College of Sound Healing Conference

12th -14th November 2010

All Saints Pastoral Centre, Shenley Lane, London Colney, Hertfordshire, AL2 1AF

The conference is fully residential with three meals a day and two nights accommodation. All meals will be vegetarian. The price includes all workshops.

College Members - £190 single room / £170 sharing a twin room
Non-Members - £215 single room / £195 sharing a twin room

The Conference offers you a chance to learn new skills, network, have fun and chill out in a beautiful setting.

Arrival on Friday from 2pm onwards for evening meal at 7pm. The Conference closes at 3.30pm on the Sunday.

If you would like to run a stall at the conference the cost will be £60 per table. Space for stalls is limited so please book early.

For more information please contact June on 01525 753 866.

The Conference is now fully booked!

Professor Surinder Singh - Naad Yoga

Professor Surinder Singh is a Master of Indian Naad Yoga and also a Professor of Sikh and Indian Musicology at Thames Valley University. He is the Founder of the Raj Academy of Asian Music, a school based in West London. Professor Surinder Singh now has over 700 students. The Academy's objectives are to educate people about Sikh Music; the singing of the hymns according to the Raag prescribed for each hymn, as well as promoting traditional instruments.

Professor Surinder Singh Matharu graduated from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar with a BA in Economics, an MA and an MPhil in Music in 1992. It was in his early teens that he found his passion for music.

He started to study Vocal, Composition and Musicology of Indian Classical Music with the Pandit Kharayti Lal Tahim of the Delhi Gharana. His musical training was continued in England through the study of ancient authentic string instruments such as the Sarangi under Surjit Singh Aulakh, a senior student of Pandit Ram Narayan Ji.

Gunjan Kalra Manral - Health and Happiness through Sound and Breath

Gunjan works full time at the Indian High Commission. She started working as a volunteer for the Art of Living Foundation seven years ago. She has been teaching 'Art of Living' courses for the past four years.

In the workshop she will cover sound and breath as a source of energy and good health. Breath energises and purifies, delivers a subtle but powerful energy to every living cell. Discover and experience the secret of breath and how to live to the full potential of life.

Benefits from attending an 'Art of Living' course include; reduced stress, more enthusiasm, improved self esteem, enhanced feeling of health and well-being, improved interpersonal skills, heightened awareness and clearer perception.

Nana Mzhavanadze - Georgian Harmony Singing

Nana Mzhavanadze was born into a long line of Georgian virtuoso singers. She sings with Madge Bray and David Tugwell of the Edinburgh Georgian Choir. Together they make up the trio 'Akvani'.

Nana says - "When we Georgians open our mouths to sing our eyes are already searching for other voices to join. Within our music making, the separation, loneliness and isolation of our complex modern day existence has no place. Only our love belongs here. Through this cherished vein, we Georgians carry all that we hold dear. The bloodline of our ancestors. The heartbeat of our nation. The secrets of our immortality. It will be my honour to share our songs with you."

Trixi Field - Song Meditation

Song Meditation combines the essential tools of singing with gentle mindfulness, to encourage a joyful stillness and inner calm and peace.

We will use breathing and vocal techniques, mindful listening, songs and simple harmony to honour and appreciate our own voices and those of our co-singers, and to enjoy the simple pleasure and warm companionship of group singing.

In our noisy, busy, hi-tech society we often, as a community, become separated from the simple healing joys of singing and music-making together - an essential part of being human. To try to redress the balance, Trixi Field regularly runs voice and song-meditation workshops in the UK and in Greece. In between teaching and facilitating workshops she also writes and composes, sings and accompanies herself on the piano. She is also a sound healing practitioner and member of the College of Sound Healing.

Blu Cottam - Yoga and Sound

Blu discovered yoga many years ago. She found that the breathing practises and mantras brought a state of calm and centredness to a busy life. She went on to train to be a yoga teacher.

Blu works for Aura Soma and is also an Aura Soma practitioner. She has also trained in sound healing, Reiki, Butterfly and Sea Essences.

Blu's intention in each yoga class that she teaches is to create a space for healing and growing in spirit. A place where we come ever more truly "home" to our hearts.

Yoga and sound make a perfect partnership in their therapeutic effects for our well-being. The "Yoga and Sound" workshop will be as a blessing for each chakra, as we work with body, mind and spirit to tone and fine-tune our being. We will use postures with sounds audibly, whispered and mentally.

Some voice-work and breathing techniques will then prepare the way for balancing the chakras using the Bija Mantras. We will culminate in a deep relaxation in which to simply "be", resting in silence. For your comfort, please bring a mat, a blanket and wear loose clothing.

Bilal Lukhele - South African Chants and Rhythms

Bilal was born in Mpumalanga in South Africa. Due to his political beliefs Bilal was expelled from school and had home schooling from his Grandmother, a community leader and healer who lived till she was 113 years old.

As a young man he was imprisonment by the apartheid regime and hospitalised for three to four years. He was told he would never walk again but through his discipline, positive thinking and determination he was able to walk again. These experiences have given Bilal tremendous inner strength.

Bilal runs workshops for youth empowerment and has recently worked in London for the well-known "Kids' Company". He has helped several severely disadvantaged young people to go to university and get employment. Bilal has also recently given the first ever workshop for black and white farmers for the South African government.

When Bilal took the Sound Healing training, he was amazed to find parallels between his Grandmother's teaching and healing methods of sound healing.

This workshop will be a journey of self-discovery combining the African style of healing with sound, dancing and the drum.

Closing Ceremony of the 2009 College of Sound Healing Conference