkrais Method to dance and movement training and to performance-making. She teaches Contact Improvisation, Improvisation, Choreography and Contemporary Technique at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London Contemporary Dance School, at Goldsmiths University and in other Universities in UK. She teaches internationally and has been a guest teacher in Germany, Colombia, UK, Norway, Israel, Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Taiwan and India. Her work is informed by more than 30 years of dancing, teaching and choreographing. As a choreographer, she has created pieces for dance companies, students, large scale opera, improvised performance and site-specific works. She has also done movement direction for theatre. She taught for more than 20 years in Italy and kept Contact Improvisation alive in Roma for 10 years with her classes and jams. She was one of the few dance practitioners in Italy who began working with Contact Improvisation in the 90’s. She obtained the Post Graduate Diploma at London Contemporary Dance School, she is a qualified teacher of the Feldenkrais Method and she holds the Teacher Certificate of the Royal Academy of Dance. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is one of the founders of CI@Goldsmiths, association of dance artists dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of Contact Improvisation in London and UK. Follow her on Instagram: alessandri_simo_ Follow her on Facebook: Simonetta Alessandri Check out the CI @ Goldsmiths website: https://www.cigoldsmiths.com/ Check out the London Contact Festival: https://www.cigoldsmiths.com/londoncontactfestival

Part 3 of a 3 Part Series. Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe with Christian de Sousa & Felix Oram. Part 3: Morning Medicine Join Christian and Felix as they discuss and share a selection of beautiful and inspirational tracks that have deeply touched their souls. If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to listen to the tracks featured in full please check out the Spotify playlist. This podcast emerged from the creative springs of a project titled Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe, which is happening on Saturday 7th June 2025 at the beautiful Amadeus Centre in west London (Warwick Ave tube). To join Christian and Felix for a very special 5-hour dancing journey into sound where they will be weaving together diverse musical lineages: leaning into conscious dance maps, underground subcultures and the time-honoured human ritual of communing in rhythm, melody and togetherness, please use the link below. All bodies welcome. To book your tickets hit the link below: https://www.temenosdance.com/event-details/music-is-the-healing-force-of-the-universe Bio: Christian de Sousa is a DJ, dancer, facilitator and artist He holds dance spaces in Devon, London, Internationally and Online. He also offers a membership called The Home Dancing Project and broadcasts a monthly deep radio show called Transmission. Find all his work at www.glimpsesoflight.art Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/_glimpses.of.light_/ https://www.facebook.com/polartaoist/ DJ FX10K (aka Felix Oram) has been DJing since the 1990s in clubs, conscious dances & underground scenes.. He worked in the music industry for many years, running a record label and working in Matthew Bushwhacka’s recording studio. He is the founder of Temenos Dance Collective, an innovative conscious movement project offering safe, wholesome and inspirational movement experiences in London. To keep up to date follow Temenos on Instagram or join the WhatsApp group.

Part 2 of a 3 Part Series. Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe with Christian de Sousa & Felix Oram. Part 1: Electronic Dance Revolution. Join Christian and Felix as they discuss the electronic dance revolution of the early 1990s and share some of the tracks that had the most impact for them at that time. Bio: Christian de Sousa is a DJ, dancer, facilitator and artist He holds dance spaces in Devon, London, Internationally and Online. He also offers a membership called The Home Dancing Project and broadcasts a monthly deep radio show called Transmission. Find all his work at www.glimpsesoflight.art Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/_glimpses.of.light_/ https://www.facebook.com/polartaoist/ To listen to the tracks in full please check out the Playlist on Spotify using this link.

Part 1 of a 3 Part Series. Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe with Christian de Sousa & Felix Oram. Part 1: Early Inspirations. Join Christian and Felix as they share some of their early musical inspirations and discuss the influence and impact it had on them. If you enjoyed the podcast and would like to listen to the tracks featured in full please check out the Spotify playlist. This podcast emerged from the creative springs of a project titled Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe, which is happening on Saturday 7th June 2025 at the beautiful Amadeus Centre in west London (Warwick Ave tube). To join Christian and Felix for a very special 5-hour dancing journey into sound where they will be weaving together diverse musical lineages: leaning into conscious dance maps, underground subcultures and the time-honoured human ritual of communing in rhythm, melody and togetherness, please use the link below. All bodies welcome. For additional information on this event and to reserve your place head to the website via this link. Bio: Christian de Sousa is a DJ, dancer, facilitator and artist He holds dance spaces in Devon, London, Internationally and Online. He also offers a membership called The Home Dancing Project and broadcasts a monthly deep radio show called Transmission. Find all his work at www.glimpsesoflight.art Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/_glimpses.of.light_/ https://www.facebook.com/polartaoist/ DJ FX10K (aka Felix Oram) has been DJing since the 1990s in clubs, conscious dances & underground scenes.. He worked in the music industry for many years, running a record label and working in Matthew Bushwhacka’s recording studio. He is the founder of Temenos Dance Collective, an innovative conscious movement project offering safe, wholesome and inspirational movement experiences in London. To keep up to date follow Temenos on Instagram or join the WhatsApp group.

Alex Forster is an audiovisual adventurer and a creative communicator who produces deep, soulful soundscapes and evocative, heartfelt films.

His career began at the legendary Abbey Road studios, and has lead him across the globe to work in European mountains, Indian beaches, African deserts and beyond. He has collaborated with artists from iconic bands such as Radiohead, Pink Floyd, and Faithless, and worked for renowned organisations such as the BBC, Oxfam, and the Sonar Festival.

Alex's unique blend of talents brings a bespoke, immersive experience to every project. His ability to speak several languages and connect with people of diverse backgrounds and cultures has enabled him to contribute to inter-cultural and often socially and environmentally conscious projects around the world. Whether through music or film, Alex's creations serve as a bridge, connecting cultures and ideas in a symphony of sonic and visual harmony.

Fluent in both music composition and video production, Alex excels in projects that combine the two, creating a seamless blend of audio and visual storytelling. His expertise in digital audio workstations, coupled with his passion for organic sounds, live looping and improvisation, allows for a uniquely flexible and personal approach to music production. As a filmmaker, Alex's style harnesses the beauty and majesty of nature, crafting moving images that not only capture the eye but also touch the soul.

His music creations and live performances range from meditative soundscapes to ecstatic dance-floor grooves, drawing inspiration from the sights and sounds he has gathered on his global journeys as well as decades exploring movement practices on the dance floor. As a multi-instrumentalist skilled in both improvisation and music technology, Alex is able to craft bespoke soundscapes and immersive sound journeys that deeply resonate with participants at his events, offering a uniquely personal and profoundly memorable experience.

"Music that moves, images that inspire" encapsulates Alex's approach: creating audiovisual narratives that are not just experienced but deeply felt. His contributions to social and environmental causes through his art demonstrate a dedication to making a meaningful impact. With awards and accolades affirming his influence, Alex Forster remains a beacon of inspiration in the intersection of music and film, inviting audiences to explore the depth of human emotion and the beauty of our world. To find out more about Alex's work visit his website: www.alexforster.net Buy his music on BandCamp Listen on Spotify Follow him on Instagram

For this episode we sat down with Mackenzie Amara. To find out more about her work visit her website, follow her on Instagram, or check out her Linktree. Here is a list of some of her upcoming workshops: Black Tent Wild Apocalypse Mackenzie Amara Bio: Mackenzie is a writer, researcher, consultant, & 5Rhythms® teacher. By vocation she is a Jungian analyst-in-training & Clinical Psychology doctoral student. By design she is a collection of fractal, holographic cells dancing around some strange attractor for the sake of who knows what to live an insignificant, mythic life reflective of the mysterious vital spark within her. She identifies as a series of memories & unverifiable subjective experiences of self-hood to which she is rather fondly attached. She has a penchant for scholarship, the occult, pedantic erudition, morbid humor, grandiosity, nihilism, & semi-responsible hedonism. Born in the shadow of New Age culture into a fractured family system & the subjective experiencer of (arguably) extreme early childhood trauma, her life’s work is to heal psychic wounds — her’s & other’s — to ensure that she & others become strong enough to contend with the unconscious quicksands & transpersonal abysses which lap at the periphery of developing consciousness.

She is an emergent property of Being playing at becoming sovereign.

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Educational Background:

Mackenzie is a Diploma Candidate at the International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, training to become a Jungian analyst. She is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Saybrook University in Oakland, CA. Her research interests include psychedelic psychotherapy, psychedelic integration, dream analysis, mythology & symbolism in clinical practice, and the application of nondual teachings to human growth.

She holds a Master's degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology from Columbia University & a Bachelor's degree in Psychology & Spiritual Experience with a minor in Child & Adolescent Psychology from New York University. She is certified in Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (The New School & Center for Optimal Living), 5Rhythms® (The Moving Center), and Holistic Psychology (The Open Center).

For this episode I had the privilege of sitting down with Tasha Blank. Tasha is a celebrated international DJ, somatic practitioner, teacher and founder of The Get Down, The Drop, BODY LVNGUAGE and global leadership academy Powerhouse DJ School (PhDJ).

A student of somatic healing, shadow work, story and ceremony, her nervous system-based approach to transformation through movement is a wild invitation into your most powerful expression.

She’s known for liberating hips in New York City’s most legendary clubs (Cielo, Output, Verboten, House of YES), the world’s wildest festivals (Envision, Lightning in a Bottle, Burning Man, Wanderlust, Beloved), and museums, churches, helipads, boats, roving desert ships, forests and mountaintops everywhere.

She kicks off each set with a moment of silence and invocation. "Even for folks who've never seen a giant club get totally quiet and take a pause, it's an important part of the experience. When a crowd trusts each other enough to be still together for a few minutes, you can take them anywhere."

From there, Tasha's sets are richly varied. Rooted in house music and invariably uptempo and uplifting, they include everything from garage, R&B, soul, hip-hop, amapiano, pop, techno and plenty more. To find out more visit https://www.tashablank.com/ https://www.phdj.dance/ https://www.instagram.com/tashablank/