Depression SOLUTIONS : Rebirthing Breathwork & Urban LIFECLASS Groupwork works for me. YES BREATHE it out.

Posted on May 14, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

by Ted Rogers : Dancer/Performer/Writer/Artist/ Blogger/Poet/Model/Stylist

I’m Ted, 23 years old, and I first discovered Rebirthing breathwork through David Parker, ( here on the right ) a Breathworker with 25 years experience, after he suggested I try breath work and I trust his sound judgement so I decided to come to an individual 3 hour session and give it a go.

But from someone who has been diagnosed bi-polar (rapid-cycling) for 7 years and suffered many ins and outs of depression, medication, therapists and institutions, at first I was sceptical and I also find communicating with people and systems somewhat of a task due to my Aspergers (High-Functioning) syndrome, diagnosed in my teenage years. I was not convinced that breathing would really have that much of an impact on me. I had done meditation and Bikram yoga which both centre heavily around breathing and mostly the outcomes of these activities had been a headache or general exhaustion.

However, testimonials from friends of mine said something different and after having a conversation with fellow breather, Luca Marchetto the night before, outside the George and Dragon pub in Shoreditch, I was excited to experience Rebirthing breathwork. Luca had told me that it is different for every one, although he experiences weird hallucinations and usually “goes under” into a different world and then wakes up feeling amazing! This sounded extremely attractive to me. Especially considering I no longer use external substances to control my moods; the idea that I could experience these things purely with my own body was a bit of a revelation.

My first experience of rebirthing breath work was almost exactly as Luca had described. About 10 minutes in I began to feel all tingly and weird and then I could physically feel my emotions coming out of me as if my soul was releasing it bowels. I was crying uninhibitedly like a child, then I was laughing hysterically, and then crying again. I woke up some time later. The room was at peace and I felt utterly blissful. The food that was given to us in bitesize chunks tasted better than anything I had tasted in years even though it was just some banana chunks and Jaffa cakes. This was enough for me to want to go back for more and I have regularly attended URBAN LIFECLASS SUNDAY MONTHLY SEMINARS, and each time the experience has been different but still enough to bring me back. Even when a breathe has been painful or upsetting it has still felt useful, something clearly needs to be released so I just *go with it*.

Most importantly I have found Rebirthing breath work to be the most effective form of therapy in helping me through tough patches of depression. And if we consider that I have been through many a psychiatric professional, various institutions and 13 different medications over 6 years I think you can agree that this is somewhat of a profound discovery.

What Rebirthing breath work does is it gets you past your intellectual barriers and complicated head based reasoning and puts you into your body. It reaches deep into your soul and gives it a good massage and a shake. What this allows you to do is become unstuck. One of my biggest difficulties with depression is getting stuck. Either in a hole or a loop or a sticky pool of mud. Regardless of the work I have done the day before I wake up the next day in the same pool of shit I started in the day before. This winter I experienced this cycle for an excruciating 4 months and I am still not entirely free of it. However, when I have attend a breath work session it has always shifted something. I can’t always put my finger on what but I can feel that within me something has moved. This in turn has helped to remove me partially if not entirely out of my loop/whole/pool of mud in the space of a few hours.

This is incredible!

Never before could anything get me out of these ruts. Only recreational drugs or extreme life situations ever had any effect; and these two options come with negative longterm consequences whereas breath work does not. Price wise it is even reasonable. Especially compared to other alternative therapies and private medical care. For me I have found accessing therapies through the NHS extremely traumatic and the end result was that I was left on drugs without monitoring or any sort of talking/holistic therapies. Rebirthing breath work has begun a process in me. And I will continue to use it as therapeutic tool for as long as it serves me. I have huge gratitude for David and the assistants who help him in URBAN LIFECLASS group sessions, for showing me breath work and allowing me some release and progress from depression. This is how Rebirthing Breathwork and Urban LIFECLASS make me feel : Refreshed, ALIVE, Energised and FREE . . .

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Ted has written an informative personal piece on DEPRESSION on his own blog . . . .

DEPRESSION is a subject that seems to turn many people into positive thinking experts or is something others would rather deny the existence of as a genuine sufferable illness. But from someone who has been diagnosed bi-polar (rapid-cycling) for 7 years and suffered many ins and outs of depression, medication, therapists and institutions, I would like to offer some of my experience and point out that it is OK and you are allowed to be depressed; it does not make you a bad person to be depressed. . . . http://artpornblog.com/2015/03/28/thought-porn-depression/

Coming CLEAN – I couldn’t LIE!

Posted on April 26, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

My OWNING IT Blog by Catherine Hoffman

Oh my – There was a large group of new peeps and old regulars to Urban Lifeclass in our new room at The Place Dance Centre in Euston on the day I was leading, so that was encouraging – but once we got the room sorted I noticed I HAD LEFT ALL MY NOTES ON MY KITCHEN TABLE!!

Since this Sunday 12th April Seminar was about exploring DECEPTION, DENIAL and Doublespeak. I HAD TO COME CLEAN. So after already confessing ( and trying not to show PANIC ) David said they were all in my head anyway, so I sat quietly writing down what I could remember.

After MORNING PAGES from The Artist’s Way, we started working through various exercises looking at ways in which we use these following three modes in our lives : What is the biggest lie we have told? . . What does authenticity mean to us? . . and Who are we really?

How do we navigate our lives as genuinely as possible through the stories we are told from our families and society as a whole, even the stories we tell ourselves… so we looked at who we were in terms of what we attract, and what makes us attractive, and to going underneath and looking at our flaws and owning our shit.

After a 15 mins eye-gaze exercise with breathwork in partners, we looked at ways in which ‘we suffer for love’ to get what we want. How do we do this in our relationships and even in our public lives?

In small groups of fours we discussed various ways we ‘suffer for love’. Each group then fed back five examples each to the larger group and I made a list of them all: Do you identify with any?

They echo aspects of CODEPENDENCY.

1. People pleasing/not causing a fuss.
2. I am here 24/7 for you, I will do anything to keep you happy…
3. Manipulating emotions to get acceptance – saying something to gain the acquired response.
4. Guilting someone to get something.
5. Bullying.
6. Pity – seeking or giving.
7. Buying love.
8. Not asserting your own needs – playing the victim.
9. Passive/aggressive modes such as sarcasm.
10. Misinterpreting what has been said to you, knowing that is wrong. but not bothering to really understand the truth as it is easier to misread something.
11. Sabotage.
12. Creating a problem to achieve sympathy – a negative spin.
13. A competition of stress.
14. Faking illness for attention.
15. Refusing love/pulling back/keeping a distance to test love.
16. Being ‘good’ for praise or approval.
17. Flattering and flirting – complimenting for manipulation.
18. Refusing help, putting yourself out there as distressed but rebuffing.
19. Emotional shutdown rather than telling.
20. Humour – using it to deflect and withdrawing it to play the miserable/serious one.

Everyone then went through the list individually, wrote down concrete examples of when they use these techniques and who with – like a confession of what we can do to other people and damage ourselves.

We then went through the list and chose two that resonated strongly and in the next week to observe when we do those things and see if we can change those habits. A hard thing to do but being honest with ourselves about our actions and agendas is a step in the right direction to freeing ourselves from DECEPTION, DENIAL and DOUBLE-SPEAK, in a world where we are surrounded by half truths, shadowy words, twists and turns – we only have to look at the election campaigns at the moment!

. . . and when I got home, my notes were there on the table.

and David was right, it WAS in my head, the notes tallied exactly with what I wrote down in panic! It just goes to show. NO LIE.

Catherine Hoffmann

https://urbanlifeclass.me/the-creative-collective/catherine-hoffman/

Orchestrating Energy – Sunday Seminar May 24th – Euston/Kings Cross with Rebirthing Breathwork. 12noon – 8pm £70/50

Posted on April 26, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

In the creative world it’s easy to be dominated by other peoples controlling energy, or outside of this sphere, like in an office, the same over-powering tactics can often operate. The Line Manager, Director of a Production, or a Publishing House can easily crumble your esteem, confidence and creative thrust with a snarl, rejection or put-down when you know you are doing your best. It can feel personal.

Some of us enter these arenas with sub-conscious battle on our hands, reminding us how we survived family or education in order to live, survive or just about make it. Someone close to you will often reverberate the journey you have survived. If you had to shout to get heard growing up, for example, you may still shout to get your point across ( or your boss may just do this to you ). What we learn in functional relationships is that bounderies have a place and that instead of manipulation to control others energy, we need to take responsibility for our own energy spaces and learn to respond safely and clearly instead of silence or an inappropriate rancid rant.

Learning to exercise emotional restraint certainly heals the present, no point in clearing up past mess if you are still dumping like a child. This is why Urban LIFECLASS Seminars always focuses on Codependency Release and ends with an energy-releasing I hour BREATHWORK SESSION. Read the testimonials on this site.

Our Guest Trainer this month is MELEESHKA – one of the first pioneers of Rebirthing Breathwork in the early 80’s in the UK, at the same time as Diana Roberts, our Birthing Mother ( one of our Creative Collective Team ) was a guiding light in London with The Loving Relationship Training ( LRT ). Both will be in attendance to support your personal development on this day.

Some of you will recall that MELEESHKA co-led the Spiritual Retreat in Marrakech this year ( and next year January 2016 ) so if you are considering coming next January, this seminar will be a great introduction to over 30 years of experience and her non-conformative style.

With a background in the music industry, social work, creating empowerment trainings and now living in Glastonbury, with heaps of storyteller wisdom, Mel will focus on Internet Age realness not New Age pixie hats, as anyone who attended our Maroc Retreat will testify.

**NEW VENUE : https://urbanlifeclass.me/2015/03/20/our-first-year-and-a-new-place-to-play-in-london-2015-euston/ The Lecture Room : The Place, 16 Flaxman Terrace, London WC1H 9AT

Well served with numerous tube lines, close to Kings Cross & Euston Main Line Stations, even Paris & Belgium, as EUROSTAR is across the road, so even those folks in Kent can get to us direct in a short time. Registration starts at 12.15 pm. We break for lunch at 3pm for an hour, then continue till 8pm, giving time for peeps to travel afar, take dinner with friends or go home at a reasonable time and relax.

We are not part of THE PLACE programming or have any attachment to their activities, we are simply hiring The Lecture Room, so please do not contact them. The room IS smaller than The Light Centre in Victoria ( but just as expensive I might add ) but we will have comfortable chairs to sit on as well as yoga mats.

WELCOME if you are new to Personal Development, Groupwork or Breathwork. We don’t do special languages, New Age stuff or talking sticks. Other groups do those things so much better than us. We are just a bunch of creative people willing to change habits, addictions and depleting toxic relationships from our lives. If you are new, one of our team can contact you if you wish to answer questions. We don’t sell anything, or sign anyone up, we leave the choice up to you. You don’t need to be Creative, just willing to check out your life and how you can change the impact of all your relationships.

£70 for the whole day including a GROUP REBIRTH SESSION ( Some concessions are available for £50 if you are already on the DIY or our concession list ) Delayed/part payment will be individually considered.

BOOK EARLY : MAX 15 paying participants + 6 Assistants/Trainers for your support.

Paypal to codacoach@yahoo.co.uk BOOKING : Contact Robert Beck urbanlifeclass@gmail.com (+44) 7913862492 for payment options.

One Day Rebirthing Seminar Sunday April 12th 12.15pm – 8pm EUSTON £70/50 : Spirituality, Denial, Deceptions & Double Messages.

Posted on March 20, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

WE ARE ALL ARTISTS, even CON ARTISTS.

Many think they are a FRAUD. In what they produce and who they are.

It’s easy to think that we are not creative, not artistic, yet ironically capable of creating inertia, chaos living, procrastination or double messages in our lives. Using THE ARTISTS WAY we will focus on SETTING BOUNDARIES, surveying our current surroundings, focusing on perceptions regarding environments, colleagues and self with an eye to your best interests, not just serving others. Many of us grew up in a home environment of DOUBLE MESSAGES, where love also meant violence, verbal put downs and abuses. We still deliver those memes of misunderstanding to ourselves partners and friends. Feel them, Claim them, DUMP THEM.

Getting REAL about ourselves is not first on our *to do* list, I’m sure, but being honest about our work, our perceptions and dreams is the FIRST STEP to INTERNAL HARMONY. Writing, verbalising and getting it out there, even if solution appears distant, is vital. Then as we do at the end of each SUNDAY BREATHWORK SEMINAR, handing our minds, body, and spirit over to 1 hours Breathwork, creating altered states of consciousness ( Trippy without being Hippy ) with resultant clarity, serenity and replenishment. https://urbanlifeclass.me/rebirthingthe-love-drug/

**NEW VENUE : https://urbanlifeclass.me/2015/03/20/our-first-year-and-a-new-place-to-play-in-london-2015-euston/

The Lecture Room : The Place, 16 Flaxman Terrace, London WC1H 9AT

Well served with numerous tube lines, close to Kings Cross & Euston Main Line Stations, even Paris & Belgium, as EUROSTAR is across the road, so even those folks in Kent can get to us direct in a short time. Registration starts at 12.15 pm ( but many of us meet up before for breakfast somewhere – details coming on that one ). We break for lunch at 3pm for an hour, then continue till 8pm, giving time for peeps to travel afar, take dinner with friends or go home at a reasonable time and relax.

We are not part of THE PLACE programming or have any attachment to their activities, we are simply hiring The Lecture Room, so please do not contact them. They have given us permission to show you their logo, but it will not appear on any of our future promotional material, as their terms and conditions dictate. The room IS smaller than The Light Centre in Victoria ( but just as expensive I might add ) but we will have comfortable chairs to sit on as well as yoga mats.

Paypal to codacoach@yahoo.co.uk BOOKING : Contact Robert Beck urbanlifeclass@gmail.com (+44) 7913862492 for payment options.

https://www.facebook.com/events/329620067248747/

Our First Year and a NEW PLACE to PLAY in London 2015 . . . Euston.

Posted on March 20, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

Hard to believe that we have been bang at it for a year, with an idea that sprang out of a LIVE ART DEVELOPMENT AGENCY Weekend Workshop led by Dickie Beau & David Parker at Chelsea Theatre, Kings Road in October 2013. The concept worked so well and the reception encouraging so we had our first 4 hour Sunday Breathwork Workshop at Chelsea Theatre in March 2014, then one in April & May.

The interest increased so we decided to create a One Day Seminar, but Chelsea Theatre though they served us well, closed the centre at 5pm on a Sunday, but as we wanted to start at noon till 8 pm, (handy for late risers, working performers, DJs, party peeps and those travelling from outside London) we needed to look elsewhere. We eventually found a venue close to Victoria Station, the Belgravia Light Centre, specialising in yoga, therapies, mindfulness and groups, happy to let us come in at noon till 8pm. Our first one was July last year.

This proved to work so well that we continued each month until we were told in January that a long training had booked up Sundays in the upper studio where we were, in 2015 ( we did not have the money to book so far ahead, as they did ). The Centre offered us the lower studio, but the dates available were not consistent with our monthly needs, but did say we could book the upper studio from January 2016, without pre-payment, but we realised that the arduous task fell before us to seek another venue to take a regular monthly booking. As anyone saddled with this task will know – it’s not easy anywhere, let alone Central London and rising room hire rents.

We scoured, searched, viewed venues then lady luck lent a hand.

So after a hugely successful Spiritual Retreat in Marrakech we returned fired up for our last Sunday Breathwork Seminar in February in Victoria and decided to skip March and find a venue for April – and we HAVE, in the perfect PLACE, with supportive creative vibes at THE PLACE in EUSTON.

As their website states : Located in the heart of London, The Place is the UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance. The Place unites dance training, creation and performance in our purpose-built centre, which houses some of the best studios in the city. For over forty five years, we have been a vibrant hub of dance activity, a centre of creative and technical excellence and a magnet for aspiring dancers, talented professionals and cutting-edge choreographers from all over the world. http://www.theplace.org.uk

LOCATION/MAP is here : http://www.theplace.org.uk/findus The Place, 16 Flaxman Terrace, London WC1H 9AT

This is the entrance to find, not the Front Theatre entrance, for our first Sunday Seminar in The Lecture Room April 12th focussing on DECEPTION, Denial & Double Messages with guidance from The ARTIST’S WAY.

Well served with numerous tube lines, close to Kings Cross & Euston Main Line Stations, even Paris & Belgium, as EUROSTAR is across the road, so even those folks in Ashford Kent can get to us direct in a short time. Registration starts at 12.15 pm ( but many of us meet up before for breakfast somewhere – details coming on that one ). We break for lunch at 3pm for an hour, then continue till 8pm, giving time for peeps to travel afar, take dinner with friends or go home at a reasonable time and relax.

We are not part of THE PLACE programming or have any attachment to their activities, we are simply hiring The Lecture Room, so please do not contact them. They have given us permission to show you their logo, but it will not appear on any of our promotional material, as their terms and conditions dictate. The room IS smaller than The Light Centre in Victoria ( but just as expensive I might add ) but we will have comfortable chairs to sit on as well as yoga mats.

It’s been a Fabulous 1st year, thanks for your support and attendance on our not-for-profit project, we hope to see you in our new home, our new PLACE. April BOOKING Details coming soon.

Future Diary Dates : Sunday April 12th, Sunday May 24th .

Something happened in Morocco . . . and the echoes are still being felt a month later !

Posted on March 7, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

by psychotherapist Suzanna Brown.

When I saw David post about the Moroccan retreat in Autumn last year, I knew I had to go. I have always wanted to go to Marrakech and I was aware that it held a special place in David’s heart, so I thought he would be the ultimate host.

That, together with the idea of a breathwork retreat at the beginning of the year, felt like the perfect way to start 2015. I felt it would clear out the old energy of 2014 and help me start the new year on the right note. And I wasn’t wrong . . .

Unfortunately prior to the trip I had awful mega flu, so when I arrived I was feeling pretty out of sorts. From the off, I felt incredibly held and nurtured by the lovely Meleeshka, who co-facilitated the retreat with David. Here they are with the gifts we bought them to end the Course.

Under my recent illness was a general fatigue and tiredness after quite a tough couple of years…and after the first couple of breathes I really connected with that. I felt the grief of losing my parents move through me again and my body’s strong call to be nurtured and listened to.

Thankfully there was an excellent spa at the hotel for private out of course bodywork, but a detoxing healing hammam for all in the first 2 days was included in the course fee. Naturally I felt it necessary to attend the spa for massages and general pampering as much as possible for the remainder of the week. Well, I had to heed the body’s call!

The highlight of the week for me in terms of breathing was an eye gaze breathe that we did with a partner. I still find it hard to put this into words . . . but it was something of a peak experience.

I have undertaken breathwork before in the US and also in a small group with David, but I have never experienced something so powerful. As well as being an extremely enjoyable experience for myself and my partner, it went far beyond that to have a much deeper meaning for me personally. This has been worth it’s weight in gold.

I also have to mention the people I met. All of whom were wonderful in their own way…and some of whom have become friends. There was a lot of deep work that went on during the week, but also a lot of love and laughter in the group. So I salute my fellow travellers and the wonderful assistants, who all contributed to making the experience really unforgettable. Thank you.

Last but not least, as a psychotherapist, a word of warning about the power of breathwork and it’s effects.

The retreat is powerful stuff and working with the body can bring to light unresolved issues that need to be worked through. Whilst I cannot fault the amazing way the retreat was facilitated by David and Meleeshka, who I felt were the perfect team, it can be difficult to leave that environment and return home if lots of ‘stuff’ has come up for you. So please don’t underestimate the power of the breath…and do think about having some aftercare lined up for your return . . whether that be a full course of rebirthing sessions or a therapist that you can work through any issues with.

For me, the retreat has seen me commit to and implement changes in my nutrition, as well as getting back into exercise and yoga. I realised that my health is my true wealth and that nourishing my soul means a deep respect of my body and spirit. All that for a mere £300 5 day course fee and a fantastic experience in Morocco with a wonderful group of people.

It’s a no brainer really . . . just go!

Suzanna Brown

January Maroc Spiritual Retreat a HUGE success for ALL. So we are doing it all again next year.

Posted on February 9, 2015 by urbanlifeclass

Blog by David Parker Co-Founder of URBAN LIFECLASS

In January last year, 2014, Breathwork Trainer Meleeshka, who I’ve known for 25 years, spent a week with me at my favourite 4* Hotel Les Borj de la Kasbah, in Marrakech Morocco. While I had visited it over a dozen times when leading Breathwork Seminars in Morocco a few years back, Mel who had not visited Marrakech since the early 70’s, said sitting by the pool “Why don’t we do a Spiritual Retreat here next January and bring people from the UK, focusing on Abundance, Forgiveness & Self Care?”. So we did.

To many the idea of a Spiritual Retreat brings up thoughts of early morning starts, sacrifice, scarcity, bleak surroundings and trial, so we decided to challenge this concept by focussing on the opposite : Abundance, Effortless Accomplishment, Self Nurturing, Emotional Support and Playfullness. It WORKED!

You can tell the success of any workshop, seminar or retreat by the thoughts, decisions and actions that follow it. Many have experienced the high of reading a book on personal growth, but somehow never got round to the exercises, and so it is with weekend seminars and the like. CHANGE sounds like a great idea but actually changing something is more challenging. But on return to the UK, someone from the Retreat ended an unhealthy relationship, another handed their notice in on their unsatisfying job, while others made deep external and internal shifts. You can get challenged by one-to-one therapy, or a One Day Seminar but the energy of facing yourself and others over a 5 day Retreat process, really brings out the weeds to be culled. What assisted these results was not just Group Conscious Connected Breathwork every day, but the comfort of the Hotel Spa facilities close at hand. The first 2 days of settling in was supported by group Hammams of 4 people, morning and afternoon, while others were experiencing a Rebirthing Breathwork session, for emotional release – some for the first time. Future participate blogs will elaborate further about the bonding, laughter and cleansing that took place. Keep a look out.

Each participant was asked to bring something that represented Spirituality, Family or Childhood, plus any book that was influential in Spiritual Growth. These were free to use, pick up, browse or read throughout the 5 day Retreat within a 7 day break in Marrakech, during free time allocated for written work, sun lounging, mint tea gatherings and space to be alone, when and if required. We had no strict schedule, other than starting at 10pm in the group room, after a stunning daily buffet breakfast. No Health Farm diets here : ABUNDANCE was truly the word.

On the 3rd Day we took a full day trip into the Ourika Valley, up by the Atlas Mountains, where participants breathed for an hour by the rolling river, a CALLING BACK YOUR POWER process of release and forgiveness, where completion exercises were made on paper, then burnt, then ashes thrown in the raging swirl. An emotional experience.

Here’s a quick shot of me crossing that rickety river bridge, BREATHING heavily.

On Saturday morning we visited Yves St Laurent’s Majorelle Garden after morning group, where an exercise on LOVE & FORGIVENESS was offered up to be completed during the day, and after lunch on return to the Hotel we had GROUP BREATHWORK, massage treatments and time for sharing our progress and future plans.

Day 5, the last Retreat Day was spent COMPLETING with Spa Treatments and GROUP BREATHWORK, then in the evening we arranged a special Moroccan Evening, a 4 Course Meal, Musicians and a Dancer.

It was so SUCCESSFUL that we have BOOKED the HOTEL for next year, same time. Tuesday JANUARY 12th 2016 for 7 Nights.

DO JOIN US! We are taking BOOKINGS NOW. https://urbanlifeclass.me/contact/

Early bookers get SINGLE ROOMS http://www.lesborjsdelakasbah.com

We ended on the 7th day with morning GROUP, thanking myself & Meleeshka and the glorious Assistants : Dickie Beau, Catherine Hoffmann and Robert Beck, before scouring souks for souvenirs. The 8th day people flew home, while Mel & I relaxed for another 3 days in the Sun & Spa.

A just reward.

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FEEDBACK :

“Well I can report back that it was one of the most joyous weeks of my life and perfectly placed for the beginning of the year. In fact I would say that a lot of creative planning for the months to come happened without even trying during those days…Onwards with abundance xx ( CH London England )

“What can I say about my time away except that it was deeply needed and I feel profoundly honoured to have been in the company of so many loving souls. It’s been hard to get back to normality especially as I have to say goodbye to one of my oldest friends next week, who passed over, but I now have both the courage and power to do him justice as I say my farewell whilst being strong enough for my God daughter too, and I thank David and Meleeska for love, guidance and respect that they showed me over the last week, for without these things mixed in with the healing power of laughter, I wouldn’t be able to do it!! All my love to you both, always!! XO ( M. Somerset England )

“The retreat in Marrakech was stunning, beautiful beautiful people, amazing location, huge amounts of love and even more compassion, but throw in huge gales of laughter, it was beyond superlatives. All I can say it was the first break I had taken for ten years, and boy it was worth waiting for, the people were and are amazing, the breath work powerful and simply life changing, and the laughs we had still rings in my ears , roll on 2015, best decision I ever made … Thanks David and Mell big love xx ( JD Somerset England )

The Artist Spike writes . . .

Posted on September 30, 2014 by urbanlifeclass

THANK YOU, thanks for being you, thank you for being real, thank you for you being yourself and breathing and thank you for accepting me and everyone whom you encounter with, as themselves, without ego and power grabbing, energy grabbing and self fulfilling grabbing the spotlight, THANK YOU ….

I have been on quite a journey and in-between the Rebirthing Breathing and the recent Enlightenment Intensives, the combination of both has saved my life. Both you, David and Dickie, bring a non commercial technique to people who just want to be themselves. It’s a gift to us the partakers, of letting ourselves let ourselves be ourselves, in a caring and supportive environment.

I feel the word Rebirth-ing does not do it justice but if I had to give it a word I would say a RE-AWAKENING, waking up to who you are, who you used to be and who, and where, you came from.

http://theartistspike.weebly.com/kent-coast-cliffs.html

For me I have been freed in many aspects of my life and as you have seen , my artwork has changed dramatically, and now it keeps progressing, and I have to keep breathing and keep trusting the breath, you both opened a door and now I have to deal with walking through it and being awake to the life, rather than fighting life, or blaming others because I did not take responsibility.

Blaming is part of our conditions and patterns, we can lie to ourselves, but our hearts and our breath reminds us of our basic human instinct to stay alive, and ego sometimes distracts us from that. Anyway thank you…..big hugs and heart-felt unconditional thanks…for helping me to shift from my shit xxxx

Spike is from a second generation Irish family, though born in North-Hamptonshire and is one in nine children brought up and educated in Scotland from the age of one years old. In early 1980’s at the age of seventeen he worked as a residential volunteer in Yorkshire and by the age of eighteen Spike had moved to London to continue working as a volunteer until 1985. In early naughties after a series of a diverse range of employment, an opportunity rose to return to education, where in 2006 he did a foundation in the arts at Kingston University where he met his collaborator the artist, photographer, performer,poet,director and fishmonger Alex Chase White. Spike then got accepted to do a three year degree in Fine Art at Kingston University. While doing his fine art degree he became more interested in live art performance.

It was also during this time that he met his other collaborator the artist Yoshiko Shimida from Japan. In 2009 Spike had the opportunity to work with Yoshiko for two and a half months in Japan, where he also travelled to Taiwan and performed with Yoshiko in Beijing in China as part of the open festival. Spike also did a solo performance during an eight week live art festival in China that led him to being commissioned to perform as part of the Bone festival in Switzerland.

While studying, Spike continued to curate exhibitions, seeking out funding to support local artists and also combine the show with artist from Le-Pecq a suburb of Paris; Spike ran this for over six years, in July 2012 he co-curated an exhibition celebrating local women artist in his community in South West London.

http://theartistspike.weebly.com/i-am-white-rabbit.html MORE Info on Spike here : http://theartistspike.weebly.com

BAG LADIES

Posted on August 13, 2014 by urbanlifeclass

LUCA MARCHETTO : “AT THE URBANLIFE CLASS *ALL ALONE AM I* SEMINAR I HAD ONE OF THE MOST STRONGEST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE “.

” WRITING ON A WHITE PAPER BAG THE THINGS INSIDE YOU THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ASHAMED OF YOURSELF AND WEAR IT AS A MASK AND ONE BY ONE INTRODUCING YOURSELF AND YOUR SHAME TO ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE YOU NEVER MET WHILE THEY ARE WEARING THEIR SHAMES TOO.

AMAZING DETOX, AMAZING RELIEF.

On the other side of the bag we were enticed to write the MOST POSITIVE THOUGHT about ourselves. Taking the bag home we could choose to focus on either side each day. It’s AMAZING how just changing a bag round can CHANGE YOUR DAY!

Then we had a GROUP BREATHWORK SESSION that pushed us into altered states of consciousness, like getting off your FACE but WITHOUT DRUGS! AMAZING!

NEXT ONE IS NEXT MONTH, SUNDAY AUGUST 31 12noon-8pm in LONDON’S Victoria

( BUT WE MAY NOT DO THE BAG THING ) “

https://urbanlifeclass.me/the-creative-collective/luca-marchetto8dix/

After that exercise we Danced OFF with SHAKIRA, it look pretty mental but no more crazy than walking around with all that GUILT of course. It was explained that we subconsciously project all this stuff onto others without knowing it. Often when we communicate, we only tell half the story, hoping others won’t detect our most negative thoughts about ourselves. Rebirthing is not just about the value of detoxing breath work, it’s also about detoxing negative thinking that no one sees, BUT we know is there, and these thoughts take hostage every day. This exercise was the funniest and most healing we have attempted thanks to Catherine Hoffmann one of our CREATIVE COLLECTIVE TEAM.

Catherine Hoffmann : https://urbanlifeclass.me/2014/07/11/breathe-it-in/

Breathe it IN

Posted on July 11, 2014 by urbanlifeclass

Catherine Hoffmann, a member of our CREATIVE COLLECTIVE who assist the Urban LIFECLASS Trainers, has written a deeply personal accolade to Breathwork, and her vibrant ability to seek awareness, living on lifes terms, dealing with family tribulations, and her recent manifestation of change and acceptance.

Heading to the noodle bar in Kings Cross, I walk down the Euston road, its 9.30pm and it’s dark. I have just done an hour of Breath work with David Parker in his Camden flat and I don’t feel like going home straight away. I am glad to be out here walking past bars, restaurants, past the station, pulsing traffic. On my own observing everyone else. I feel light, in synch with it all. I feel part of it. Not drained by a London trawl, not hysterically rushing to something, just walking, and taking things in. Tonight I don’t feel alienated sitting and waiting for Ho Fun on my own. Tonight I am enjoying the endless sounds of cars and bump of people. After eating I feel a wave of tiredness coming. Yes now I need to sleep, beautiful sleep.

This breath work allows me to reconnect with wonder all over again, radiating the miraculous parts of me. Yes every time I breathe I feel completely loved up, wanting to connect, with an opening of the heart. Lets face it to give and receive love is bloody hard for some of us no matter how much we try to be decent human beings. I can easily shut down the spectacular parts of me, hide who I really am. I am not a complete wallflower by any means, I am a performer for goodness sake but I have been known to go into times of exile, fall deep into dark caves and even now I am still learning to reach out to those I love more.

A paper-thin layer of despondency had settled over me in the last couple of years, shame from my past and present failings or so I saw them but something has changed… Last year I went through a time of fragmentation, a break up of a relationship that was becoming more and more painful. I had nowhere to live, a sense of isolation and distrust of certain dynamics set up with close friends. There were points when I really thought I shouldn’t be here, it was time to give up. I had to disconnect from all of it. Each day was a challenge to keep the love going towards myself and then hopefully out. There were times when I would lose, negativity spiralling out of control. I could be present for others but not myself.

I believe that doing an intensive weekend of breath work and sharing some of my experiences in the autumn of that year with Dickie Beau & David Parker @ Chelsea Theatre helped me through that difficult time. It was also necessary to let these things fall apart in order to draw in new vitality without having to prove anything to anyone. The breath work has allowed me to open up, to not be judged or defined. I have been breathing myself back into acceptance. That it is ok for me to be here, in fact more than ok…

I had always felt the outsider, growing up moving around from one ad hoc dwelling to another, sometimes not having a home, children popping out left, right and centre. Mental illness, violence and basically chaos with neglect all in my family history. All of this I hid for so many years and I guess this hiding has become a habit, not wanting to be found out. Hiding has been part of my family set up, my mother shutting herself in her bedroom for days on end, siblings cutting themselves off, not working, booze and drugs, the concealment of illegitimate children and even cultural identity…on it goes.

In my adult life I still carry around a sense of fraudulency, of not quite being proper, but hey this can also be celebrated. Why would I want to fit into a system that still doesn’t know how to distribute its wealth effectively, where the gap between the rich and the poor is ever growing? Everyone busily working towards buying more and more comfort for their families. The whole thing made my skin crawl even as a child despite the yearning for ‘normality’ and of course wanting all of that at the same time.

Now here I am just me, breathing in a different way, having my own reactions and whoever I am has nothing to do with all of this history – that story and the people around me, their feelings and reactions are not me. This is me lying here having a great time. Breathing back into life, inspiring back into myself. Clearing the way out of shame. There is nothing to fix here this is my birthright and all of ours, we are not broken. No more hiding, moving from the inside to the outside like the first moments of unfurling the body from the womb – through and out, the terror and the delight of being able to move those limbs within space and air. Wanting comfort and familiarity and at the same time wanting to explore and reach for the new, this is the struggle of life in all its glory. Being able to kick and flex those wrists and ankles, moments of rigidity, stuck muscles and then release. I am alive. I am here. No tears this time, no grief, just me, here alive, abundant and full of pleasure. Is this what tantric sex is like? Amazing. Have I just had tantric sex with myself? All I know is I want to keep tapping into that feeling of my heart opening – whether that makes me feel sublime, sexy and full of love or if it makes me weep and blubber like a new born babe.

Read about Catherine here on our THE CREATIVE COLLECTIVE link : https://urbanlifeclass.me/the-creative-collective/catherine-hoffman/

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Online 121 Coaching and Central London F2F Somatic Breathwork Sessions for those Creative within The Arts, Fashion, Mixed Media, Events, Hospitality and Nightlife . . . . "Clubland's Therapist" – Time Out LONDON.

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