Upcoming Workshops & Events
Bank Hol Mon 29th May - Queer Creativity Day Retreat with Clay Wild Studio - 10:30am-4pm @ The Queery
Sun 4th June 2023 - Disobedient Bodies: Yoga for Ruler-breakers, Yoga for Liberation - 2:30-5pm @ West Hill Hall
Sat 17th June 2023 - Embodying Tarot: Yoga and Tarot - 2-4pm @ About Balance
Sun 16th July 2023 - Bits & Pieces: Trans Pride Life Drawing & Creative Writing - 6-8pm @ The Queery
Sat 22nd -23rd July 2023 - LGBTQIA+ Wild Weekend Retreat @ Knepp Estate
For more information and booking details, please scroll down
Radical Rest: Stillness as Protest
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” -Audre Lorde
In a culture that pushes you to constantly produce, grind, and burn out, allowing yourself the space to rest is a radical act of care. Within an anti-capitalist and intersectional framework this workshop uses breath practices, unraveling somatic movements, restorative yoga postures, and yoga nidra, to practice what we were always intended to do, and resource ourselves with rest.
While capitalism treats us like machines, we protest this by giving ourselves permission to experience the body as a site of liberation and connection, and practice the divine art of doing Nothing. For capitalism, our rest is an interruption, for us it is a portal. This practice will work with the nervous system to shift us towards states in which we can recover, process, and heal. We will physically support the body, knowing that this is a container which holds our emotions, worries, dreams, thoughts, and spirit.
This is a physically very gentle practice, where great detail and attention will be given to ensuring the body is comfortable - which is not to say it is alway easy! This is a practice for those wishing to slow down, those recovering physically, emotionally or mentally from injury, illness and burn-out, and those who wish to find greater restfulness and ease as a deepening of their activism and spiritual practice.
Price: £25/£20
Disobedient Bodies: yoga for rule-breaking, yoga for liberation
This workshop journeys through embodied and intuitive yoga asana and movement, reflective and explorative practice, and simple but radical rest and meditation. We will investigate the way our experience of the body has been shaped by marginalisation, conformity, and submission, and develop our use of yoga as a tool for freedom, authenticity, and creativity, to revel in our joyful disobedience.
Through this we build a relationship with our bodies around trust, autonomy, and pleasure, rather than fear, imitation, or dominance. We will allow the body to be imprecise, in process, in play, rather than a problem we are trying to solve.
This is a workshop for the rebels, the weirdos, the dreamers, the creatives, and those drawn to yoga but who struggle with rigidity or dogma. It it open to people of all experiences, identities and bodies, and the physical practice is geared towards an individual approach to movement that can be more accessible. There will be lying down, moving around, invitations to shake, wiggle, roll, be energetic, and be still.
Price: £30/£25
Bits & Pieces: Life Drawing and Creative Writing
Bits & Pieces is a co-operatively run, playful, accessible, and mindful life drawing and writing workshop series, which uses art to explore and connect with ideas, self, and community. We are unapologetically queer, feminist, body positive, and dedicated to social justice which often informs our themes! We use themes to format sessions, so that we can play and explore with art to reflect on ways of being in the world.
We believe in art as an act of community care and are against the gatekeeping of creativity. Our aim is to create accessible and fun art spaces that encourage everyone to get involved, regardless of experience, and without worrying about the finished product.
Workshops run regularly at The Queery - generally on a Sunday evening.
£6/10/14
Embodying Tarot: yoga and tarot workshop
In this workshop, we will explore the storytelling capabilities of Tarot and Yoga as ways to connect with ourselves, set intentions, and embody our emotions and narratives. Whether you’re interested in learning about Tarot, or are a seasoned reader and curious about finding new ways of connecting with their magic, this workshop is a chance to playfully explore, creatively move, and embody your rich inner world.
On the day you will:
Understand some of the history and uses of Tarot.
Get an overview of approaches to reading and understanding the images and symbols of Tarot.
Explore intuitive movement, and play with matching shapes, movement and meditation practices to the cards.
Move through embodied storytelling led by the cards.
Take some deep rest, meditation and imagination work in Yoga Nidra.
Price £25/£20
