Iona Singleton - Within Without

Iona Singleton is the founder of Within Without. As an Ayurvedic practitioner, writer, and artist, Iona embraces many cultures, working with leading alternative healers worldwide, as well as master musicians and artists. Most recently she has created a new publication series following Bill Rieflin’s journey over the last four years of his life. Here we discover the story behind the publication, Iona's creative process and how the healing arts have helped shift her perspective leading to some seemingly unexplainable life experiences.⁠

What is the philosophy behind Within Without?

The project is called Within Without “because the outside world starts within”. You may be familiar with the Eastern philosophy that we exist in the universe just as the universe exists within us. I have heard that people of many ancient cultures when asked where in their body they live will often gesture to the heart, here in the West most people will gesture to the head. There is a gulf between the two, such that the realms of experience for those living from the heart are almost imperceptible to those living from the head. Within Without as a body of work hopes to encourage a greater balance, a bridge between these worlds. By placing our awareness on process and engagement rather than progress and creation as a form of commodity we enter into a new dialogue with ourselves and our environment, it allows the self to explore and expand. On a practical level, seeing from within gives foresight into the reasons behind our decisions and allows us to consciously create from the inside out.

Within Without is a creative piece, an annual publication, and a home for creatives, a community. It feels a lot like a tribute to all of the incredible artists and teachers that I have been lucky enough to work with. They are present in all of it, like standing on the shoulders of giants, we inspire and lift one another up. I have spent years touring with master musicians and training with leading alternative doctors across the world. It’s a continuation of what I’ve always done, and yet it’s inspired a new love for what I do. There is also a kind of mystery to this work, leaning towards poetry, allowing people to interpret it for themselves.

‘Art, much like meditation, can be a magical dialogue. For me, great art is affecting. It encapsulates something so human’ ~ Iona

@SAIKI.WELLNESS

What led you to create your new publication series?

The idea found me in a dream. Last year, I lost a very close friend, Bill Rieflin, also a world class musician, to cancer. He was a huge inspiration and constantly encouraged me to delve deeper. The first volume follows his journey over the last four years of his life through our personal correspondences. Writing it became a therapeutic ritual, there is so much love poured into every page of that book. In addition to his writings, I asked well-loved artists to contribute a piece with the theme ‘a space for change’ in mind. Art, much like meditation, can be a magical dialogue. For me, great art is affecting. It encapsulates something so human, perhaps the fallibility of humans verses the ineffable truths that creative works can offer, it shows the cracks in our humanity, and from those cracks new understandings are made possible. Bill’s piece is raw, like many of us, he wasn’t sure what lay ahead. It was clear from the beginning that it would be an annual series. There’s nothing finite in an experience, it’s a journey that takes you on to the next. You don’t stop. It’s part of a continuous energy. Bill passed away on the new moon in March. Over the years the moon had been a beautiful point of reference, and in commemoration each year something will be released on the new moon in March. A gentle reminder to see life as ever-repeating cycles. For this piece, having something physical felt important, like the notion of dark-light, in the presence of what is, we recognise what is not. As one body departs, another comes into being.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING

 How do you combine the ancient healing practices of Ayurveda, Yoga, Herbalism, and the Arts?

It’s interesting, they’ve become so intertwined that I no longer differentiate between them. It’s a feeling tone, I call it ‘creative presence’ but that can be replaced with any word that holds resonance, that runs through all of these practices. I’m an artist, ayurvedic practitioner, herbalist and yoga teacher, they combine to create a lens through which I now see the world. The philosophies behind these practices are the tools I use to facilitate a 12-month community journey where we explore health, creativity and being. It’s a process of becoming aware of how the stories and opinions we hold about ourselves and others shape the way we interact with the world. We create new frameworks in an active growth container, where ideas can be fleshed in collaboration, and each person can inspire and uplift others whist maintaining a connection to themselves and creating something unique to them.

How would you describe your creative process?

I live inside it, and then try to embody it. But most of all, I just let it be a process. Creating is time-away-from-time. There’s a feeling of expansiveness, a space to grow, and yet also a melting or dissolving that comes when I’m creating. Hopefully, I’m becoming more attuned to its signals. The more I slow down and connect with myself the easier it is to find a source of inspiration within, and that’s normally a good starting point. But it’s the process of creating that I enjoy the most.

How have the healing arts supported you on your journey?

I think they have been the journey just as much as they have supported me. My desire to learn these arts has taken me across the world, I’ve found myself in situations and having experiences I can’t even explain. Perhaps what they’ve gifted me is the perspective to see how I actively create my experiences. In this way, they better equip me to handle life’s ebbs and flows. One experience comes to mind, a few years ago whilst working in India I arrived at Bangalore station at 5 AM to find that everything of value; passport, phone, money etc, had gone. After hours of panicked searching with a kind stranger, I fell to the ground and asked for everything back. Within hours it had all been returned - untouched. It felt, and still feels miraculous. But what came through in that moment was a knowing that it would all be OK, I knew where I had to go and what I had to do if they weren’t returned. I had a choice. And I am lucky enough to have choices every day in the way I make meaning from situations. I’ve travelled a lot, but since the pandemic, this is the longest I’ve been in one place for years, so I’m travelling more in my mind. It’s overwhelming what we’re faced with as humans, we’re living through a historic period, not simply the virus, but the dismantling of systemic racism, changes in our collective consciousness, and the vast issue of our climate impact. The only way we can survive is through everyone deciding that they want to live better, and this doesn’t come from being told, real change comes from being inspired to live better. The healing arts have the power to inspire.

How do you replenish your energy?

I’ve been trying to cultivate a balanced day so that I don’t need to replenish my energy. But between publishing a book, taking three courses, and leading a community of creatives, that isn’t always the case. So, I take time for myself; I meditate, or walk in nature and listen to the sounds furthest away to the ones closest. I also try to connect meaningfully with myself, a friend, and nature at least once throughout the day.

How can we follow you and your work?

Volume I is available for pre-order and will be released March 13th, along with our community offerings, which can be found online at withinwithout.co.uk and I am on Instagram as @withinwithout_