I have long been interested in exploring and working with the body. Since being a teenager coming into my body through movement has been a way of connecting with and resourcing myself. I have taught yoga at Bodywise in Manchester for many years now. During this time both my personal practice and approach to teaching have ongoingly changed and evolved. It has been important to me to see the practice as a process of enquiry, exploration and creativity. My approach these days could perhaps be best described as Somatic Yoga. How I practice and teach tends to be quite slow, giving time and space and exploring sensations and returning to presence.
For some years now I have also been drawn to also exploring less structured somatic /embodied movement approaches - allowing movement to arise from listening to impulses within the bodymind rather than from an external form. In particular I love the practice of Authentic Movement, a little known but very rich embodied relational movement practice. It’s a bit like doing the metta bhavana through movement! Whether through movement or meditation I am really interested in discovering how the body can be a 'doorway' into listening to ourselves and can help us find a deeper, more open, easeful relationship to ourselves, others and the world around us.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
Each day we will explore how the body can be a 'doorway' into listening to ourselves and take us into a deeper, more open and easeful relationship to our experience. We will offer guided and improvised movement explorations; for example how is it to feel ourselves made of the earth, to inhabit and breathe our bones and find the movements stories and images they hold.
Our explorations over the week will include movement, stillness, dance, drawing, dialogue and poetry.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
This retreat will take a playful approach to reconnecting with the body through the elemental experience of water and through movement. Each day we will have the opportunity to swim in the local lochs and rivers as well as other explorations of water and wet places. We will also be using movement to support embodiment and connection. There will also be introductory meditation teaching, daily collective meditation practice, and a practical contemporary look at some traditional Buddhist teachings.
Body, Earth and Breath is the result of our shared interest and personal explorations over many years working with the body in movement, stillness and hands on touch.
Each day we will explore how the body can be a 'doorway' into listening to ourselves and take us into a deeper, more open and easeful relationship to our experience. We will offer guided and improvised movement explorations, sometimes with music; for example, how is it to feel ourselves made of the earth, to inhabit, breathe and dance our bones and find the movement, stories and images our bodies' hold.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
This retreat will take a playful approach to reconnecting with the body through the elemental experience of water and through movement. Each day we will have the opportunity for several swims in the local lochs and rivers as well as other explorations of water and wet places. We will be using movement to support embodiment and connection. There will also be introductory meditation teaching, daily collective meditation practice, and a practical contemporary look at some traditional Buddhist teachings.
Each day we will explore how the body can be a 'doorway' into listening to ourselves and take us into a deeper, more open and easeful relationship to our experience. We will offer guided and improvised movement explorations; for example how is it to feel ourselves made of the earth, to inhabit and breathe our bones and find the movements stories and images they hold.
Our explorations over the week will include movement, stillness, dance, drawing, dialogue and poetry.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
