Imagery and Music Group Experience

Wednesday, Jul 29

7:00pm

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20/30 spots left

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👆 Get your ticket from this link 👆 What becomes possible when we truly listen? This is a 2-hour introductory workshop in Imagery and Music — an experiential group practice inspired by the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), a recognized music-psychotherapy modality. You'll lie down, relax, and listen to two curated classical music programs that open space for inner imagery, emotion, and insight to surface. Then, you’ll give that experience form through simple mandala drawing. No musical or art background is needed; the only requirement is a willingness to listen. Most of the time, we listen to music. Here, we listen from inside it and music becomes less something you hear than somewhere you go. During the evening, we will: Enter a guided relaxation - Experience two curated classical music journeys - Create simple mandalas for integration — not as art, but as a way of catching what words would flatten (no experience needed) - Share reflections (optional) - Explore how Imagery and Music differs from just talking about our experiences Rather than using words, this practice lets it arrive as image, color, weight, motion — the language the psyche actually speaks. No substance is involved, only music, deep relaxation, and attention. Yet the states it opens are real: the same expanded awareness Helen Bonny first observed in psychedelic sessions, reached through sound alone. The Psychedelic Lineage: GIM was developed by Helen Bonny directly out of her work using music to support LSD-assisted therapy at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, where she joined the research team in 1969 alongside Stanislav Grof, Walter Pahnke, and Joan Kellogg. Bonny discovered that music, not the substance, was often the true catalyst for change. Facilitating sessions without the drug, she found that carefully selected classical music, combined with deep relaxation and verbal guidance, could open similar altered states and therapeutic imagery on its own. The mandala practice this evening traces to that same era, from Bonny's collaboration with Joan Kellogg, comparing inner imagery with the mandalas participants drew after their sessions. Today, GIM's principles are widely recognized as foundational to modern psychedelic-assisted therapy, informing how music is used to structure the arc of various psychedelic assisted therapies sessions, support emotional release, and facilitate integration. For those in the psychedelic-assisted therapy space Whether you come as a client or a practitioner, this practice offers a structured, music-supported path for continued inner exploration and integration, between sessions, or as a standalone depth practice. This experience may resonate if you are: - Curious about music and consciousness - Seeking an experiential alternative to talk therapy - Looking for new ways to integrate mystical or non-ordinary experiences - Wanting to explore your inner world in a structured, safe way No musical background is required — only a willingness to listen. Please arrive no later than 7:10 pm. Doors will be locked to keep a safe container. *This event series honors Helen Bonny's 1973 book Music and Your Mind: Listening with a New Consciousness, the popular work that introduced her method of music-centered inner exploration. Bio: Sophia Wang is a violinist, board-certified music therapist (MT-BC), integration practitioner, and life coach whose work centers on music, imagery, and non-ordinary states of consciousness. With over a decade of clinical experience across oncology, palliative care, and mental health settings, she draws on Guided Imagery and Music, expressive arts, and depth-oriented inquiry to support emotional healing, insight, and meaningful change. Sophia works with people across a wide range of inner terrain: those in cancer care or facing the end of life; people moving through grief, depression, or anxiety; and high-performing professionals and seekers drawn to deeper self-inquiry and the integration of transformative experiences. Her approach blends clinical training with creative exploration, emphasizing safety, pacing, and integration. She holds an MA in Music Therapy from New York University and a BA in Violin Performance from Tongji University, and a Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and is an advanced trainee in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.