gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
The Invitation
Join us for a 6 day residential workshop at the Earth Spirit Centre near Glastonbury to dive deep into Gurdjieff's Sacred Movements with international teacher Carol Squire.
Together, we will be moving, dancing, playing, sharing and entering into deep silence using Gurdjieff’s unique contributions to the development of human consciousness – the Sacred Dances (movements), the Original Enneagram and the Fourth Way path.
From the first steps into the Movements, the body is drawn into the discovery of deep sensation and impulse. The heart opens and responds to the mesmerizing music composed by Gurdjieff and de Hartmann. The head is challenged by the requirement for focused attention, until it quietens and integrates.
We are excited to bring this work to the UK for the first time in these precious lands of Glastonbury and Avalon which as always will bring its own qualities of discovery.
gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
About Carol
Carol has been working with the Movements since she was introduced to them in India in 2000 by her teacher, Akash Dharmaraj, a beautiful example of one who kept asking questions of herself and her students and whose unexpected answers still reverberate. In the Akhaldans lineage, we lead with and from compassion and toward inner exploration – the Journey to Inaccessible Places.
Carol is a Sufi Dervish, Fourth Way teacher, Transactional Analysis (TA) facilitator, Sound Healer, Reiki Master, corporate leader, woman, mother and student. She is also the co-founder of the International Akhaldans Fourth Way School, in India. Carol worked with Akash Dharmaraj, to create a unique style of transmitting the Fourth Way Work, using the Gurdjieff movements as a vehicle for awakening and transformation.
Carol has been leading groups globally for 35 years. She integrates Sufi practices and Transactional Analysis in her organizational change work with high-profile corporate leaders, non-profit organizations, groups, and individuals. She warmly welcomes all those who ask to learn, and are ready to undertake the Work.
gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
What are Gurdjieff’s Sacred Dances?
Gurdjieff’s created what he called Sacred Dances – movements to be accompanied by the music of Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann specially composed for this purpose.
These Dances connect us to our core ‘Essence’ – the discovery and truth of our soul and its journey – and as such are intense vehicles for inner transformation that need to be experienced to be understood. They demand an extraordinary amount of attention, divided simultaneously between the body, the heart, and the mind.
As our mind calms down, our body opens, our heart opens and we reconnect more deeply and fully to the wonder of our existence.
Today, we can deconstruct them and understand that they are based on the science of movement, of neurobiology, of endocrine harmonisation, of neuroscience, of what is becoming known thanks to Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal as the science of Flow States. For Gurgjieff, they were given as mystery practices which created miraculous results.
Scroll down for more information on Gurdjieff.
Who is this workshop suitable for?
Carol’s approach provides challenge for experienced walkers on the spiritual path while welcoming those just beginning their journey (including those with physical limitations). Whatever our ‘level’, we can walk together.
Those who choose to work with the Gurdjieff Sacred Dances (or Movements) hold big questions about Life and Being. With curiosity and vital intelligence, we willingly put ourselves back into beginner mode so that we can be clear enough to hear the answers.
gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
How do we do the Movements?
The Movements are ideally done in groups. Choreographed for mathematical displacement, canons and moving figures, they require and develop a sense of being part of a moving whole.
The Movements are simultaneously simple and complex, capable of eliciting the kind of existential tension, frustration, suffering, and joy that allow us to see our own reactions. The Movements are also ideal vehicles for developing a sense of presence in the body, for stretching our muscles of divided attention and for observing ourselves in challenging circumstances.
As we open to the precision and the beauty of the movements, we open in ourselves an inner landscape of clarity, love, inner strength, creativity and action, a deep lust for this precious life we live.
Practical Details & Costs
Workshop Start and Finish times:
The event will begin on Monday 17 April (arrivals from 6pm) and conclude on Sunday 23 April at 2pm.
Workshop Fees:
The fee for the workshop itself is £499/£599. We ask that you pay what you can afford.
Similarly, if you cannot afford the workshop fees but feel drawn to come, please contact Jenni or Carol to see what bursaries are available.
Food & Accommodation costs:
With standard accommodation, total for the week is £378.
Non-residential (food package only):
With standard accommodation, total for the week is £215.
Special Requirements:
Please contact events@jennijoy.co.uk for special dietary requirements ((vegan/gluten-free plus £5.70 per day) / accommodation requirements (e.g. £15 per day for single room supplement, ensuite, camper vans)
About the venue – EarthSpirit Centre
Just five miles from Glastonbury, on the edge of Compton Dundon village in Somerset, EarthSpirit lies within the 'temenos' (sacred enclosure) of Avalon.
The centre is situated in a beautiful landscape between two nature reserves; and just two minutes walk from St Andrew's church, which has within its cemetery a yew tree of 1,800 years old. The seventeenth century farm buildings have been restored and specially converted for use as a venue. They are set within seven acres of fields and gardens.
Local produce, vegetarian menu
All food is vegetarian, drawing inspiration from modern world cuisine. Garden produce is used when available including green salads and culinary herbs. We source local suppliers for our ingredients whenever possible. We also cater for special diets (allergies/intolerances, vegan etc.) on request and for a small supplement.
Testimonials
“Before Akaldans… I was so low, lacking in self-esteem and confidence for my future, that I kept myself away from others and, in the process, all the necessary activity that keeps one afloat in the world. Then I met Carol. When I participated in the readings, the Movements of G.I Gurdjieff, and the further extended meditations/ practices, I found myself more present and conscious. I am beginning, every day, to realize I need not fear what is unconscious in me, because the tools I’m learning are helping me bring light to the inner and the way forward."
– Skyler Ray Lewis
"Carol is a teacher who has taken the time to get to know me. She has helped me come to realize that the box I have put myself in for most of my life is now too small for the person I’ve become. She pushes me out of my comfort zone in a gentle way. The Gurdjieff Movements push me to be uncomfortable in a good way so I can live in balance in all aspects of my life."
– Amber Hedgpeth
“My time with Carol continues to be an anchor in my emotional and spiritual life. Her insights are astute, and her guidance well-timed. Carol is incredibly present, and it is apparent that she derives tremendous emotional and spiritual gratification from undertaking the Work with a community of like-minded people. I relish the opportunity to have unfettered time and safe space to explore themes as they arise. The pace and intensity of our connection is at once natural and exacting. I leave the Intensives invigorated by the experience of having someone like Carol in my corner in the most important Work of my life. I also leave with the certainty that I have the tools I need to be successful as I continue in my journey of healing, and of vulnerable connection.”
– Hannah Erickson
gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
Why is this for me?
- You believe in the wisdom of the body and you want to dive in this Spring and listen deeply
- You love all forms of dance and movement and want to discover Gurdjieff’s movements
- You haven’t moved your body in a while and the idea of doing so in community with a group of like-minded souls is something your soul is screaming for
- You’ve always wanted to experience the Sacred Dances and the Fourth Way
- You’re fascinated by Flow States and want to experience the Sacred Movements as a way into flow and as a process for uncovering what is keeping you out of flow
- You’re an Enneagram geek
- You’re fascinated by Gurdjieff and his techniques
- You are in struggle and this feels like a good vehicle to help you to tune in to what is really going on, to tune into your higher self and to allow you to move through and beyond this space
- Something feels off, but you’re not quite sure what and somehow this invitation is the medicine your soul is calling in to assist you
- You love the fruits and rewards that arise when you Journey to those Inaccessible Places.
- Just… because you need some nourishment
expoloring the enneagram together
Soul Spa.Space produces events and adventures that are nourishing tto our body and soul.
Jenni Joy enjoys bringing great teachers and teachings to new places as well as offering her own work in the fields of leadership, tantra, sacred femininity and relationships. She has been organising events since 2010 in London, Glastonbury, UK and internationally.
GURDJIEFF, THE 4TH WAY, SACRED DANCES & THE ENNEAGRAM
Who was Gurdjieff?
The Fourth Way is a pragmatic spiritual path to achieving our highest human potential through the simultaneous development and integration of our intellectual, emotional and physical centers.
Gurdjieff felt that a Fourth Way was needed: a way of developing and then integrating the physical, the emotional, and the intellectual centres would prove more fruitful on our path to transformation.
Thus, the Fourth Way is a path that leads to an integrated self-awareness of our past adaptations, so that we may take charge of our relationship to the many facets of our conditioned personality and choose to act from our Essence, with Conscience.
The work of coming into an integrated self-awareness has come to be called the Work. All of those who endeavour to become more self-aware; to become more authentically themselves; to connect in deeper and more meaningful ways with themselves, others, and the world around them are invited to undertake the Work. For this reason, Gurdjieff’s methods and philosophies were developed so that the Work can and should be accessible to everyone with a sincere wish to discover their full humanity. He believed that the Work should take place in the context of our daily lives and interactions, rather than in isolation or withdrawal from life. In this day-to-day life, the way we relate to ourselves and one another harbors the possibility for deep insights about who we are, and the patterns that live within us. Investigating these daily occurrences, especially in times of turmoil, becomes ideal for the awakening process, in which the integrated Work can be most effective.
Gurdjieff developed the Fourth Way as a result of failing to find a teaching system, or spiritual path, that sufficiently implemented all the aspects of ourselves that make us human. This complex system took elements from many different religious schools such as Sufism, Tibetan Buddhism, Eastern Christianity, Zoroaster, and from various sects such as Indian yogis. He started his first Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in 1919, in Tbilisi, Georgia. When working on his system, Gurdjieff had in mind the Western world, which he considered to be furthest from a unified consciousness because of the tempo and manner of their modern way of life. Through his teachings, he offered them a way of developing and integrating all three segments: emotion, body, and mind. Given how modern life has developed, this system remains as needed now as then.
The three main outputs of his work which are carried forward today are:
- The teachings of the Fourth Way
- The Sacred Movements also known as Sacred Dances
- The Enneagram. Gurdjieff claimed to have received the enneagram from hidden esoteric knowledge. His version is known as the living or spiritual enneagram, which is very different to the modern “personality enneagrams”
All of these aspects of Gurdjieff’s work will be explored in the workshop. Carol Squire delivers them in a modern way utilising techniques from transactional analysis and the dervish tradition, having studied with her teacher Akash for 23 years.
Soul Spa.Space produces events and adventures that are nourishing tto our body and soul.
Jenni Joy enjoys bringing great teachers and teachings to new places as well as offering her own work in the fields of leadership, tantra, sacred femininity and relationships. She has been organising events since 2010 in London, Glastonbury, UK and internationally.
gurdjieff's 4th way teachings in the akhaldans lineage
Questions? Need help?
Contact Jenni and she'll be happy to discuss with you.
Also please contact her if you would like to attend but are struggling financially.
Contact Jenni by email
Soul Spa.Space produces events and adventures that are nourishing tto our body and soul.
Jenni Joy enjoys bringing great teachers and teachings to new places as well as offering her own work in the fields of leadership, tantra, sacred femininity and relationships. She has been organising events since 2010 in London, Glastonbury, UK and internationally.