Don’t Leave Your Wellbeing to Chance
Your sense of wellbeing does not depend only on whether everything in life is going well. More often, it depends on whether and how we are able to notice and cultivate positive emotions.
Just as chefs sometimes design a thoughtful tasting menu – pairing each course with a complementary drink and dessert to create a complete experience – we have created a training that brings together our recent areas of interest and practice. Inspired by themes of self-care and by my own journey with taiko drumming, which I have been studying since 2022 under the guidance of Hele-Riin Uib-Pachel, we have developed, together with Hele-Riin and Muteki Taiko, an experience that engages mind, body and soul.
- For the mind – Don’t Leave Your Wellbeing to Chance lecture/workshop
- For the body – taiko drumming workshop
- For the soul – taiko concert
The training consists of three complementary modules. It can be booked as a full experience or as one or two selected parts.
What We Explore in the Lecture
We tend to focus on what is wrong – and for good reason. This tendency has helped humans survive for centuries. Difficult emotions are strong and persistent. But they are not enough for a good life. For mental wellbeing, we need more – positive emotions.
In the training, we explore:
- why negative emotions tend to stick more easily than positive ones
- why “just thinking positively” does not work
- how positive emotions actually arise, not just in theory
- how to cultivate them intentionally
Positivity does not replace difficulty, but it helps us live with it more effectively.
Positivity is not just joy. Sometimes joy is simply not available. We explore and experience a range of positive emotions: gratitude, curiosity, calm, hope, inspiration, pride, admiration and love. These are not just “nice words”, but experiences that can be consciously evoked.
The lecture is led by Katrin Saali Saul.
What We Experience in the Taiko Workshop
By playing traditional taiko drums together, we experience:
- how energy arises in the body
- how positive emotion moves from person to person
- how shared rhythm creates connection
This brings what is heard in the lecture into the body – into lived experience. Drumming together has, across cultures, long been a way of strengthening group cohesion. It also offers the joy of doing something for the first time, of trying something new. New experiences create new neural pathways in the brain.
The taiko workshop is led by Hele-Riin Uib-Pachel.
What We Experience in the Concert
A taiko concert is a powerful meeting of rhythm and energy – an immersive experience felt not only through the ears, but through the whole body. Taiko drumming is not only about sound; its impact reaches both conscious and deeper, subconscious levels.
The performance works equally well in light and in dim settings. In light, the movement – refined over centuries – becomes visible almost as a dance. In darkness, the LED-lit drumsticks create an entirely different, almost otherworldly atmosphere.
The concert is performed by the Muteki Taiko Trio, featuring some of Estonia’s most talented professional drummers: Hele-Riin Uib-Pachel, Marilin Kaprei and Katrin Saali Saul as an advanced trainee. For larger events, additional drummers from the Muteki Taiko school can be included, up to 10 performers in total. The concert can serve as a powerful opening or a strong closing experience.
Who This Training Is For
For organisations
- when people are tired, tense or overly serious
- when there is a need for more energy, creativity and aliveness
- when you want to combine science-based insight with physical experience
For individuals and groups of friends
- if you want to offer your friends an experience that engages mind, body and soul
- if you want to experience how music brings people together, and understand why
- if you want to create shared memories that last
Impact
As a result of the training:
- what people notice and perceive begins to shift
- how they respond changes
- how they feel as a group evolves
People do not leave only more informed, but more alive. And hopefully, more joyful.
Practical Information
- duration: by agreement, from a few hours to a full-day event
- group size: up to 50 participants for the taiko workshop; no limit for lecture and concert
- format: discussion and experience
- language: Estonian or English
If this resonates with your team or group, feel free to get in touch and we can design something together. Get in touch
Read about my other workshops and training sessions here