In Conversation with Carla Von Anhalt from Sacred Tones

 

A while back I was invited to visit Sacred Tones, a space to explore holistic healing in Parsons Green London. The minute I stepped in through the door a serene and tranquil environment greeted me, with soft warm furnishings and a quiet zone amongst the city, I knew this was a special healing space for the local community.

  Sacred Tones believes in 'raising your vibration', providing the invitation to explore and take part in classes and ceremonies that can help you reconnect with yourself. Carla von Anhalt opened the doors at the beginning of the summer and we sat down to discuss more about the journey behind this project...   Grace Cummins:  Can you introduce yourself and tell us how you came to set up Sacred Tones? Carla von Anhalt: My name is Carla and I am the owner and founder of Sacred Tones. I have always had this deep connection to animals and the desire to help and save as many creatures as I can, which also translates into being drawn to helping support other people around me. Back in my earlier year's I was unsure of my direction, so I spent a lot of time working with charities, something which I still spend a lot of my time supporting today. I have studied in different subject areas and countries which saw me spending a time working in fashion marketing. Although I initially enjoyed this avenue, as time went on though I was feeling more and more unfulfilled and that there was something else for me, something was missing; I just didn't know what. I enrolled on a nutrition course which ignited my interest in the holistic lifestyle, leading me to complete a diploma as a holistic life coach exploring multiple avenues of support to nourish the mind body and soul. In this diploma I came across the healing modality of Soul Plan, which is based on the Hebrew alphabet and the vibrations of each letter in your birth name, which are then turned into numbers. The dominant number in my chart is 7/7 which is all about creating spiritual communicates about strong spiritual communities and bringing them together. When I received an Akashic record healing a few years ago I was reminded of my gifts as a creator of community, pulling people in from different walks of life. The seed was planted for what has become Sacred Tones. I would often walk by this place when it was a charity shop, feeling drawn to it, and over lockdown I started taking actions towards putting my name down for the property should it ever come on the market. A few years later and the place was mine to create my vision for a holistic community space.     GC: On your journey towards setting up this wonderful space, what was the most important element for you in the project coming to life? CvA: Having a strong vision and sticking to it. Making my vision something that was authentically me and allowed me to stay true to myself, not getting pulled or pushed by others around me. I wanted this space to have a feeling of calm, and for me it was really important to use eco friendly materials in the rebuild that e under took to repair the space. Everything in we used is made from non toxic materials, from the heating system, eco friendly paint and natural cleaning products to the products that we stock in the shop. Despite this taking longer and costing more it was important for me to be patient with this process as I wanted the space to be a clean and natural retreat in the city; a real break for the nervous system and soul.     GC:  On your website you talk about making space for creativity alongside wellness; how do you believe that these two practices intersect and can benefit us on our journey with holistic health? CvA: Everything is about creativity. If we have a blocked creative centre, this can really affect our lives, we need to learn to be comfortable with exploring new things that activate this creative energy within. It is easy to loose this spark when living in the city, but it is about creating time and space for the nervous system to relax which then allows the creative energy to grow.     GC:  You have a wide variety of classes and ceremonies on your schedule, do you teach any of them, and can you tell us a little about them? CvA: I love being the teaching side of the schedule, and recently I haven't been able to teach as much as we have just been so busy, meaning I had to place some focus on the business side of things. Come the Autumn I will be back to sharing my sound journeys and crystal bowl sessions. Sound is such a profound experience as we are vibrational beings, I use a lot of different instruments from frosted bowls, crystal bowls to tuning forks and percussion, with each session looking different and effecting the clients in different ways. Sound is one of the holistic pathways that doesn't' take much effort from the participant before they are able to notice a difference, hence why it is called lazy man's meditation! Over time you will find that the more accustomed you become, the quicker and the deeper you will drop into that peaceful state that sound brings to a space. I also do the 1:1 animal healing sessions which includes a consultation, nutrition review and healing session. I am also offer pet massage; which are either held here or at the pet's homes depending on the healing need. One of the benefits of the natural environment we have created here is that it is safe for pets to visit and feel at home as well.     GC: What do you believe is missing in the world of holistic health? CvA: We are in a time of deep consciousness and it is coming in at such a fast pace that perhaps people are losing themselves in the word of holistic health. There can be toxic areas in the wellness world; people believe it is trendy to be in it, leading to a lot of spiritual bypassing.  Some people are talking the right tune without having done any healing work themself or the correct in depth training. We need more healing to happen in an authentic way. I am not saying I am perfect, but I am coming from an authentic space.     GC: Sacred Tones is located in the metropolis of London, often people find it hard to fit in self nourishment, do you believe there is still a way to find the balance amidst the city? CvA: Yes I believe there is a way to find the balance. For me here, it is about providing the space and opportunity to be opening and welcoming to anyone that is interested in exploring further. We can't force people to try things if they don't want to, you need to let people discover their own way especially with healing. There is also a huge amount of healing practices that you can do at home, from meditations on YouTube and apps or finding online healing sessions, making many practices more accessible. Once you become connected to a practice that works for you, it will be so much easier to build it into your schedule. And finding a community of like minded people around you can be a great support, to be able to share and connect with others who are on a similar pathway, helps create a support network for you on your journey.     GC:  For someone starting out in their holistic journey, do you have any advice? CvA: Follow your instincts, and what your gut is telling you. What sounds good to you when you read about it? What feels good to you? What's calling to you? Read and educate yourself about the many options that there is on offer, before trying. You can think about what your spiritual history is, do you have a faith or not? You do not need to be religious to pursue and explore the holistic, but if you already have a higher belief, this will make some of the healing pathways easier to connect with. Don't forget that knowledge is power.   For more In Conversation With... articles click here.