Tending - somatic movement

To support health, wellbeing and belonging.

Every Tuesday, 10-11am at The Sumac Studio, Lynstone, Bude.

Do you often feel overwhelmed, out of tune with yourself, burnt out? Maybe you are experiencing chronic pain or a health conditions or low mood every day? Or maybe you would like to find a deeper connection between body and mind.

Join Evelyn in these gentle trauma informed classes to support you find more ease of movement and vitality, and learn self care techniques that you can apply to your life. These classes are suitable for everyone - whether you need more support in your life or would like to feel more connected to your body and emotions. All welcome, no experience necessary.

Each week we will explore a particular theme - finding ground and support in the body, connecting with the fluids and organs, regulating the nervous system. Through gentle movement explorations, breath awareness, imagination and self-touch, we will explore movements in sitting or standing, whichever is appropriate for your body. The aim is to support a deep listening to impulses and find new pathways of movement, rather than following specific patterns and structures. In this way of working we can release habitual holding patterns and strengthen neurological connections by allowing the body to find its way. We will develop an awareness to the physical, emotional and imaginal levels of experience and discover our own innate resiliency and the places of health within us.

You will:
• Learn techniques to regulate the nervous system and how the body responds to stress.
• Develop a deeper awareness to your body, your emotions and the themes, challenges and potentials in your life.
• Leave with increased vitality and a connection to the things that bring you joy!
• Feel more ease of movement and mental clarity.
• Have fun and meet people in a supportive and playful environment!

Drop in £10. Booking is essential as places are limited. To confirm a place, use the button for BodySpeak Somatics bank details. Please note, I do not accept cash payments on the day or offer refunds for non attendance.

Breathing Bones - Somatic Movement Workshops

12th April, 10th May & 14th June at Wild Spirits Studio, Bude.

10.30 - 1pm £30 or £80 for the whole series when booked together.

There is an inherent aliveness and vitality in the body that can become stuck when we experience pain, constriction and emotional stress. Often our awareness can be held in these places of challenge. In slowing our attention and building our capacity to listen to the innate sensations and rhythms of our moving bodies, we can connect to the places of safety and ease within and discover more resilience in our Nervous systems. 

In these gentle Somatic Movement workshops we will use the tools of embodied anatomy, sensory awareness, movement, imagination and attentive touch to explore the fluid structures of Breath, Bones and Heart. Moving at our own pace and rhythm, these sessions will softly expand the body’s capacity for movement and feeling, while fostering a deeper connection with the body and our emotions. There will be time and space for self reflection and integration within a supportive container. 

Workshops can be taken individually, although it is recommended to attend all three for continuity and integration of the material and practice. Places are limited to a small group, so early booking is essential.

The class fee is £30 per session, or £80 for the whole series when booked together.

Please note, I do not accept cash payments on the day or offer refunds for non attendance.
To confirm a place, use the button below for Bodyspeak Somatics bank details.

Past Classes and Projects

Somatic Movement and Expressive Arts Therapy

For Chronic pain, illness and improving health and wellbeing

24th August - 26th October, every Thursday, 10-11.30am at IntoBodmin. Free and funded by Active Cornwall.

This trauma sensitive course will explore the stories of our bodies and our relationship to pain, illness, and challenging events through the lens of Somatic movement inquiry and the Tamalpa Life / Art Process. Each week we will explore a different theme or body part, using gentle movement and sensory awareness explorations, writing and mark making to explore our stories, potentials, and learn self-care techniques to take away. We will work with finding places of support, health and regulation in the body to strengthen our capacity for transformation, change, and cultivate resources to support our process. These classes are for everyone and support mental, physical, and emotional regulation. Discover your natural resiliency and explore the connection between your body and how you live in the world!

MOVE TOGETHER BUDE -
Dance sessions for women affected by cancer

Commencing Tuesday the 27th of September (10.30am-12.30pm), The Parkhouse Centre, Bude

BodySpeak is delighted to be supporting Move Together Bude in collaboration with Dance Centred. This classes are open to all women at any stage of their cancer experience - whether you have recently been diagnosed or our mid/post treatment, or are caring for someone else with cancer.

These gentle and creative movement sessions offer the opportunity to reconnect with the body and other women in a supportive environment through dance and improvisation.

For more information and booking, please visit: Dance Centred.

Body Mythology #2 - (re)imagining the body in movement and life

Commencing Thursday 27th October, 6-7.20pm. Drop in’s welcome.

Cost - £54 for general admission / £44 for concessionary / £11 for drop-in
How to pay - via https://www.interculturalroots.org/product/body-mythology-2-reimagining-the-body-in-movement-with-evelyn-aston-rhodes or contact Bodyspeak

Online course, using Zoom

A series of six online classes undoing and re-imagining the experience of the body in movement, art and life. We will explore the interplay between the physical body, emotions and imaginal realms to uncover our personal mythologies, and how our life's themes and challenges may show up in the landscape of our body’s.

Each class will explore a different body part, sensing into our anatomical and imaginal architecture, allowing movements to unfold from explorations of weight, gravity, space, momentum, stillness and imagination. We will work with Somatic Improvisations, widening our perception from the specific into the entirety of the body as a whole. Through working with the three levels of awareness - sensing, feeling and imagining, we will be invited to find our own unique dances and recognise the places we may feel stuck and the places we may feel more ease, both in our body’s and the wider fabric of our lives.

The classes draw upon the tools of Somatic Movement and the Tamalpa Life / Art pedagogy. In each class we will work with somatic improvisation, experiential anatomy, self-touch, embodied imagination, drawing and writing. There will be time for self reflection and integration of the work within a supportive container.

Week 1: Lungs & Ribcage
Week 2: Shoulder Girdle
Week 3: Sacrum & Pelvis
Week 4: Head & Sphenoid bone
Week 5: Abdomen
Week 6: Spine & the postures of life

Take-Away Benefits:
• Deepen the connection between the physical, emotional and imaginal levels of experience
• Generate creativity and self-care resources
• Find more ease and fluidity of movement and release habitual holding patterns
• Build resilience and navigational skills in order to adapt and respond to life’s challenges
• Increase vitality and regulation of the nervous system
• Support a re-discovery of the things that matter in our lives
• Heightened sense of wellbeing and joy