Braziers Park Educational Events

About the event:
Come and experience life at Braziers Park! We’ll be hosting a special programme including pumpkin-carving, storytelling around the bonfire, seasonal crafts, spooky costumes, and much more.

A one-day workshop with Manoah, Boosh, and Matthew.

The workshop deals with some of the hidden realities of racism. Using a whole day allows the rare opportunity for a deeper dive into the issues. The day is conceived as an entry point to the topic suitable for those of you who are racialised as white, though that is not a prerequisite. Some of the content may be familiar to you, some will deepen your perspective or awareness.

Participants can expect an interwoven tapestry cycling through audio-visual presentation, discussion and somatics, e.g. AV presentations organised into half a dozen themes. After each theme comes discussion, somatics or both. Somatics emphasises internal physical perception and experience. It uses movement and relaxation to increase bodily awareness. Talking about race may lead to challenging feelings which we experience in our bodies. We use somatics as an aid to lengthy immersion and deep diving. We hope its trauma-informed lens will help support you through the more difficult parts by integrating mind and body where they meet. You won’t be alone – we’re expecting this will be an introduction for some of you.

The workshop will run all day with a break for lunch. You can expect time outside (weather-permitting) and movement of course. We intend it to feel un-rushed, spacious, supportive and supported. We invite you to come with an open heart, willing to be moved and challenged.
“Your body – all of our bodies – are where changing the status quo must begin.” (Resmaa Menakem)

About the facilitators:
Manoah is in his mid-50’s and has a PhD in environmental geochemistry. He has diverse roots and identifies as black. He has been doing anti-racism and hidden history events for about 20 years. He is still on the journey of unlearning and decolonisation. He is an amputee who surfs all year round – the ocean has no prejudice.
Boosh is a jewel heritage, council estate-grown, hearth holder, nap bishop, wild activist and witch. She has been holding and leading spaces for 20+ years and her main focus these days is welcome. Active welcome.
Matthew is a teacher, workshop facilitator, coach, musician and composer living in the south-west of the UK. His work brings together the power of music, chant and sound with an embodied and nature-based approach to life. He sees embodiment as a way to be more fully present with the full reality of who he is as a human being, and he experiences the meeting places of music, nature and embodiment both as crucial personal resources and as powerful and positive tools in creating and strengthening community.

For more information on the course, please email education@braziers.org.uk

## A two-day workshop with Roshi Nasehi.

About the event:
Roshi will share Iranian and Afghan songs with origins in different local and historic traditions that are attached to the Woman Life Freedom Movement in Iran. For a number of historical and political reasons Middle Eastern music remains a fragile thing. This course will be a shared space to explore the dissidence, dissonance and beauty of the music as well as the notion of joy as a form of rebellion.

About the facilitator:
Roshi Nasehi is a critically acclaimed Welsh-Iranian musician with a strong 25 year track record in composition, recording, theatre, installation, workshops, public art and social engagement projects. Her music has received significant airplay across BBC radio and beyond, plus widespread critical acclaim in The Independent, New Internationalist and more. She was twice awarded experimental record of the month in Mixmag, who described her “as one of the most singular voices working at the moment.”

Roshi is a nationally recognised specialist vocal leader. She has led high-profile participatory projects and training for organisations like Music Action International and Hear Me Out. She is a featured artist in Dr. Pamela Burnard’s book Musical Creativities In Practice (OUP) and contributor to Places and Purposes Of Popular Music Education (UCP). She has received many prestigious commissions, including the Southbank WOW Festival, The Museum Of London’s Belonging Exhibition, and a major British Council sound art project in Kuwait.

Course fee
£130 standard rate, £90 concessionary (for those whose current financial situation makes booking at the standard rate difficult). Course fee includes lunch and refreshments.

## Seasonal Yoga, Meditation and Sound Bath Day Retreat with Anna Oldfield.

About the event:
This seasonal day retreat will explore the energy and symbolism of the autumn, and offer participants the opportunity to consider how this relates to their lives right now. We will invite the body and mind to rest, reflect and rejuvenate through gentle movement practices, guided meditation (Yoga Nidra), and sound baths where participants are bathed in the soothing sounds of gongs, singing bowls and chimes. Creative practices such as journaling or mindful crafting will complement the somatic practices, by facilitating an exploration of our inner storytelling and sense-making processes as we reflect upon our journey through the year so far set nourishing intentions for the coming months.

About the facilitator:
Anna is an Oxford-based yoga, guided meditation and sound bath facilitator, whose work centres on seasonal themes. Through movement, guided meditation, creative practices and sound baths, she encourages participants to connect with the land we’re living upon and tune in to nature’s cycles of change. She is a big advocate of rest as a revolutionary act, and believes that offering ourselves an opportunity to slow down, reflect and integrate, then consciously set new intentions, builds resilience and is one of the most important acts of self-care.