Ocean Ornob (he/him), is a multifaceted artist and thinker, and makes music for kirtan, yoga, and meditation. His profound grasp of the human nervous system through polyvagal theory and somatic wisdom invites us to explore the body's sensory depth, especially in touch, sight, and sound.

This is an interactive workshop on voice and embodiment. Learning how to access our voices with more freedom and to connect more freely with one another through group song.

Participation is free, and no experience is necessary.

Creative expressions are the truth of our body. In modern society we have normalised the suppression of our nervous system. It feels normal to live life inauthentically. But our body and mind pays the price. Evolutionarily there's a psychological, emotional and physical cost when the body doesn’t get to express or live its truth.

Play is one of the most potent exercises for the nervous system. When we are playing, our state of being is continuously switching between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. It increases the adaptability and resilience of the nervous system.

The birds and animals sing, make sound, dance, and move - not just to perform or to communicate but as expressions of the body's state of being. In modern human society, we are trained to have our face, gaze, posture, movement and voice disconnected from our state of being. Eventually we lose the capacity to listen and connect with our body over decades of structured, categorised, civilised ways to carry ourselves.

Can we let our body be free to explore voicing, moving and carrying ourselves with the truth of our body?

We are less self conscious and shy when we are doing physical exercise, lifting weights or running. We might never become an Olympian but we do exercise as it’s beneficial to our health. If we find out that authentically moving, sounding and embodied living is beneficial for our health, can we overcome the fear and shyness to incorporate creative expressions in our life?

There’s a lot of focus on Authenticity lately. Often the practice of authenticity, honesty and truth are limited to verbal language. However, our body primarily communicates nonverbally. During intense experiences of joy, pleasure, pain and suffering, the language centre of the brain deactivates. That’s why the nonverbal creative mediums (art, music, dance etc) can absorb and express the deepest emotional experiences, which are impossible to articulate with literal words. So, how can we practice authenticity so that our body can remember to speak their truth to us and we can embody that truth?