Beyond Ecstatic

BEYOND ECSTATIC

Sublime Dance Art Meditation Nature

5-Day Workshop Playshop

With and By
THE DELICIOUS DELIGHT OF LIVING
raphael jay adjani

BEYOND ECSTATIC is a space of connection, engagement, belonging and play. This playshop is a synthesis of creative development, healing, and meditative training. This is enabling living our most authentic selves in an imperfect world.

BEYOND ECSTATIC is an exquisite blend of: dance; visual art; yoga; play therapy; meditations spanning breath, body, nature: embracing Zen playfulness and Japanese Shinto harmony with the natural world.

It is a playshop cultivating connection with spirits of land, sea and air, wherever it is located. It is a symbiosis of movement, stillness, pleasure, pain, sound, silence, wonder, awe.

Raphael and spirits of the natural world take you on a personal journey toward sublime stillness.🔴

BEYOND ECSTATIC is open to anyone ready to cultivate their inherent creativity. Once learned, it can
support you better being your own teacher: creatively surfing waves of life.

Raphael is: artist; performer; teacher of art, dance-theatre, and meditation; academic researcher and
integrative psychotherapist.

BEYOND ECSTATIC has been created through personal inter-connection with spirits of the playshop location: feeding evolving research of art, dance, meditation and philosophy. This research and practice, spanning 40 years, has been in India, Japan and beyond.

Raphael is a wonderful guide on this journey within
And holds the space with tenderness, care and good humor
You are in very safe hands

– Mel, Previous Course Participant

More about Raphael

Raphael on BEYOND ECSTATIC:-

The playshop begins from a very personal connection and engagement with spirits of the natural world at Haad Chao Phao beach, Koh Phangan Thailand.

 

This sacred site-specificity is crucial to each playshop creation and manifestation. It is an evolving listening, developed further by playshop participants through their listening allowing it to be further steered by spirits of the natural world.

I arrive at this space and place through a practice where art meets philosophy meets ecology meets science meets technology meets therapy for the soul.

 

This includes research of Tantric architecture, art, philosophy, geometry and wider mathematics. It embraces interactive art installation and happenings such as the multi-sensory Japanese Tea Ceremony, Sado: the way of tea.

 

It engages with Deep Ecology, and Neuroscience that evidences ‘our brains being hardwired to react positively to water; and that being near it can calm and connect us, increase innovation and insight, and…heal what is ’broken’.

I share things I have assimilated through inner inquiry; and through my practice as: artist, integrative psychotherapist; teacher of art, dance-theatre, meditation; and researcher.

 

Raphael’s art, teaching and research formerly at Goldsmiths University of London, University of the Arts London, is critically acclaimed, award-winning and internationally presented.

For Samma Karuna, they teach meditation for Tantra Teacher Training, Yoga Teacher Training, Breathwork practitioner. Sign up for their online course: Mindful Self-Compassion.

Raphael has supported many people globally, to become the most creative, authentic, healed, and fulfilled versions of themselves.

Raphael has a way of immediately making people feel at ease with the present.
Feelings and thoughts are validated in that moment. This made it possible for communication and engagement to flow.

The students valued Raphael’s demystification of quite complex philosophical ideas.
They were able to examine their everyday experiences and appreciate the art of simplicity and conviviality in a present and authentic way.

– Dr Daniel Somerville Senior Lecturer, University of Worcester,
commenting on Raphael’s playshops with his masters students

Raphael was one of the most gifted students I had the pleasure to teach. I cannot forget the moment when they presented to me their final PhD artwork, the film: “naka-ma” It was so serene… Just magic!

– Professor Toshio Watanabe, Former Director of TrAIN, research centre in
Transnational Art, Identity and Nation, University of the Arts London

Exchange Possibilities, Certification, Ongoing Training

Exchange Possibilities
• Full Exchange
26,000 Thai Baht / 700 Euros

• Enabler Exchange
  30,000 Thai Baht / 813 Euros
  Enabling us to provide scholarships to people in under-represented populations to join the Samma Karuna community.
• Inclusive Accommodation Packages
  Contact Samma Karuna for inclusive packages
• Early Bird Exchange
  20,000 Thai Baht / 542 Euros for payment by 1 March 2023
• Super Early Bird Exchange
  18,000 Thai Baht / 488 Euro if booking by 31 January 2023
• Filmmaker Exchange
  1 place is offered to a person in exchange for documenting the process and creating a short BEYOND ECSTATIC dance-film.
• Photographer Exchange
  1 place is offered to a person in exchange for documenting the process and creating a BEYOND ECSTATIC exhibition.
• Dramaturg Exchange
  1 place is offered to a person with appropriate experience to work as a “Dramaturg” to work directly with Raphael to learn and evolve BEYOND ECSTATIC.
• Samma Karuna Volunteer and Regular Teacher Exchange 20% discounted places, subject to availability, for volunteers
  and long-standing regular SK teachers, on application.

N.B. We invite participants to find their own way to offset the carbon footprint of their travel to the playshop

Certification and Welcome Package

• Certificate of Participation on fully attending whole playshop
• Ongoing online access to guided practices and other resources
• Gift Package including:-

– Life Transformation 1-to-1strategy session voucher, normally costing $110

– Free Access to some Samma Karuna Yoga classes

– Thai Massage, 50% discount voucher

– Art Kit with paint, pencils and paper

– Limited edition Project Poster: an exquisite piece of art

Ongoing Support, Training and Teacher Training

• Once learned, you can continue BEYOND ECSTATIC training in any water, wind, earth, and sky in the ocean of daily life.

• This playshop is also Stage 1 of the 4 stage BEYOND ECSTATIC Teacher Training. Stages 2-4: due to begin in 2024.

Indicative Program

Daily Themes

Each day will have:
• Specific creative, healing and meditative focuses: exploration of the creative body, the healing body, the belonging body in diverse ways, in relationship to the natural location of the playshop
• Guided engagement with physical and metaphysical space

Core Foundational Training involves:

– Natural Meditative Dance
creative meditative exploration, specific to the natural location, with different focuses for the body in relationship to space

– Natural Art
creative meditative exploration, specific to the natural location, with different focuses for the body in relationship to space

– Ecological Ritual

ritual dance and art engagement to honor spirits of the location

– Spacefulness
an integrative meditation practice that cultivates mindfulness, self-care, and connection with the world around us. It nurtures dance, art, yogic exploration and deep ecological engagement.

Spacefulness is cultivated also by the foundational components and other training. Together support us to think of our being as a relational body-mind-space. More about Spacefulness below.

Supporting this Core Foundational Training:

• Individual Creative and Reflective Exploration
• Yoga Nidra: A deeply restorative meditative yogic practice
• Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC). Raphael is a certified and experienced teacher of this life development program and they input key MSC elements here. MSC is scientifically evidenced to support good mental helath and living life attune to our personal core universal needs
  Details of their online MSC life development program
• Other Yogic and Meditative practices: A range of inputs here, including Laughing Buddha practice. Playshop participants can also access some of the daily yoga sessions of a range of teachers at Samma Karuna
• Evolving of conceptual understanding of core creative and philosophic foundations of the programme. This takes place through talks, videos and collective sharing
• Life Transformation one-to-one strategy meetings: This involves ongoing life development coaching, mentoring,
  and psychotherapeutic process, and reflective space. This facilitates greater creative and existential development

BEYOND ECSTATIC
More about its Philosophy

Inspirations and Influences include:

• Spirits of the natural location
  • Tantric art and philosophy in India, Tibet and Japan
  • Buddhist philosophy and practice as a creative art form, including Noh dance-theater, and the Japanese Tea Ceremony, 茶道 Sado, which could be conceived as an organic installation
  • Contemporary dance-theater, such as that of Pina Bausch and Tatsumi Hijikata
  • Shinto: animist way of living equitably, relationally, with all beings
  • Ma 間 a Japanese word that can mean space-time, interval, pause and emptiness: an emptiness that is spacious snd full
  • Contemporary Psychology, Neuroscience, and Deep Ecology

Spacefulness
The cultivation of what Raphael conceives as spacefulness: an organic integrative body, mind, and space.

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
The understanding of Spacefulness is supported by components of this internationally recognized program that Raphael also teaches.

MSC’s scientifically evidenced 40 practice toolkit supports: achieving goals based on our personal core values; reduction of stress, anxiety, depression, and an inner critic.

MSC involves 3 key components:-

1. Sati: an ancient Indian practice which can be translated as “lucid awareness of present happenings”; & commonly as Mindfulness.

2. Metta: ancient Indian practice of cultivating “Friendliness” to one self and all beings. Research shows many find such self-kindness hard. Metta cultivates healing & life-long warm self-parenting.

3. Common Humanity practice: evolving understanding of the interrelationship of human beings. It moves us beyond self-criticism and self-isolation in challenging situations.

Raphael expands this to awakening to Deep Ecology, and the Buddhist concept of Inter-relational Origination: the inter-relationship of all phenomena.This moves us beyond a singular ego mind toward understanding of Relational Being: “the community and equity of all beings”.

Lotus Flower symbolism
BEYOND ECSTATIC supports us to accept, embrace, and utilize all aspects of experience. In this we epitomize the Lotus Flower: blooming most beautifully in the muddiest of swamps of life.

Being Danced
The playshop is not only about dancing and painting, but allowing ourselves to Be Danced, to Be Painted. Being Danced goes beyond musical rhythm, allowing, in silence even, of creative energy to flow through you, move you; allowing your paint brush to paint you.

More about THE DELICIOUS DELIGHT OF LIVING

An agency of Raphael and associates. It provides life transformation strategies and practices through: integrative psychotherapy; meditation; personal growth coaching; mentoring; and playshops nourishing the soul.

Raphael integrates talking therapy, art, dance, play, water therapy, ecotherapy, meditation and buddhist psychology. They help people to transform their lives.

They support healing wounds of trauma, relationships, loss, bereavement, insecure attachment negative-self-image, poor sense of self-worth. They support: managing stress and anxiety; and recovery from depression.

Appreciation Gratitude Credit

Design: Tereze Brence

BEYOND ECSTATIC is made possible also through the support and/or creative input of the following individuals:

Bindie Wood
Daniel Somerville
Ishi
Kristine Kirakosyan
Noi
Richard Miller
Roy Leighton
Tereze Brence
Toshio Watanabe
Zivile Mickute
They have helped move the project into new uncharted waters

Inestimable contribution and guidance by:

I made the above bold
John Akayzer
Wilaiwan Phimkhalee
and
Spirit of land, sea and air in the location

FAQs

Is this playshop accessible to anyone?

The playshop is accessible to anyone – from beginners to those practicing for 80 years and more – who are able to self-manage existing mental and physical health conditions in a 5-day concentrated environment.

The overall location requires participants to be able to manage stepped access.

Raphael’s personal pedagogic process is embracing of diversity in all forms, including: sexual identity, and gender identity, (LGBTQ+); ethnicity, color and race such as black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); disability; and relationship diversity.

You need to be ready to open to your own vulnerability. The process of restorative healing and awakening inevitably involves challenging emotional moments.

Here, the playshop embraces the idea that: “If you want the rainbow, embrace the rain”. Such an approach requires gentleness. It should not be forced. We open at our own pace.

Supporting this: in principle, all formal playshop explorations and activities invite adaptations to suit personal needs. The picture to the left epitomizes this approach: dancing while seated.

The mindfulness and compassion focused meditative approaches of this playshop are known to be healing.
These can be useful tools to accompany formal trauma therapy.

It is essential though to understand that BEYOND ECSTATIC should not be considered as stand-alone trauma therapy; or a replacement for any kind of psychotherapy.
You also need to be able to work in direct relatively warm sunlight at sunrise and sunset.

Please consult a suitable health professional, if relevant, before signing up for this playshop.

What is the scheduled arrival date for participants?
You need to arrive by 4pm on Monday 31 July, and be fully ready to participate in the playshop preparatory session that evening

Do I need to be able to swim?
While swimmers can incorporate this into their dance, no swimming ability is required. We will be working in relatively shallow waters, estimated to be typically 0–1.25 meters, most days.

Do I need to be experienced in meditation, yoga, dance or art?
No experience is required and all experience is welcomed. The playshop embraces all kinds of bodies; as well as skills.

What do I need to bring and do beforehand?
• Bring your self as open and self-prepared as possible to explore
• Swimwear: including shoes: to protect you feet from any coral that can be found in the predominantly sandy sea. sunblock, sun hats, sunglasses, full body swimsuits etc

*To book the course you will pay a non-refundable deposit (20% of the course price), and the rest should be paid before the course starts.

All bookings at our website are fully refundable in the event of COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Early booking is encouraged as space is limited.