Rhythm (W)Rites: An Immersion into Embodied Rhythm and Animistic Writing

This multi-day workshop invites you to awaken your connection to the living rhythms and voices of the earth. Through TaKeTiNa and flow writing, participants will journey into embodied presence, tuning into the cycles and energies that weave through the natural and spiritual world. This retreat is for those seeking creative inspiration, deeper connection, and a sense of belonging within the web of life. 

MARCH 14-16

Friday 14th  7-9

Saturday 15th  11-9

Sunday 16th 11-4

This retreat is open to all levels of experience. Come with an open heart and a willingness to listen deeply.

Booking link HERE

I’m very excited to co-present this workshop – a collaboration with my dear friend, master musician and Taketina facilitator Justin Holland. Taketina is one of my favourite practices – a surprisingly deep and delicious exploration into the world of rhythm. Through powerful altered state shifts, we visit the realm where rhythm lives. It’s truly stunning, and almost impossible to describe, and the links to the places we visit through the co-becoming writing process I facilitate are tangible.

We have been dreaming into bringing our respective bodies of work together for many years, and finally, with the glorious Warburton Arts Centre Gallery space available, we are ready.

The weekend in more detail:

Friday: Introduction and Awakening to Rhythms of the Earth

Saturday:  Morning Session: Rooted in Rhythm

  Begin with TaKeTiNa, grounding yourself in the primal rhythms that echo the heartbeat of the earth. Through stepping, clapping, and vocalization, participants will align with the cycles of nature, calming the mind and opening the body to creative flow. 

Afternoon Session: Writing with the Wild 

  Transition into animistic (co-becoming) flow writing. Guided prompts will invite participants to listen to the voices of the more-than-human world—the whisper of trees, the rhythm of water, the stories of stones. Writing becomes an act of communion, where participants give words to the spirits and energies encountered in the Imaginal

Evening – Ecstatic Dance

Sunday: Becoming the Vessel 

Morning Session: Rhythms of Transformation 

Deepen your TaKeTiNa practice, exploring the dynamic balance between chaos and order in rhythm. As layers of rhythm shift and evolve, participants will practice surrendering to the flow and becoming a vessel for creative energy. 

Afternoon Session: Attuning to the Imaginal 

  Guided by co-becoming writing exercises, participants will create poetic pieces that weave together the voices of the natural world. Explore how rhythm and writing can connect us to the living essence of our surroundings and our inner landscapes. 

Final Circle: Staying loyal to what we learn

Outcomes: 

Participants will leave with: 

– A deeper connection to the living rhythms of the earth and their own creative flow. 

– Written pieces infused with the voices of nature and spirit. 

– Tools to stay grounded, inspired, and open to the animistic energies that surround us. 

– A renewed sense of belonging to the interconnected web of life. 

Some further thoughts for the curious

The name for our workshop, Rhythm (W)Rites came during a brainstorm of what to call our combined processes, and we knew immediately that it was the one. The right/write/rite one. Aren’t words interesting?

Justin and I discovered that we both love the word rites. It speaks to something meaningful to both of us with this work. Both Taketina and co-becoming can precipitate profound altered states of deep connection, of opening to an animate and imaginal realm. Both of us have come out of secular subcultures, yet were drawn to the arts for their capacity to open doors into mystery and depths, into the numinous and the hidden. And that’s what the word rites refers to – rituals that seek to open those doors. In our work, we use music or writing to reveal another world with specific qualities – timelessness, peace, beauty, wisdom. In many ways, a rite is about creating an atmosphere where we lose our cynicism or separateness, and trust that we can embody these qualities, so that we can give ourselves over to the larger reality that they hint at.

Taketina was created by fusing rhythm traditions from a variety of religious traditions and then presented to modern people without the shamanic, spiritual and cultural trappings of the original practices. As much as I adore Taketina, for me it doesn’t feel quite right to launch into such a deep practice without some kind of devotional prelude.

But how, in a multicultural, secular culture such as Australia, do we create such rites? In our workshop, we hope to explore this question in creative, constructive and collaborative ways, to increase presence and delight in the processes and the place we shape together. And also to see whether we might together engage with rhythms as archetypal presences, with their own agency and intelligence. We might come to appreciate that when we respect the rhythms themselves, and meet them with humility and curiosity, profound shifts can take place.