Voice Circles
For those wishing to gather in safety and connection to explore, relax and open your natural voice.
What are Deeper Listening Voice Circles?
Deeper Listening Voice Circles are a deep yet playful space where you can discover for yourself the mystery and healing power of your voice.
They offer a safe, held, small group space where you are supported to drop a little deeper into yourself through movement, gentle breath work, vocal play and sound expression.
You will have the opportunity to explore your voice in a variety of ways, listening and expressing effortlessly all that is inside of you, so that moment to moment you may discover your own natural voice.
As a group we enter deep listening together, using forms from Collaborative Vocal Improvisation to weave sound and co-create soundscapes, uncovering beautiful, raw, wild and imperfect human music.
What People Are Saying
“I was very new to voice work, and this evening was so surprising. I have been struggling to connect to my dance recently and to find a creative outlet that I feel connected to and that brings release, nourishment and connection. The voice evening with Sarah Jane and the wonderful circle of women released my over stressed mind and renewed my soul. Thank you SJ”
— Sasha, Dance Movement Therapist Oxfordshire
“As someone who has not had much experience with sounding and voice, I found that Sarah Jane created such a beautiful, safe and comfortable space for me to connect to and experiment with my voice without fear or judgement. I left feeling nourished and embodied and so grateful for the experience”.
— Sophia, Yoga Practitioner & Staff member at Wild Honey Organic Health Food Store, Oxford
“What a joy to gather together to explore voice and improvisation with Sarah Jane. She has so much love for this work, and held us all safely and gently as we explored our voices and began to develop and play. This voice work is simple yet profound; it can result in new insights. For me on this occasion, it was just a great pleasure.”
— Jackie, professional storyteller, musician and celebrant
No experience is needed, all voices are welcome.
Safety & Connection.
The soul reveals itself in the voice and yet how many of us hold judgements, painful beliefs or limiting conditioning about our voice?
Many of us were told to be quiet as children, that our voices were not important, that we couldn’t sing or the sounds we made were not good enough. Singing has become a highly charged word, bringing up anxiety and shame for many.
The experiences that lead to these vocal wounds are unique to each of us but all require a response grounded in the principles of kindness, patience, safety and connection.
These principles lie at the foundation of Deeper Listening Voice Circles so that you can bring awareness to what blocks you from letting your voice simply be and take steps to deepen your relationship with your voice, explore your sounds and expand your range of vocal expression.
You are encouraged to take things at your own pace, to make choices to support yourself and to pause when you need to, which all help to integrate new experiences and patterns, to stay connected to yourself and your needs, so that ultimately you can unleash and celebrate your own unique and authentic expression.
A bridge to something bigger than ourselves….
Deeper Listening Voice Circles enter the mystical realms of our connection to each other and the present moment through sound.
Together we open a door for a new relationship between us and the transformative quality of our vocal expression. Our voice is our connection to the deep longings and prayers each of us carry within.
Humans have been gathering in this way through the ages. It is our birthright to continue this ancient tradition, sharing, supporting, nurturing and honouring one another in our true expression.
What is Collaborative Vocal Improvisation?
“Collaborative Vocal Improvisation is a creative, challenging, thrilling approach to singing that starts with an empty space and lets the moment - and your body - give voice to the music of right now, and hones that as an art form in its own right”.
Briony Greenhill
Collaborative Vocal Improvisation teaches us to embody our voice, to listen deeply to rhythms, patterns and music inside and outside ourselves. It connects us at a soul level to uncover the intuitive voice within each of us. The work can be healing, both on a personal and collective level.
It offers structures to guide us so that our voices can be liberated to flow with pure honesty, where something greater than the little ‘me’ emerges and enters a gateway to the sacred.
I first discovered this art form in an Introductory Workshop with Briony Greenhill, I then went on to train with Briony for a year on her course called ‘Singing the Unseen’ which took me on a personal healing journey and built deep connections with others who love to sing. I continue to learn about musicianship and the value of committing to a daily voice practice.
I’ve recently completed a Teacher Training course with Briony and am proud to be part of a growing community intent on sharing this work with others.
You can read a history of CVI here.
Deeper Listening Voice Circles combine all I have learned and continue to learn about Collaborative Vocal Improvisation with my commitment to supporting your personal agency over your own body and trust for your innate wisdom and healing potential within this work.
Extra Support…
Deeper Listening Voice Circles can have a positive impact on your mental and emotional well-being, however if you’re very new to singing or returning after a break a circle may feel a bit too much.
I offer One to one sessions to anyone wishing to uproot their own beliefs about their voice and free themselves to sing with confidence and joy.
What the Elders Say….
Bobby Mcferrin is one of the pioneers of this artform, he says….
“When I was developing my own approach to improvisation, the only thing I had to practice was getting over the fear of doing it. I think that’s the only thing that really hampers people from improvising: they’re just afraid of looking like a fool or not having enough ideas. It’s a risk. It’s like opening a door to a dark room and going in. You don’t know what you’ll find, I find that fascinating.
It doesn’t matter where you land. Just the act of leaping is where it’s at for me. That’s the big lesson: it’s the process . It’s the joy of the journey that’s the important thing.”
Bobby McFerrin
Another leading light in the Collaborative Vocal Improvisation world is Rhiannon, she says…
“We are all nature.
Our feet are nature. Our hands and arms are nature. Our bodies are nature.
Trees around us and mountains are nature.
Water and elements of fire and air are nature.
Expression is natural..
Voice and body are nature.
All we know and remember is part of nature.
The part where we sing and dance, move and make sound for all of the history of the world.
All our lives are nature”.
Rhiannon