We are Susannah and Ya’Acov Darling Khan and we are the founders of Darling Khan Online Home Study Courses in Engaged Shamanism. We are also the founders of the contemporary shamanic practice, Movement Medicine and the Directors of The School of Movement Medicine.
Since 1989, we have been travelling the world encouraging people to move beyond their held patterns and self-limiting expectations and discover themselves and their gifts through movement. In order to do that, we’ve had to do exactly the same ourselves.
Our journey has taken us to meet and work with some extraordinary people. We have studied with healers and shamans from the Amazon to the Arctic Circle, including an 18-year apprenticeship with Gabrielle Roth.
We know for ourselves how important it is to be part of a supportive community in order to grow, and we are happy that Movement Medicine is becoming such a space. We feel that every one of us has something unique to offer the world that we are part of, and that in offering it, both the self and the world are enriched.
Susannah and Ya’Acov are the authors of Movement Medicine – How To Awaken, Dance and Live your Dreams (Hay House). All books and CDs are available from The Music Medicine Shop.
Susannah has been in love with life on earth since she was a small girl. She is a clear and compassionate teacher and human being. Her passion, love and commitment for life is infectious and is reflected in her care for each dancer and for the planet we call home. She is a dancer, singer, writer, healer and teacher whose integration of physical, emotional and conceptual awareness creates a fertile field of possibility. Her background is in Anthropology, Gestalt Psychotherapy, and Family Constellations. Her eight albums are available from the Movement Medicine Shop.
Susannah’s creations include the CDs (in order of most recent) Life Grooves (to be released Dec 1st), Torch Songs, All the Earth is Sacred (accompanied by a song book of the same name), Elemental, Movement Medicine CD 1 (with Ya’Acov), Still Waves, Wild Prayer, Party for God and The Walrog. You can also hear her on the Long dance CDs 21 Gratitudes and Another 21 Gratitudes. She wrote the book The Walrog, a magical fairy tale for adults and children.
All books and CDs are available from The Music Medicine Shop.
“It is my joy and privilege to offer movement as medicine for individual and collective healing, empowerment, co-creation and conscious evolution. I love the way dance and song plug us into the ‘joy stream’ of life energy, as we align with the truth of who we are. I love supporting people to blossom, to release the masks, and to discover their place in the circle. For me, this work is sacred, transformative and dedicated to the well being of all our relations.” – Susannah Darling Khan
Susannah creates a hallowed space. Her teaching has enormous lucidity; it’s both subtle and simple. I feel in safe, respectful hands. She brings a lovely balance between cool, clear muscular thought, quick humour, joy and a wild daring: a graceful marriage between mind and body, masculine and feminine, sensitivity and innate authority. – Susan Law, Psychotherapist and Trainer
Ya’Acov Darling Khan, the author of the best-selling Jaguar in the Body, Butterfly in the Heart – the Real-Life Initiation of an Everyday Shaman (Hay House 2017), and the upcoming 'Shaman – Invoking Power, Purpose and Presence in the Core of Who YOU Are' (Hay House March 31 2020), is known for his blend of strength, humility and humour.
He is acknowledged as a practicing shaman by the people who work with him world-wide and by many indigenous elder shamans and communities from the Arctic to the Amazon.
Travelling the world to work with groups delivering Movement Medicine, Ya’Acov has spoken to audiences across the globe at some on the most pre-eminent platforms driving the transformation of world culture and sustainability (California’s Esalen organisation, The Embodiment Conference), as part of line-ups which include our most influential voices of spirituality today including Marianne Williamson and Ken Wilber.
Ya’Acov’s message? Shamanism, and a shift from society’s focus on acquisition to reciprocity, is a powerful key to restoring our universal connection and solving our interpersonal and world issues in the process.
Ya'Acov, the great-grandson of refugees, was raised near Liverpool. As early as age 7, though he wouldn't have known to call it that at the time, he felt drawn to the down-to-earth connection with the spirit world that shamanism invites.
With age, the calling to explore this world intensified. After struggling for years to come to terms with a perception of life that only traditional Shamanism could explain, it was being struck by lightning on a golf course that proved to be the awakening which was to change the course of his life forever.
So began Ya’Acov’s three decades of study and practise with spiritual teachers and Elder Shamans from the Sami (European tradition), and Achuar and Sápara peoples of the Amazon.
“Along the way I had to carve out a sense of normality and accept that this being’s soul, speaks the language of dance, ritual and prayer. I have come to recognise the fact that reawakening a sense of the magic, potential and splendour of creation in as many people as possible, is the blessing I am lucky enough to call my job!” says Ya’Acov.
His work is inspiring, contemporary and practical, and Ya’Acov’s audience includes people from all walks of life. In a time in which western society has become disconnected from ancestral and natural wisdom, much of his work is about education and removing the unhelpful mystique of the term ‘Shaman,’ meaning traditional healer.
His 32-year marriage and partnership with ‘Movement Medicine Woman’ and wife, Susannah, with whom he is Co-Director of The School of Movement medicine and Co-Author of Hay House published Movement Medicine, forms the loving foundation and union for a life dedicated to the transformation of our world.
“As a species, we are in a crisis. Our work? To reach as many people as possible and support them to know who they really are, find their purpose and live meaningful lives.”
NEWS FLASH:
Ya’Acov’s latest book, Shaman - Invoking Power, Purpose and Presence in the Core of Who YOU Are' - is out March 31st 2020
“Our world is changing faster than we ever thought it could. The danger is immense, but so is the potential for utter - and beautiful - transformation. The strong, true, clear heart that Ya’Acov Darling Khan brings to his work and his writing is one of the things that gives me hope.
In the words of Greta Thunberg, speaking truth to power, ‘It is no longer enough to be the best that we can be. We need to be better.’
And if this books sings to you, as it can, and if you follow every ritual and meditation with integrity and depth and absolute dedication - as you can - then I can promise your world will be a brighter, sharper, more magical place. And you will be on your way to being better than the best you could be. The world needs you now. Go for it.”
Manda Scott. Author of The Boudica Series
What impresses me most about Susannah and Ya’acov is the irresistible sensation that they really live their work. It has a dynamism and an integrity that can only flow from the willingness – and the courage – to use their own lives as a research laboratory for their teaching. What this offers to their students is tremendous freshness and real honesty, together with the feeling that change is always possible. Add their sharp eyes and their quick wit and the result can be electrifying.
This course is brilliant. I have been a drum maker for over 20 years and can say that working with the drum has changed my life forever. Yacov’s teachings are clear and practical and filled with a depth that can only be reached by dedicated and surrendered practice. His way of teaching reaches the heart and made me pick up the drum and join him right away. Anyone that follows this course will find a path that leads straight into the essence of this ancient way of the shaman’s drum.
Thank you so much for the Shaman’s Drum course Yaacov Darling Khan. Just watched the final on a coach en route to Heathrow – bridging the worlds of the practical and the magic. Really enjoyed the clarity, passion and groundedness of your teaching. Hope there will be more of these short courses. Much gratitude.