Electronic Press Kit
Biography
Helen Pickles is a ceremonial guitarist, vocalist, and vocal guide based near Brighton, UK. She plays guitar in ceremony — a rare thing in a field dominated by percussionists and vocalists — and has spent years building the experience, lineage, and presence that makes her genuinely unusual in the world of sacred music.
"When we know our voice, we know ourself — and we lead from sovereignty."
Helen's path into music was not a straight line. She grew up in England convinced she couldn't sing — spending her twenties trying to be enough through performance and achievement, eventually finding herself in the middle of an eating disorder and a growing sense of lostness. What followed was a decade of following the thread: yoga, bhakti kirtan in Brighton, her first ayahuasca ceremony at thirty, and a guitar she taught herself to play "like a toy." She learned to sing in the way she'd always needed to — not for grades, not for approval, but because it felt like everything.
That thread led her to the Amazon, to three months of deep plant dieta at Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual under Maestro Ricardo Amaringo — one of the most respected Shipibo elders alive — and then to the Sacred Valley of the Andes, where she spent two years embedded in ceremony, kirtan, and the slow, daily practice of becoming herself.
She has played guitar in ayahuasca ceremonies, co-led women's retreats throughout the Andes, held weekly song circles with communities in Pisac, and been a musician-in-residence at kirtan gatherings across the Sacred Valley. She is now based near Brighton, UK, and is available for festivals, ceremonies, retreats, kirtan events, and intimate performances worldwide.
Helen's guitar is not background music. It is ceremony. She brings the same attentiveness to a festival stage as she brings to a medicine space — and the two are, for her, the same thing.
What She Offers
Festivals · Ceremonies · Kirtan · Events
Ceremonial guitar and vocals for ayahuasca ceremonies, kirtan evenings, wellness festivals, women's events, and intimate sacred gatherings. Helen understands the ceremony space from the inside — she plays from within the container, not outside it. Available solo or as part of a wider musical facilitation team.
Groups · All Levels · 90 min – Full Day
Somatic, body-led workshops that use movement, improvisation, and ceremony to help participants find their voice — literally and figuratively. Designed for yoga studios, wellness festivals, retreat programmes, and corporate wellbeing events. No musical experience required. Groups of 8–30 people.
Community Gatherings · Regular or One-Off
Held gatherings where people come together to open their voices and their hearts. Not a class, not a performance — a circle where all sound is welcome. Can be hosted as a standalone evening event or embedded within a retreat or festival programme.
Multi-day · Resident Musician or Co-Facilitator
Available as resident ceremony musician or vocal co-facilitator for multi-day retreats — women's immersions, plant medicine-adjacent retreats, yoga and embodiment retreats. Helen brings both the musicianship and the ceremonial grounding that makes music in retreat feel sacred rather than decorative.
Lineage & Training
Helen's training is named, verifiable, and rare. In a field where credentials are often vague, hers are specific.
Listen
The most direct introduction to Helen's voice, her path, and her philosophy is this 45-minute podcast interview — recorded in the Sacred Valley of Peru.
For live performance clips and ceremony music recordings, please contact [email protected] — video materials available on request.
Press Photos
Technical
Helen travels light and is flexible. The below represents a standard requirement — she's happy to work with what's available and discuss alternatives.
Booking
For festival bookings, ceremony musician enquiries, retreat residencies, and workshop programming — reach out directly. Helen reads all enquiries herself.
