The Top 10 Workshops not to miss at BaliSpirit Festival

When attending BaliSpirit Festival probably your biggest challenge will be to choose the suitable workshop for you among the great variety of classes offered. Let us help you with some recommendations of workshop highlights:

1. AFRICAN DRUMMING MEDITATION with Chocolako

Most of you probably took part in a meditation already, sitting still or walking around, trying to let go of all thoughts and just be there with a peaceful state of mind. If you would like to try a different kind of meditating, visit the African Drumming Meditation with Chocolako.

Meditative drumming is a powerful tool that sends healing messages to the mind, body and soul. There’s a resonance that triggers a remembrance that all is well and as it should be. This ‘return to now’ feeling, as described by previous participants, provides nourishment on a cellular level. Drumming is highly important to life in rural Africa because it breaks through mundane thinking and turn moments into rhythmic, high vibrational quest. 

“… we all return to a point of love in this raw journey called life”- Chocolako. 

Vibrant, soul-stirring, colorful and passionate, with an infectious smile that reaches back to Nigeria, Chocolako (Choc to her friends) brings her unique gifts to your practice of yoga & meditation. 
Choc’s Nigerian heritage revealed the benefits of healing through prayer and the power of linking to elders in the ancestral world.

2. Shakti Mystical Goddess Flow with Sarah-Jane Perman

Sarah-Jane is a passionate and deeply authentic wisdom keeper, way shower and mother, in service to the rise of the feminine and our planet Gaia.

In her Shakti Mystical Goddess Flow you will move with a sensual feminine fusion of yoga asana, mantra, meditation, mudra and dance as the essence of Shakti, the Goddesses illuminating the path to peel back the layers and uncover your unique gifts. You will embody the wisdom of the Feminine to remember who you are beyond this physical body – divine Goddesses walking in human form on the earth. 

Many love Sarah-Jane for her authenticity as she shares her transmissions from her heart and she holds powerful sacred space and weaves alchemical journeys of yoga, dance, multidimensional energy and sound healing, breathwork, shamanic ritual, womb activation and sacred movement practices.

3. Vibrance with Daphne Tse, Ellen Watson and DJ Keigo

VIBRANCE is an exploratory practice merging music, movement meditation, sound, singing and mantra as medicine for full self-expression, founded by Daphne Tse, Ellen Watson and DJ Keigo. Join them for a full body, spirit and soul experience! You will explore the power of vibration as you use your breath, asana, sounding, movement meditation, ecstatic dance and singing to activate the energy of your chakras.

Inspired by music from around the globe, you will move effortlessly from your mats to the dance floor. DJ Keigo will spin world beats fused with live percussion that will get your feet moving, your bones shaking and your spirit flying! With all circuits open, you’ll release and let go, leaving your chakras balanced, your mind quieted and your heart open to give and receive.

4. BURLESQUE DANCE with Gypsy

Burlesque Dance with Gypsy is a uniquely fun class. Learn Burlesque dance while testing out the new skills she is teaching you with grace and power. 
Gypsy Bast is a unique Yoga and meditation teacher, Pilates master, healer, and performance artist with over 22 years experience and counting. She’s an energy shape-shifter who’s trained Cirque du Soleil shows, traveled through many countries to share her work, and has helped thousands of people overcome pain, trauma, and fears with her teachings. 
She is known for her uplifting positive attitude and the myriad of modalities which she integrates for each new audience. So, get ready!

5. Embodied Dance with Daniel “Sonic” Rojas

DANIEL *SONIC* ROJAS, professional dancer and movement expert, has been dancing / performing for more than 25 years, and is known around the world for his creativity and movement mastery. Embodied Dance Movement is a unique form that has been recognized by the University of Science of Sports and Anatomy in Cologne, Germany, as one of the most complete movement art forms offered internationally. EDM dissolves the boundaries between different movement cultures with the aim of giving individuals a unique way of expressing themselves and developing an intelligent physical practice. Existing within EDM are substyles including Fit Flow (mobility, strength, flexibility and creative calisthenics); ‘Open’ (opening the body, preparing for performances, preventing injury); ‘Ground’ (incorporating floor work into dance); ‘Express’ (embodiment of emotion through movement) and ‘Align’ (bioenergetic flows between movement and stillness to align and balance the physical and energetic forms).

Check out this video of EDM from BSF 2018:. 

6. BIODYNAMIC BREATH with GITEN TONKOV

BioDynamic Breathwork & Trauma Release System® (BBTRS®) is a new approach to body-oriented healing. Developed by Giten Tonkov, this method of breathwork is founded on a careful combination of specific breathing patterns with therapeutic conscious movement and dance, specialized touch and bodywork techniques, tension release exercises, gentle emotional release, sound healing and meditation practice. In this Biodynamic Breathwork session, you will be supported to break through the many layers of body armouring and release mental, emotional and physical tension to your core level giving you an opportunity to directly experience the power of BBTRS. 

7. Mind Body and Spirit Embodiment with Noel Bernhardt

Practice Martial Arts techniques and Embodied movement in a fun and open level workshop where you will dive into White Crane Silat which is the Signature Martial Art and self-defense system developed at the PGB Persatuan Gerak Badan School in Bogor, West Java Indonesia. The school was founded in the 1950s and Its lineage dates back to Northern Shaolin Kung Fu and is a combination of about 6 different Martial Arts. During this workshop, you will     learn body and spacial awareness and self-defense techniques.

Noel invites you on the path of mind, body and spirit connection through Martial Arts Movement. Unlock the vast untapped potential of embodying your true authentic self while building inner strength, mental sharpness, coordination and balance.

8. THIS WILL ALSO CHANGE YOGA with Bee Bosnak and Emre Yilmaz

The one thing that does NOT change, is the change itself. All in flux, constantly changing, moment to moment. As pupils of life; our mission is to stay awake and observe this impersonal changing phenomenon in each moment, with love and compassion. 

International yoga and meditation teacher, Bee Bosnak guides you through this unique experience from her signature method Heal Yourself along with live music by Emre Yilmaz, who will transport you into another realm through the sounds of guitar, layering vocals through mantras, and various percussive elements and live loops, all created in the moment. Show up to move, meditate, listen, feel and most importantly, to let go.

9. CREATIVE VINYASA with DIAZ

Creative Vinyasa is the extension of Vinyasa flow where the class is designed to express the freedom of movement between mind & body. It allows creativity to flow into the sequence and expect the unexpected transition from posture to posture. Blending Vinyasa Flow, Budokon, Qigong, and Inside Flow making the dynamic fusion between mindfulness, body movement, strength & challenge. This class will bring freedom and happiness as the sequence links asanas together like a dance to a whole new dimension. This class is a fun, playful, happy, energetic and funky session at the same time. 

Diaz is a yoga practitioner and a teacher who still loves to study new things from life. His background is art & design, and he has been teaching creative subjects for several international universities in Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya for graphic & fashion design major for nearly 20 years until now. Teaching has always been his passion. He is a RYT-500 yoga teacher, graduated from Santosha Yoga Experience Australia and World Peace Yoga Rishikesh, India.

10. Drum & Danceaway with DION & JELENA

Dion (Australia) is a born rhythm keeper and has spent many years drumming his way around the planet and diving deep into the many cultural Rhythms of the world, and Mother Earth herself. 

Jelena (Switzerland/Jamaica) landed into this world dancing. After many years exploring the realms of professional dance, choreography and teaching a variety of styles it is her greatest joy to guide people into a deeper connection to their body and heart to witness the expression of truth. 

In this grounding and uplifting movement workshop, you will connect deeply with your

ROOTS – the earth element – your root chakra, as we rise together.

RHYTHM – With Dion’s live drumming you will be guided to drop into your own internal rhythm centre. Moving to world beats from slow and meditative, to wild and ecstatic, we’ll be connecting to the rhythm with our breath and re-discovering how we can create free flowing organic movement, dance and percussion from the inside-out.

RAGGA – Jelena will be inspiring you into fun and free expression beginning with some movements of her Jamaican roots. Birthed in the Dancehalls booming with Up-Tempo Reggae music this dance with African and Hip-Hop influence will challenge you to move your hips!

Of course this is just a small selection. Take a look at the full schedule here and let spirit magically draw you to the workshop that is right for you.