Community divided over 6am drumming ritual at popular beach

While dozens of early risers begin their day with a session of meditation and breathwork, there’s a select few left fuming by the ritual.

While dozens of early risers begin their day with a session of meditation and breathwork, there’s a select few left fuming by the ritual.

The operator of a weekly meditation group has revealed the chilling moment an enraged member of the public emerged from the ocean behind him and began shouting at his group.

Conscious Community was hosting a session on February 8 when in the midst of an hour-long session at Coogee, in Sydney’s east, the man told founder Andre Garraud to “f*** off to the other end of the beach”.

The bizarre tirade continued, with Mr Garraud telling news.com.au the man claimed he would report his group to Randwick Council because his meditation drum and group of about 45 people was disturbing other beach users.

“I beat a small drum to keep time for maybe 10 or 15 minutes,” Mr Garraud said, adding that earlier this year, when he had closer to 100 attendees, he used a microphone and speaker but had since stopped.

The session involves about 10 minutes of breathwork to a drum played by Andre Garraud. Picture: Instagram/consciouscommunity___

Mr Garraud, shocked by the aggressive interruption, took a few weeks off hosting sessions at Coogee while continuing them up the coast at Bondi.

While he had seen the irate man occasionally since returning to Coogee, the peace had seemingly been restored.

That was until last month when once more, the man approached a group. In his own admission, posted to social media on Wednesday, he said he asked the “operator about the use of a drum at 6am”.

“Again I suggested to the operator that he move the group northwards on the beach so as to not impact other users of the area being used,” his post read.

Mr Garraud recalled him on the second occasion “screaming out something from the back”, but was still dumbfounded over why he had such a strong stance.

“There’s so many people around, there’s people boxing and there’s trainers, which is great,” Mr Garraud said.

“I haven’t engaged with him, I don’t even know the guy.”

The angry man emerged from the ocean behind the group. Picture: Instagram/consciouscommunity___

The fuming local confirmed he had been in touch with Randwick Council about the sessions, and made an unverified claim that a worker said several other complaints had been received.

His post on Wednesday ignited fierce debate among the community, with those unfamiliar with how the meditation group operated agreeing that 6am was too early for drumming in public.

“Drums and PA at 6am? F*** that,” one person wrote in a comment, with another adding: “Drums are never okay at 6am!”

“PA at 6am? It’s a no-no at any end of the beach,” a third said.

Others however argued in favour of the sessions and voiced their support for the group.

“I’ve never heard drums or a PA system when they’ve been there, they’ve always been quiet. They do a mediation first. I think it’s fantastic to see so many people out and enjoying the beach,” one person responded.

Mr Garraud used to use these sound bowls. Picture: Instagram/consciouscommunity___

An attendee of the session interrupted by the man in February agreed the group was far from disruptive.

“I am a regular at the breathwork and ice baths, and I was there when you yelled across the group disturbing the session. Folks the PA was only used a couple of times before the group put a cap on numbers, this lessening the disruption to the locals of which I am one,” she said.

“As for the drum, it is only recently being used, one may think a drum to be loud, but this one is not and it only is used 10 mins max.”

She also encouraged the complainer to try a session for himself.

“The relaxation from the breathwork then the dopamine rush from the ice bath is something that helps me and the participants through the week,” she said.