Still, in the Brightest Month
A Summer Yin and Sound Afternoon

Saturday 5 December 2026 | 2:00pm | Montacute Community Hall, Adelaide Hills

December is the loudest month of the year.

The calendar fills, the light stretches long, and everything asks for your attention at once. Gatherings and end of year functions, the school year unravelling, lists that grow faster than you can cross anything off them.

This is the one afternoon that asks nothing of you.

Together with Chris Toms of Harmonic Essence, I invite you into a few hours of deliberate stillness in the middle of the busiest month of the year.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer belongs to the Fire element and the season of the Heart. Fire in its fullness is warmth, joy and connection. Fire in excess feels exactly like December, restless and scattered and unable to settle. This practice is not here to stoke that. It is here to bank it, and bring the warmth back to a steady glow.

There is something else happening in the sky that afternoon. While the sun climbs toward the summer solstice, the moon has almost entirely disappeared. She is four days from new, the darkest phase of her cycle, the phase that asks us to finish rather than begin. Maximum light and minimum light in the same sky. That is the whole afternoon in a single image.

THE JOURNEY

Yin Yoga, Fire Element (Heart and Small Intestine)
Long held, deeply supported shapes through the chest, shoulders and arms, where the Heart and Small Intestine lines run. Nothing strenuous and nothing to achieve. Just the slow work of letting the body settle and allowing the mind to follow it down. In Chinese medicine the Small Intestine is the organ of discernment, the one that sorts what nourishes from what does not. A useful question to carry into the end of a year.

Deep Sound Healing Immersion
Chris weaves crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes and harmonic instruments into a rich soundscape that meets a body already at rest. The Yin practice descends into stillness and the sound carries you the rest of the way. There is no coming back up in between. One continuous journey down.

Seasonal Supper, Tea and Connection
Afterwards we gather for summer nourishment, tea and unhurried conversation while the long December light holds, along with a small take home gift to carry the afternoon with you.

WHAT TO BRING
Yoga mat | Comfy Mattress| Bolster or firm pillow | One or two blankets | Water bottle

December in the Hills is still cool, so come in layers you can both move and rest in. The body cools as it settles, so bring a blanket or 2 even on a hot day. Some bolsters available.

INVESTMENT
$99 per person
Includes the full Yin and Sound journey, seasonal supper, tea and a summer gift. Limited to 22 guests.

VENUE
Montacute Community Hall, Adelaide Hills. Full details sent upon booking.

In the brightest month, stillness is not a retreat from the light. It is how we stay in it.

Wherever we meet, we're home.

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