http://berkeleyalembic.org/, https://linktr.ee/TheAlembic

The Alembic, 2820 7th Street, Berkeley, CA (2026)

03/25/2026

Many of life’s challenges arise from fear and attachment—the core obstacles to recognizing our true nature. Chöd, an ancient Tibetan practice, offers a direct and creative way to cut through these patterns.

Traditionally practiced in wild or challenging environments, Chöd uses chant, rhythm, and powerful visualization to meet fear with wisdom and compassion. At its heart, the practice reveals that what we fear externally reflects inner attachments and emotional habits. In cutting through our negativities we transform our inner and outer worlds, heal ourselves, and open up toward our full creative potential and presence.

For questions: susansnyderk@gmail.com

In this teaching, you’ll explore how to transform fear, dissolve emotional conflict, and reconnect you with your natural state—open, aware, creative, and fearless.

Our Chöd retreat will consist of 2 separate weekends in 2026:
April 25 + 26 and October 24 + 25

Saturday April 25th
10:00-11:30 Teachings/Meditation
11:30-12:00 Break
12:00-1:00 Teachings/Meditation
1:00-2:30 Lunch Break
2:30-4:00 Teachings/Meditation
4:00-4:30 Break
4:30-5:30 Teachings/Meditation

Sunday April 26th
9:00-10:30 Teachings/Meditation
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-12:30 Teachings/Meditation
12:30-2:00 Lunch Break
2:00-3:30 Teachings/Meditation
3:30-4:00 Break
4:00-5:00 Teachings/Meditation

03/25/2026

By increasing the flow of oxygen or Prana in our bodies, we can begin to move and release tension.

In this class we shift our focus from the realm of thoughts to the intricate web of electrical signals within our bodies. Regardless of whether you've faced significant stress or trauma, this approach offers profound benefits to the nervous system. The accumulation of daily stressors can strain our bodies and without releasing this tension through expression, it can manifest as depression, anxiety, or disease over time.

In this class we

- Lay down for a guided short meditation.

- Practice the breathwork sequence together for around 30 minutes.

- Relax and recover.

- Optional sharing and snacks afterwards.

We have 26 trillion cells in our bodies and they all need oxygen. Come breathe with us and calibrate your nervous system!

NOTE: Doors close 10 minutes after the start of class. This event is in-person only.

Matt Barkin has been studying breathwork and meditation for over 15 years. His training is rooted in the ancient practices of Buddhist Vipassana and Kriya Yoga. His goal as a guide is to help students awaken their self-healing potential with the breath! Learn more about Matt here https://mattbarkin.com/breathwork/

03/25/2026

Join Chandra Easton, renowned Tibetan Buddhism teacher and devotional chantress, for an evening of sacred sound where we experience the "echoes of emptiness"—the empty yet appearing nature of all sound, thought, and experience. This event blends Buddhist and Hindu Ta***ic traditions, offering an accessible, joyful exploration of devotional music and meditation suitable for all levels.

Special offering:
Healing Chöd ritual: Chöd is a unique blend of the Tibetan shamanic traditions and the Buddhist tradition of compassion and emptiness. This centuries-old practice is sung and accompanied by a traditional Chöd drum and bell. Healing arises when fear, fixation, and self-clinging are cut through—when we nurture, rather than fight, what assails us. This gives rise to awareness of the empty nature of afflictive emotions. Chöd is the source of the modern practice of Feeding Your Demons, which Chandra often teaches at the Alembic. Participants are invited to meditate seated or lying down to receive the practice as a healing ritual.

Event highlights:

Call and response chanting: Engage in traditional Sanskrit mantras to promote inner peace and spiritual reflection. Through kirtan (melodic chanting) and japa (mantra repetition), we uplift our spirits, center ourselves, and open our hearts to spiritual blessings.

Meditative atmosphere: Connect deeply with your inner self through rhythmic, repetitive chants, exploring the space where sound and silence meet.

Community connection: Share a collective musical journey that fosters unity and illuminates our interconnectedness. If the spirit moves you, dancing is always welcome.

Buddhist & Hindu wisdom: Experience practices from Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Hindu Ta***ic traditions, including sacred deity practices such as the 21 Taras, Avalokiteshvara, and Saraswati for deeper states of meditative absorption.

03/25/2026

Creative expression is a way to integrate phenomenon and visions experienced in altered states of consciousness, whether they be meditative or entheogenic in nature. From the very first forms of mark-making to the caves of Lascaux to the works of Pablo Amaringo and Alex Grey, humanity has sought to understand our internal landscapes through visual expression.

Alligator Lizards in the Air: Healing and Integration through Creative Expression, is a once a month chance to bring these experiences to life through two dimensional mark making.

Art mediums from paint to colored pencils, crayons to markers, will be available for everyone to use along with paper and canvas. Krisztina Lazar will be your visionary guide in creativity and will help you realize your experience before your eyes. No art background needed for this class. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to explore.

No one turned away for lack of funds. If this applies to you, please pay at the door.

Krisztina Lazar is a visionary artist primarily working in oil paint, watercolor and drawing. She is a Mische Technique lineage holder, a mixture of oil and egg tempera painting invented during the Dutch Renaissance and revolutionized by modern master, Ernst Fuchs. This technique creates an opalescent under painting that the colors are then glazed over, rendering each painting out of light rather than shadow, bringing the images to life with fractal clarity.

Utilizing this transformative style that she learned from visionary pioneer, Brigid Marlin, her current body of work explores painting a hybrid of Mische and Alla Prima to render hyperealistic sacred art. With these two techniques combined, Krisztina creates images of Pop Shamanism, portals and visions that speak to today’s cultural climate of the occult, magic, fantasy, psychedelics, meditation, pop, nostalgia, and the environment movement.

03/25/2026

This half-day workshop offers an introduction to reconnecting with your authentic singing voice. It is a gentle invitation to explore the relationship between body, mind, and vocal expression.
Through accessible movement practices, vocal exploration, guided visualization, and supportive group singing, participants will investigate how habitual patterns and internal narratives may shape their relationship to voice. The workshop creates space to experiment, release tension, and explore new vocal possibilities in a grounded and supportive environment.
This offering is well suited for those curious about working more deeply with voice and embodiment. It also serves as an introduction to the approach explored in the upcoming full-day immersion.
"It was a day full of gently guided stretching, visualizations, and singing in a safe, beautiful studio environment. The in-person experience creates a bit of magic as you join voices with others. I highly recommend this exploration of the mind, body, and voice." — Eileen W., San Francisco

Julia Norton is an award winning singer and actor, a Jungian Coach and co-director of the International Association for Voice Movement Therapy. Julia has been singing her whole life and teaching groups to sing since she was 19. Always compelled to understand more about the emotional story behind a singer’s experience, she trained in Voice Movement Therapy and moved from London to San Francisco after qualifying in 2000.

Since then she has composed music for theater and circus, music-directed, produced an award winning album ‘Lullaby Island’, performed jazz and musical theater, and trained as a voice actor. She was a teaching artist for the San Francisco Opera Guild and presents at conferences worldwide. Julia won a Voice Arts Award for her role in Disney’s Star Wars game Jedi Challenges and was nominated for a One Voice Award for her role in Harry Potter Magic Awakened.

She has two podcasts, 'Dark and Twisty Tales' and "Your Free Voice'.

03/25/2026

The Path Within bridges the worlds of ancient magical practice and contemporary self-development, offering ritual magick not as esoteric theory but as embodied technology for transformation. Author Jake Kobrin draws on years of practice in ceremonial and chaos magick traditions to present a practical roadmap for those seeking direct experience of their inner landscape.

This event features a presentation on key concepts from the book, exploring how ritual practice develops psychological awareness, creates sacred space in daily life, and activates latent potentials within consciousness. Following the talk, Jake will answer questions and sign books, offering attendees a chance to discuss their own paths of magical and spiritual development.

Bio: Jake Kobrin is the author of The Path Within and the founder of TOTEM (Temple of the Eternal Muse). An artist and practitioner of Western esotericism, his work integrates ritual magick, mysticism, and creative expression, offering pathways of transformation and self-initiation.

03/25/2026

1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Both Online and IRL
In non-dual Ta**ra, meditation is the gateway to recognizing the truth of who and what you are. In this twice-monthly class, you’ll explore foundational non-dual teachings from the Ta***ic tradition, paired with guided meditations designed to bring those teachings into direct experience.

Each session introduces a core theme drawn from classical Shaiva Ta**ra and is brought to life through potent meditative practices. You’ll work with breath, mantra, visualization, and the subtle body, with the aim not to transcend your experience, but to fully inhabit it with clarity, presence, and depth.

Every class includes a short teaching, a guided meditation, and space for integration. Over time, you’ll begin to recognize what it means to live from “the view,” not as a concept, but as a felt reality that infuses your daily life with wisdom, ease, and grounded presence.

03/25/2026

When we gather with others, conversation almost automatically drifts toward what has already happened or what might happen next. Stories, plans, reactions, hopes—these patterns are so ingrained that we barely notice how completely we relate to one another through the lens of the past and future.

But when we pause those habits, something surprising occurs.

The room changes.
Attention sharpens.
A different kind of connection begins to emerge.

A small clearing inside awareness opens—a place where no future is rehearsing itself, and no echoes of the past are allowed to enter.

We can touch this space alone in contemplative practices, but it's rare to enter it with others.

The Present Moment Game is a simple social meditation designed to explore that possibility.

Participants speak only from what is happening in the moment, and gently bring each other back when attention drifts. What unfolds is often unexpected, and never the same twice.

Curious? Come play!
___________

03/25/2026

Many of us work with psychedelics without a guide or with limited support to integrate these experiences. That can feel painful or lonely when we’ve had meaningful journeys (and also when we’ve had disappointing journeys!). Healing – especially from interpersonal injuries – deepens when done in community. The same is true of personal and spiritual growth. Even the most joyful experiences are best metabolized when witnessed. Together, we become a mosaic – a colorful and varied community, greater together than the sum of our parts.

Mosaic is a psychedelic integration circle for self-identified women. Here, you’ll find a supportive space to integrate the lessons, challenges, and wisdom from psychedelic journeys so that you can apply those learnings to everyday life. Together, we’ll seek to understand our psychedelic experiences and make profound insights accessible and actionable.

This is a drop-in, monthly supported peer group rather than a psychotherapy group. We create space for sharing stories and experiences, receiving support, and forging genuine connections. Meditation, mindful movement, somatic practices, Internal Family Systems parts work, and creative tools are all part of the fun.

Whether you’re new to integration or looking to deepen your practice, you’ll find a supportive community here.

03/25/2026

Immerse yourself in the art of giving and receiving Thai Massage in this nourishing, experiential two-day training with seasoned bodywork practitioners and movement educators Alok Rocheleau and Anjuli Mahendra. Together, they bring over forty years of combined experience as therapists, yoga teachers, and facilitators of embodied healing arts.

Thai Massage is a time-honored healing tradition that continues to evolve across cultures and lineages. Rooted in Buddhist mindfulness, the practice is guided by principles of respect, presence, balanced effort, and loving-kindness (metta). More than a technique, Thai Massage is a moving meditation — a conversation between breath, body, and awareness.

Through joint mobilization, rhythmic compression, mindful passive stretching, acupressure, and breath-led pacing, Thai Massage offers a uniquely effective and nourishing therapeutic experience. When practiced with proper body mechanics and sensitivity, the work becomes fluid and sustainable — an effortless dance between giver and receiver.

As long-time yogis and bodyworkers, Alok and Anjuli emphasize easeful, fluid movement with embodied presence. You’ll learn how to work from your center, use gravity and body weight rather than muscular strain, and stay attuned to the receiver’s nervous system and energetic state — allowing the session to unfold organically rather than mechanically.

Why train with Anjuli & Alok:

Anjuli Mahendra and Alok Rocheleau bring an integrative approach to Thai Massage shaped by decades of experience across traditions including Thai Massage, ZenThai Shiatsu, Japanese Shiatsu, Acupressure, Myofascial Release, Chi Nei Tsang, and Craniosacral Therapy. Their teaching is strongly influenced by their mentor Gwyn Williams, who created ZenThai Shiatsu , blending Thai and Shiatsu with mindfulness, breath, and energetic awareness.

03/25/2026

Building rapport with plants and understanding their energetics has powerful and practical applications. In Part 2, herbalist Rachel Budde expands the conversation to explore how plant relationships can be engaged in specific contexts: personal challenges, creative process, protection, and supporting others in clinical or community practice.

We’ll examine the ethics, energetics, and discernment required when moving from attunement into intentional partnership.

This class builds on Part 1 but may be taken independently. Expect both lecture and guided experiential practice.

Find the online version here: https://momence.com/l/jJh7vWbe

Rachel Budde is an herbalist, teacher, and founder of Fat and the Moon, an herbal body care company based in Grass Valley, CA. Continuing a long legacy of natural healers, Rachel sees topical herbal products as a gateway for profound realizations of the efficacy of plant medicine.

Rachel's work as an herbalist is an extension of her Slovenian heritage. Since 2015, she has been conducting ethnobotanical research on medicinal plants and their traditional folk uses in Slovenia, work that will culminate in a forthcoming book. Along with her studies of herbalism with teachers Aviva Romm, William Morris, and herbalist Joshua Muscat, Rachel is also trained in the somatic psychotherapeutic method Hakomi. She has also trained as a psychedelic guide.

Rachel is presently enrolled in a Master's program in herbal medicine at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Ethnobotanist Kathleen Harrison serves as her ongoing mentor, guiding Rachel's exploration into ancestral honoring, inter-species relating, and the recognition of psychedelics as a primary route to acknowledging our inextricable interconnectedness.

The Alembic

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