67 Educators providing Courses in Bristol

Breath Voice Body Song

breath voice body song

5.0(17)

TYPICAL WORKSHOP Breath-work Everything starts with the breath. Many people breath incorrectly without even knowing it, and improper breathing can lead to a myriad of mental and physical health complications. In this workshop Molly will guide you through some simple diaphragmatic breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and stress levels, support heart function, boost the immune system and reduce inflammation in the body.  “the most important aspect of breathing wasn’t just to take in air through the nose. Inhaling was the easy part. The key to breathing, lung expansion, and the long life that came with it was on the other end of respiration. It was in the transformative power of a full exhalation.” ― James Nestor, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art [https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/74281999] Voice and Sound Sound and vocal resonance has been an integral healing modality in indigenous communities for millennia. Now modern studies have shown that singing, and sound therapy improve health and well-being, and have been linked to neuro-chemical changes effecting reward, motivation and pleasure, stress and arousal, immunity function, and social affiliation.  In this workshop Molly teaches vocal techniques to release tension in the body using an ancient Chi Gong energy exercise meditation. This meditation uses the voice to naturally support the breathing technique learned at the start of the workshop, and sound and vibration to allow our electricity to easily move through us. Singing Singing is a natural anti-depressant. It has been proven to reduce stress, boost the immune system, enhance memory, and stimulate the release of oxytocin which is the love and connection hormone. Singing in a group is especially good for this, as oxytocin is released when we bond with each other. Oxytocin has amazing health benefits, including helping wounds heal faster, and slowing down the aging process, and is also a cardioprotective hormone. Oxytocin lowers blood pressure, and acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory for the cardiovascular system. In this section of the workshop Molly will teach easy songs to bring everything together so we can easily use the breath and the voice to promote health and wellbeing. Singing together lifts people up, and you can see the difference in people at the end of the workshop. You don’t need to have any previous experience in music or singing. Everyone is welcome, and exercises will be simple and easy to learn. 

Veronica Pollard

veronica pollard

Bristol

I first came across the Alexander Technique when I was looking for something to help me stop getting tension headaches, lower back pain, and neck problems. Finding a teacher and learning the principles, ideas and concepts of the technique gave me an appreciation of what I was doing to myself that created the pain, as well as how I was putting myself wrong in some other areas of my life too! I learned the good news: that if I was causing my difficulties, then I also had the power to stop causing them. I have become a more flexible, happier, calmer and easier to be with person. I move in a more co-ordinated way and have re-found the joy in moving I remember having as a child. I no longer have any tension headaches, neck problems or lower back aches. I feel more at home with myself than I ever have in the past. I am a teacher trained by the ITM (Interactive Teaching Method Association). This means that I studied for four years and passed four written and one practical exam. I spent six months within the course as a student teacher. I graduated in 2003. I am a member of the ITM Teachers’ Association and have a BSc (hons) degree from the University of Bristol. I have taught individuals, small groups and evening classes, as well as workshops and courses for businesses, colleges, the WEA, the WI and the local council. I have run workshops at festivals such as the Larmer Tree and the Big Green Gathering. I have taught music students at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I also taught students at the Musical Theatre School in Somerset, and dance students at Bristol Dance Centre. I love teaching this work because I love seeing my students improve their movement, their thinking and the way they see themselves as well as the way they see the world.

Shipshape Boatbuilding

shipshape boatbuilding

4.8(9)

Bristol,

I'm a wooden boatbuilder, who specialises in building lightweight, skin-on-frame boats and runs kayak & canoe-building courses. Designing and making simple, beautiful and usable boats gives me huge satisfaction. At school and university I always had access to workshops. I grew up kayaking in Devon, then much further afield (Nepal, British Columbia, The Alps...). They were the things I enjoyed the most. But after graduating with an MA from the Royal College of Art, I didn’t set foot in a workshop for over a decade. I worked in a digital world, designing good experiences for people on the web. I set up my own company and taught design at university. At weekends and in the evenings, I did up a couple of VW vans, and worked on our family home. When a friend died from cancer I knew life was too short, and I had to get back in the workshop and on the water. Looking to weave together a life-long love of kayaking, design and craftsmanship, I moved to Lyme Regis and enrolled to train at The Boat Building Academy. When I returned to Bristol in 2015, the Underfall Yard had just re-opened some of their historic workshops with Lottery Funding and I took on a unit. It’s now a place to make boats that I can be proud of, that people use and that will last. It’s a satisfying reward when I help people build a boat and they say “I made that!” Whether you build a boat, or I build it for you, it would be my pleasure to help you climb aboard your very own Shipshape boat.