Movement Medicine
Simply Dance Fridays in Bristol running currently – see here in a post for details or look up, like and share simply dance fridays on Facebook
Movement Medicine is a dance and movement practice which promotes holistic health, a sense of wellbeing and a greater awareness of our relationships with others. Movement Medicine is designed for anyone who can move and facilitates a variety of movement exercises to music that release energy, reduce stress and improve flexibility and vitality.
‘Dance connects us – with our bodies [hearts and minds] … with each other, with the space within and around us and with the spirit of life. It gives us breathing space away from the noise of our busyness. In that space we come into deeper alignment with ourselves and our own intuitive knowledge. The answers to our inner dilemmas often simply drop into place. Movement Medicine quietens our mind and shifts our attention to the realm of possibility.’ (Susannah and Ya’Acov Darling Khan, Movement Medicine, xvi)
Please click one of the categories below to find out more:
drop in classes
days and weekends
community and healthcare
drop in classes
I aim to offer taster classes and weekly classes that are are combination of a nourishing ‘treatment’ for the body and a juicy dance class with a dose of encouragement for body, heart and mind. I will introduce some of the basic elements of Movement Medicine and we will explore movement individually and as a group supported by a sequence of beautiful music unique to each class, which is at times still and at others upbeat.
2018
Simply Dance Fridays in Bristol running currently – see here in a post for details or look up, like and share simply dance fridays on Facebook
Saturday, January 18, 2014 3- 5 pm
Movement Medicine, Swansea https://www.facebook.com/events/728401093856419/
Murton Methodist Hall, Murton Methodist Church Hall, , Murton, Swansea SA3 3AP
Do you want to set some clear intentions for 2014 and do you want to help shape these intentions through moving the body, clearing the mind and giving space to the heart? We will look to awareness of past present future to find what we intend to ‘hunt and gather’ this year. We will tune in to the condition of our bodies hearts and minds as we begin to move out of this darkest part of the year, how do these qualities and sensations move and dance and how do we give them the space, breath and support to move and change within us. This will be a nourishing and enlivening session of Movement Medicine practiced to music which will precede a kirtan run by Louise Thorndycraft in the evening at Bishopston Community Centre at 8 pm. It will be a great preparation for the evening and profits from this session will also go to the Ganga Prem Hospice in Rishikesh. No experience of Movement Medicine or dance is necessary – it will be held and structured so you can explore at your own pace.
Cost £8/£6.50
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10.30 -12.30
this is somatic .. and this … and this https://www.facebook.com/events/131481707050826/?ref=br_tf
Penpynfarch near Landysul – see www.penpynfarch.co.uk
The January session in the series will be led by Ailsa Richardson on Wednesday January 29th (2014!) Ailsa’s practice as artist and teacher includes Bodyweather and Movement Medicine. She has worked at Penpynfarch on many occasions and led Hinterlands residential workshops here – it will be great to welcome her to teach a session in this series. Please read more below.
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Since 1996, Ailsa has worked as an artist, performer, director and teacher/facilitator. She has worked making her own work and with other companies (such as Kneehigh Theatre) and has received training in physical performance and body work from international teachers and mentors (e.g. Tess de Quincey, Goat Island Performance Group). She has also worked as a teacher and researcher in universities and is an apprentice teacher/facilitator with with theSchool of Movement Medicine, UK.
Ailsa runs a variety of classes and workshops throughout the year working with arts professionals, students of performance and dance, and the general public. These workshops draw on her experience and training in dance and performance and are often tailor made for specific groups.
It is perhaps interesting and relevant to explore two main influences on my work Bodyweather and Movement Medicine, precisely because they do not use the word somatic or somatics in their definitions. It is precisely in what they have in common with, alongside what distinguishes them from, the usual somatic definitions that may shed light on Eeva’s invitation to think around and investigate what somatic practice is. Movement Medicine has perhaps the most ‘in common’ with somatic movement practices as it engages primarily with the ‘felt sense’ and intelligence of the body. It is holistic in its approach and relationality and interconnection are key elements: interconnection to others (including our ancestors), to others and our environments, and between the concepts of body, heart, mind and spirit. Movement Medicine is also framed as a healing practice for health and transformation.
Body Weather by contrast is not framed as such and yet may have similar effects as a result of its aspiration to the create a sensitivity in the body that enables ‘appropriate action in the moment’. Body Weather is more an exploration of the ‘in-between’ of bodies: in-between body, mind and imagination; in-between the material of the body and the material of the surrounding environment. Again inter-relationship is key and the meeting between outside and inside, often by actively engaging the imagination, is the central investigation.
See latest news and events on the home page for more details. I will continue to teach in Bristol occasionally and I will manage a session in West Wales sometime – sorry I didn’t manage that so far! The wildfeet day workshop in Swansea in August (working inside and out) was a beauty so I’m definitely planning more like that!
also see www.facebook.com/wildfeet and please ‘like’ the page! Thanks
what people have said:
I feel very , very different at end of this session than I did at the beginning, in a good way.
I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time. It all came together for me at the end and I felt really strongly ‘yeah this is me … and its good, it’s OK’ .
I felt very safe.
I felt confused some of the time.
I feel very welcomed and nourished.
Its so great to have this space.. to be played great music to dance to.
Gentle and clear, I like your way of teaching.
Of experiencing something deep, of feeling like crying sometimes, of a sense of being human outside of how this is usually defined or ‘behaved’ in society. A strong sense of what it means to be human and in relation.
It was like I imagine moving, playing like toddler’s do … then at other times I just wanted to release into dancing.
My heart feels very worked and warm and present in me.
days and weekends
Day and weekend workshops offer an opportunity to explore Movement Medicine in more depth, or simply for longer. Often workshops take a particular theme or portion of the Movement Medicine map as a focus. For example, COMING SOON is a day workshop near Newport in North Pembrokeshire which will include moving, dancing, walking and exploring sensations inside and out (of the body and the village hall!). Keep an eye on latest news and events on the homepage.
COMING UP:
wildfeet at felinganol woodland retreat, near Cardigan
a day workshop informed by movement medicine and bodyweather
10am – 4pm 13th July 2014
http://www.yogawithmeriel.co.uk/contact-felinganol
Following the depth and flow of the wildfeet day in March I will be facilitating another day at felinganol. This will be a day to breathe a little deeper and absorb the landscape into your body, heart and mind and move, walk and wander through the landscape with this awareness.
It will be the day following a midsummer full moon: a time to observe maximum growth and light and recognize and appreciate whatever we are receiving, learning and creating at this time, whilst always leaving room for resting in the unknown!
We will release and strengthen the body through movement in the forest studio, explore exercises outdoors that expand sensing and perception and allow for walking and wandering in the woodlands, meadows and rivers of Felinganol. Later in the afternoon we will return to the studio to integrate our discoveries.
The session will be led and structured so you can take at your own pace and there is no previous experience necessary to take part. Experienced movers are also welcome.
Looking forward to it : )
The cost of the workshop is £33. Contact Ailsa by phone, facebook or e mail ailsajr@btinternet.com to book, or if you have any questions
wildfeet Swansea – at Hazel Court and Clyne Gardens
a day workshop informed by movement medicine and bodyweather
10am – 4pm 2nd August 2014
To let you know that the next wildfeet Swansea workshop exploring movement and awareness is taking place in the spacious hall at Hazel Court and the beautiful Clyne Gardens in Swansea.
In the morning, we will release and strengthen the body through movement indoors and afterwards, walking and moving outdoors together, explore simple exercises to awaken our senses and imagination.
The workshop will be informed by the teachings of Movement Medicine and Bodyweather. Ailsa is apprenticed to the School of Movement Medicine as a teacher and has been engaged with Bodyweather practice as a performer and director since 2001. Both these practices are designed for both beginners and experienced movers. Movement Medicine is a meditational and uplifting practice and supports a balance of body, heart and mind and Bodyweather develops our perception and a sensitivity to constant changes inside and outside the body.
In the morning, we will release and strengthen the body through movement indoors and afterwards, walking and moving outdoors together, explore simple exercises to awaken our senses and imagination. Would be great to see you there!
The cost of the workshop is £30/£25. Contact Ailsa by phone, facebook or e mail ailsajr@btinternet.com to book, or if you have any questions.
Details of what to bring and a map for getting to the venues will be provided when you book.
Looking forward to it : )
wildfeet in Swansea https://www.facebook.com/events/1451501575071293/
Sunday, February 2, 2014 10 – 3.30pm
Clyne Gardens SA3 5BA and Hazel Court SA2 8HQ
wildfeet day
I plan to run a day’s wildfeet session on each of the markers of changing daylight during the year – this first coincides with the festival of Imbolc marking the half way point between the shortest day and the spring equinox. It is a time of the quickening of the length of the days and hence an early marker of the first signs of the coming spring and the dissolving of the passing winter. In the morning we will walk and spend some time opening up our perception to these signs in nature, observing sensing and creating. In the afternoon we will explore (indoors) some of the experiences from the morning through the practice of Movement Medicine enabling us to more fully be in our bodies hearts and minds and understand what we need to receive and create to feel fulfilled. No experience of Movement Medicine or dance is necessary – it will be held and structured so you can explore at your own pace.
cost £25/£20, please confirm and pay if you can by the 24th Jan, this enables me to know that I have enough people to run the workshop! any questions please ask …
what participants have said:
community and healthcare
most recently I worked for two years for Age Cymru’s cARTrefu project see http://www.ailsarichardson.com/portfolio/cartrefu-residencies-2015-17/ for images and an audio piece from these residencies
I have experience of working in community and healthcare settings as an artist and I have run sessions for Macmillan Cancer Care. I am in discussion currently with some mental health and rehabilitation projects about developing Movement Medicine workshops tailored to specific groups. Please be in touch if this is something that you would like to develop in your project or organisation. See the homepage for my contact details.