OPIS

Love. So many flavours. So much mystery. It is constantly moving us, shaping us, reshaping us, lifting us and, sometimes, breaking us. “Homo sapiens”, the “knowing man”? Perhaps “Amantes persona”, the “loving person” is more accurate!

Love is deeply personal and it is universal. It is the warp and weft that weaves all of us together as people-animals. In the past it also interwove us to the wider rhythms of being, to the tree people, to the animal people, to the oceans and sky and rivers and sea . . . We’ve been losing that along the way.

When we embody our emotions, when we allow them to move us and shape us, we make space for our own healing. And much more. We become radars for danger, warriors to protect, channels of release, fractal embodied fields of possibility. We reconnect with the breezes of the past, we offer breath to the future and move as one with the mystery.

We have always known that sorrow is universal. 12000 years ago our ancestors ritually placed mammoth shoulder blades over the graves of children. It is perhaps the only remaining emotion that all societies ritualise; in funeral rites, in memorials. We’re not meant do do this alone. But day to day we try.

I think of sadness as a river that washes away the detritus and pain of loss. It is the water emotion. We can’t avoid it. Everything we cherish will eventually pass. We can let it floor us or we can shape it, allow it to shape us. Through the cauldron of our hearts and the catalyst of dance it becomes an honouring. Every tear flows to the oceans. The oceans sustain every living thing. In time, today’s tears could be a raindrop on a blackbirds wing. We are not separate.

So let’s explore it. Let’s dance it. Let’s ritualise it. Let’s see what happens.

This is a 5Rhythms Heartbeat investigation. It is suitable for anyone who has 12 hours or more experience of in-person (not online) classes with an accredited teacher. It is definitely not a misery-fest! There is no prescription for where we will arrive but I’m certain it will be beautiful.

Thank you for reading,

Chris

Times:

Friday. April 17th, 19.00-21.30

Saturday April 18th 11.00am til late

Sun. April 19th 10.30am-5.00pm

Venue:

Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall, near Scarborough, Yorkshire. It's a beautiful space with a long history of deep and powerful workshops.

There are two gorgeous campsites nearby and plenty of other accommodation options available in the area.

Instructions

Please ensure you have completed the necessary prerequisites prior to booking. Let me know if you are interested in camping and I'll put you in touch with others as group camping is very affordable.

We may spend some time outside, possibly involving walking on cliff paths and down steps, let me know if you have any physical attributes that could make this challenging.

The Hulleys seem to be the preferred campsite on recent workshops: https://www.pitchup.com/campsites/England/North_East/North_Yorkshire/cloughton/the-hulleys-campsite/