rising earth natural cob building workshops
June 20th - 26th 2021
July 9th - 11th 2021
HeartSong hosted two workshops in 2021 with Michael McDonough from Rising Earth where we focused on all stages of natural building with cob. Our June Cob Oven and Natural Building Overview, designed to be a broad overview of natural building techniques, had a focus on the construction of a cob bread/pizza oven from start to finish. Students built the stone foundation, firebrick hearth, cob structure, and finish the oven with earthen plasters. In addition, we built a cob bench, plastered an existing straw bale building, and completed the living roof of an adjacent structure.
In our July Earth Plasters & Finishes workshop, we learned to make and apply our own earth-based finish materials. We made earth plaster from site-harvested clay, as well as finish plaster from pottery clay, mix and apply lime plaster, and pigmented plasters and paints. We also learned how to mix and install an earthen floor, giving students the opportunity to learn different ways to incorporate earth finishes into a more conventional home.
See More of our cob building experiences.
Herbal Medicine Workshop - St. John’s Wort
June 27th 2021
Elizabeth Gross of Selkie Medicinal led a hands on herbal oil making workshop at HeartSong. We learned to identify, get to know, and ethically harvest St. John’s Wort for high quality oil making. The plant guided us to its healing benefits, and Elizabeth taught how to harvest, prepare, label and store St. John’s Wort oil for crafting a home apothecary. Learn more about Elizabeth’s offerings here
rising earth natural building workshops
June 1st - 7th 2019
June 22nd - 28th 2019
June 28th - 30th 2019
September 20th - 22nd 2019
The origins of HeartSong and its dwellings are all steeped in natural, sustainable and environmentally loving ways of building. Michael McDonough of Rising Earth led three cob building workshops and a free learning/work informal gathering in 2019 that focused on all stages of natural building with cob. We learned about creating an earthen bread/pizza oven, created a living roof construction, walls, floors and delved into the details of sustainable building. Rising Earth welcomes people of all levels of natural building experience. For advanced learners, we explored ways of creating sustainable art inside cob dwelling spaces in our finishing plasters weekend.
See More of our cob building experiences.
House Blessing & Cleansing Workshop
October 6th 2018
Sufian and Sabeyah Chaudhary led a interactive workshop at HeartSong Sanctuary. Participants received powerful tools on energetically cleansing and blessing their homes to bring about more peace, happiness and abundance in their lives. The focus of the workshop was on learning ancient methods of transmuting energy, performing psychic protection techniques, and creating a sacred space to live in harmony.
The workshop included guided meditations and live demonstrations smudging with White Sage, Palo Santo, Copal, and medicinal sprays infused with protective plants and essences.
Foundations of Facilitation Workshop
July 5th - July 8th 2018
Foundations of Facilitation is a three day workshop designed to build the skills of group facilitation. It is offered as part of the training for certifications of Cuddle Party® facilitators.
Natural Cob Building Workshop
June 2nd - 8th 2018
Our days were spent engaged in hands-on building and learning with natural materials. We worked on the construction of a wood framed outdoor kitchen, with a cob wall supporting the counter-top. Our mornings were spent on building the roof structure with timber and our afternoons were focused on cob building and finishing cob with earth and lime plasters. There will also be opportunities to explore straw bale building and earth floors. This was a rich week of natural and community building with the group. We worked, learned, ate and relaxed with each other in a positive, hard-working, fun atmosphere. Conversation on natural building provided constant background chatter throughout the week. Evenings were unscheduled so folks enjoyed HeartSong, explored nearby towns, and relaxed around the fire.
See More of our cob building experiences.
Natural Cob Building Workshop
September 17th - 21st 2017
See More of our cob building experiences.
Cob Building Instruction and Workweek
OCTOBER 19TH - 24TH 2015
A free event facilitated by professional cob builder Jamie Manza, at HeartSong Sanctuary.
See More of our cob building experiences.
cob building workshoP
JULY 24TH 2015
Our first workshop hosted at HeartSong Sanctuary gathered 12 students on the land to learn cob construction as taught by Shawn King and Jamie Manza. Visit our blog post on the event to read more about it!
cuddle parties
What you don’t see in this picture is 240sq feet of high-density foam. Cuddle parties are a safe, supportive space to explore a wide range of nurturing touch and connection experiences, a higher degree of consciousness to your communication and contact, and greater clarity & confidence around boundary & communication skills. For more details visit cuddleparty.com/what-is
fire circles
Fire circles have happened for community based events and celebrations. We incorporate traditional ceremonies into our fire honoring events, such as lighting Swedish fire logs for the full moon and playing musical instruments around the fire.
See More of our Fire Circle experiences.
gift of touch
Based on Dr. Betty Martin’s groundbreaking tool, “The Wheel of Consent” participants learned how to make clear agreements though simple embodied exercises so you may experience more freedom, connection and ease in your spectrum of touch.
Outdoor Kitchen Timber Framing Work Week
Our big summer work week was a complete delight and ended with our kitchen ready to proceed to its next step– a pond liner based green roof.
Visit our blog post on this weekend to read more about the experience!
Plant Walk with Lindsey Buckley
A guide through HeartSong’s summer bounty with Fern and Fawn’s Lindsey Buckley.
