Off-Grid Tipi Wellbeing Space

Aim

I'm creating a unique outdoor, sustainable space for experiencing the power of sound therapy where it belongs - out there in nature.

Hold your suspicions, scepticism and everything else at the door. 

Civilisations have been using sound as therapy, to build, create, design and inspire, for millenia. Think Stonehenge. Think the Great Pyramids. Think modern medical imaging. Think Tesla. Think NASA. Think YOU.

Sound WORKS, and it's for EVERYONE. 

I'm raising funds to create an amazing sound space in nature - a Sound Tipi to welcome clients and the curious to experience the restorative and relaxing benefits of sound therapy first-hand, in a COVID-secure, outdoor, sustainable environment. 

But first, about why this work matters. Let me share what I've learned...

The POWER of SOUND

Sound therapy is a powerful, natural and boundless resource, grounded in evidenced science and applied through our understanding of physics, frequency and the energetic nature of the human body.

Ultrasound is already a major part of conventional medical practice, yet applying the benefits of audible and vibrational sound, one of our most ancient healing tools, has until recently been an untapped resource. Sound has the potential and power to revolutionise both our wellbeing and our pressurised healthcare resources.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” - Nikola Tesla 

Here's an awesome 5 minute video illustrating CYMATICS - which is the science of visualising sound and vibration. It's totally captivating! This should give you an idea of what is going on in our body's cells while we are in the soundspace.

Why sound is an AMAZING tool for wellbeing

Put simply, it takes zero effort from the participant. Sound is a non-cognitive therapy, and although bringing intention and awareness to the session is super beneficial, the receiver can simply lie down and zone out. This is what makes it an incredible tool for working with a range of mental health and stress-related issues, where talking therapies or anxiety may be a barrier to early progress. 

For the same reason, it's hugely effective at rewarding participants with the many benefits of meditation. I often say that sound is "meditation for those who can't meditate" - it's how I found it! Remember how you can get totally lost in your favourite record, or almost leave your body during an incredible festival? It's like that, but on tap, and I can keep you in that magical meditative state for quite a while!

Here's a great 3 minute watch that illustrates the positive effects of a gong bath on blood cells and their behaviour:

Who am I?

My name is Jane and I'm an integrated holistic therapist - sound and vibrational therapy is my main practice, and I specialise in working with gongs. In addition to sound, my approach is informed by qualifications in reiki, meditation and crystal therapy, and I'm an experienced yoga instructor too. My business is called SILENCE & NOISE, because I love the relationship between those two words. We can find absolute peace and silence WITHIN noise - and silence is still a sound.

Prior to moving into integrated therapy, I was a business director and founder of a global fashion production company. I previously worked at senior management level for international brands including ASOS.com and Net-a-Porter.com and have consulted on brand projects for clients including American Express, Habitat and Christian Dior as well as for numerous global advertising and media agencies and magazines. 

Despite first experiencing gongs in 2006, my transition into working with sound was itself a product of first-hand experience, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2015. In addition to working extensively with sound therapy and ayurveda, my personal health journey included an amalgamation of many holistic therapies, and I also underwent pioneering Gamma Knife radiosurgery to treat the tumour, which is now happily in remission. 

My onward focus is a huge commitment to sharing the incredible resource of sound with as many people as possible and working with professional medical bodies and research to help support the transition of sound and holistic therapies to becoming conventionally accepted treatments on the NHS. I believe wholeheartedly that sound is the pulse of the planet, and has a leading place in the future of modern medicine.

Who is sound therapy/meditation for?

Individuals looking for personal meditation practice, pain management, support for ongoing conditions or deeper transpersonal exploration; for health/recovery groups & facilities endeavouring to provide alternative solutions and transformative experiences to their community; for workplaces keen to provide effective, evidenced support to their people and improve performance levels and professional wellbeing. It's for EVERYONE. It's in nature, and it's in us, innately. I honestly don't think I have ever had anyone pass through my soundspace who hasn't been profoundly affected by their experience, even if they didn't realise it at the time.

(here's one of my regular SOUNDSCAPE sessions)

The VISION 

I have an opportunity to create a totally unique indoor/outdoor sound space on a magical part of Cornwall's coastline, where the earth literally resonates with energy. The site is already an incredible sustainable, off-grid camping and architectural destination for those seeking to re-wild and reset, and there is a perfect space for a tipi - the SOUND TEMPLE - to provide 1:1 and small group wellbeing sessions. The site is accessible to non-resident guests too, so I can offer scheduled sessions to 'day' clients from across the county and host additional therapists as available. 

(picture with thanks to MyTipi.co.uk, who I'll be partnering with)

Why am I Crowdfunding, and why now?

Like many wellbeing practitioners, I've lost most of my livelihood due to COVID-19, and although I've invested in lots of tech kit and worked hard to pivot my signature "soundscape" sessions online (I've streamed to nearly 1000 people since the end of March!) this work is truly best delivered in person where possible. 

Ongoing safety concerns mean that my regular venues (yoga studios, hotel event spaces etc) won't be open for some time, and even when they are, it may not be safe to gather groups in them. I'm looking to create a physical space that allows us to connect with the earth, the elements and the wild - and experience the benefits of sound therapy as nature intended.

On top of this, with mental health challenges and coping with stress a reality for so many as we transition through these uncertain times, maintaining access to wellbeing therapies and support has NEVER been so important. I have many testimonials (scroll down) from clients who have found sound sessions essential to their wellbeing over the last few months, and I want as many people as possible to benefit in the same way. 

“Where words fail, music speaks.” - Hans Christian Anderson

Combining the wild with an online space

A bespoke space will also give me the physical room to record sessions to continue to serve my growing online community - a studio in nature. Without access to any recent government support schemes, a bricks and mortar space is not a reality at the moment but the tipi concept offers a chance to grow and share sound therapy both in the real world and online.

What the funds will be used for

In order to create my captivating soundspace, I'll need to invest an an awesome giant tipi with flexible sides, making it weatherproof but 'outdoors' in terms of ventilation and access. It will need a bit of dressing to keep visitors comfortable and safe, as well as lighting, portable audio decks, and some lightweight mobile stands for my gongs. These powerful, ancient instruments are the centrepiece of my work but they are HEAVY and need specialised stands as well as wheeled cases which are easy to move onto the clifftop hideout site. In the future, this mobile kit will allow me to take the gongs back into community centres, rehab and addiction support groups, memory cafes, meetings for those with Parkinsons, MS, depression and many many more conditions.

I'll also look to expand my gong collection, as we know and continue to research the benefits of certain notes and frequencies on certain conditions. 

What people are saying ( 1m30s watch)

"My tremors vanished during the session, I felt safe and held and STILL at last. My tinnitus disappeared during the gong sounds, and my mind was so rested and quiet. I realise now just how bad it’s been."  - D, 67 // Parkinsons 

"Between continuing to nurse and home schooling, your sessions are keeping me sane right now!"  - B, NHS nurse, online sound client

"In these uncertain times I have come to appreciate your beautiful online offerings. I cannot find peace anywhere else... there is something in the sound and vibration in your sessions which connects with me, grounds me, calms me and takes me on a journey where there is no fear, only hope and love. I would like you to know how important this has been to me during these difficult times." - T, online sound client

I slept SO well afterwards, and woke up with a feeling of being safe and warm which stayed for a few days after the session. About 5 days later I noticed a sense of deep calm come over me in a work situation that had been bothering me, and was happy to notice that I felt really different about it!

T, 61 // Corporate Finance, private client

I have a phenomenal sense of physical releasing – different parts of my body seemed to vibrate and come to life at different times during the session, and then it was like a release from that area and I’d move on to the next. I feel lighter, inspired, excited to know that I can feel this good and it’s in my own power to connect with this restful self within. Sound therapy should be on the NHS!

E, 41 // Social Worker // PTSD, group and 1:1 sessions

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A bit about rewards

I've curated a whole heap pf rewards for you to explore. Rock + Ritual is the product arm of my business, and you can get a taster of what an R+R subscription box contains in this video:

You can explore all the R+R products at the SHOP. 

If your reward includes an online sound session of any kind, you will automatically be registered for the next available event (during the campaign these are July 4th, 15th and 20th - check my website www.silenceandnoise.co.uk for listings info) using the email address you've donated with. An email with the access instructions is sent out about 2 hours before the event. However if you don't make that session or would prefer to choose another or defer until later in the year, that's totally fine! Just drop me a message via the project or social media and I'll make a note that you want to redeem your session later on.

For all product based rewards, these will be collated and sent out in early August, although if I can do any earlier, I will! Again, if you want the reward for a gift or certain date just get in touch and we'll make it happen.

THANK YOU for reading my campaign, I hope from the bottom of my heart that you are inspired to explore the benefits of sound therapy and share them with others in your life, and also that you are able to come to Cornwall to the SOUND TEMPLE to experience the transformative effects first-hand! By putting our faith in nature's science, we can vastly improve our own health and wellbeing, and that of those we love.

“By practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life” - Sara Lazar - author of Harvard study* on impact of meditation on brain function

* MGH/Harvard Lazar Lab Study (2014)

This project successfully funded on 24th July 2020