Join Kate, David, Nicky and Tom on an adventure – the naked fool – the courage to step into the unknown with every step.
If you want to liberate your authentic-self and say a wholehearted ‘yes’ to life you must first be prepared to fail. Join us as we learn to fail with style using a mix of fooling and tantric techniques. Over these few days, we will set aside our inner tyrant and with pleasure, curiosity and imagination welcome our spontaneous and playful selves.
We will be holding space for fool and tantra explorers – you don’t have to know anything about to either to be an explorer by the way, as you have us, your Tantric Fool sherpas to guide your journey.
About the teachers.
Kate – ‘The fool teaches us not to take ourselves too seriously. When I step into fool energy I can approach life with an innocence and openness that allows life to flow naturally. I get out of my own way and having dropped my defences I am able to respond to life with a wholeheart. Magical things happen. To me Tantra and fooling are both about embracing and trusting this moment and our ability to respond to it. I studied at the Hub Mime and Movement Theatre School that was founded by members of Footsbarn Theatre Company (who then birthed Kneehigh Theatre Company) and have trained under several fools all in the Jacques Lecoq tradition, including most recently with Simon Edwards and Marian Masoliver. Alongside this I have twenty years of exploring a tantric approach to life including 10 years of training with shakti tantra.
David – I am naturally shy and in the past avoided being the centre of attention at all costs. The idea of a course in the art of comedy where everyone would be watching me get it wrong terrified me. It turns out, learning to be a Fool is to learn to understand and accept that failure is not something to fear. I recently completed the Art of Comedy course with Simon Edwards and Marian Masoliver and although I found it challenging it helped me understand that when you let go of the fear of “getting it wrong” and embrace the willingness to fall flat on your face, you discover that failure doesn’t have to be an ignominious ending, it can be the sudden, unexpected doorway to a new, spontaneous opportunity if you choose to see it that way. Realising this and embracing the Fool’s energy has carried me through situations where I would previously have been paralysed with fear. Studying tantra has also taught me to step more lightly and easily through life: when an energy no longer serves me, I breathe, let go and step into a new one. The combination of tantra and clowning has allowed me to get past my shyness and embrace my authentic self as I am, and to accept that my so-called flaws are not a problem unless I choose to see them as that. They are what makes me an interesting and attractive Fool.
Kate and David will be assisted by our able fools Tom and Nicky. Both have attended the Simon Edwards and Marion Masoliver art of comedy training programme in Spain and well practiced in being foolish.
What previous participants said …
“The Naked Fool workshop was wonderful! Fun and playful but with deep learnings and insights. I had no idea what to expect but trusted the teachers and I am so glad I took the leap to attend.
Everyone is in the same boat at the beginning, you have no idea what to expect, but as soon as you arrive you are so welcome into a friendly open atmosphere and over the weekend you learn to let go of some of your ‘masks’ and learn about being neutral, or just being. From a neutral place of just being our playful free cheeky soul can come out to play! And you get to ‘play’ with lots of other beautiful souls. Highly recommend this for a fun exploration of your Self.”
“Ode to see ourselves as others see us. And ne’re to care. To look inside at our hidden spirit – and let it out! To be ourselves. Our foolish selves that we hold in careful reserve lest we be judged. And then to revel in that loving laughing crazy energy. By just being … ourselves.”
“The Naked Fool workshop was fun, and playful, but also insightful and deep work on the psyche. I loved learning about the aspects of the Fool archetype and how it relates to me being more in my Truth and how I am in my life and the Tantra connection. Loved it!”
The Gift Economy
We are excited to be offering this retreat as an experiment with the Gift Economy.
We want to make this work as accessible to as many people are possible.
Food & accommodation costs have to be covered for us to run the retreat so we ask everyone to pay £300. This can be all on booking or spread over 2 payments of £150.
You are also invited to contribute to the tuition costs and running of Shakti Tantra whether that’s £5 or £5000 it’s up to you.
To learn more about the gift economy…
Practical information
- This course starts on a Friday evening with dinner at 7pm and finishes on a Sunday at 2pm (lunch is available after the course ends and you have the option of staying for lunch or taking it on the road with you.)
- Our venue is the beautiful Osho Leela Centre, near Glastonbury. Situated in 18 acres of beautiful countryside, the Osho Leela Centre is a community space deeply connected to nature.
- Before signing up to this workshop we ask that you agree to abide by our ethos (includes our T&Cs). You will be asked to tick a box stating your agreement before completing payment but we highly recommend that you read them before starting the payment process.
If you have any questions or simply want to speak to one of our team just drop us a message