To the Waters & the Wild

What excites me about To the Waters and The Wild is that it is not solely focused on grounding into an individual sense of self, but about expanding into the recogition that the inner landscapes of our own bodies are inseparable from the greater body of the earth and its waters. Belonging, reverance and responsibility to a place are what excite me. I am also excited by how we can expand our fluid body sense and feel into our nature, as nature restores in us a sense of purpose and vitality. Being fully alive in nature is what kindles the flame of that fundamental freedom of expression that infused my childhood.

https://fluidbody.ie/

https://www.toma-mccullim.com

My hope is that this event will allow you to: tune into the intelligent field that permeates everything from a tiny flower to the setting sun; awaken and charge your creativity; move through all the layers together from gross to etheric and play with it all: weight, connection …dynamics; get beyond all the noise and allow your selves to be moved, to follow the creative threads that exist within and all around you and dance together in an enchanted imaginal space.
https://cloudsmoveinsilence.bandcamp.com
https://substack.com/@aenguswalter

Having studied with Anna Halprin and the Tamalpa Institute, Tara has an ongoing love of using CI principles and somatic techniques to dance with nature. Tara delights in bringing her soft animal self to many outdoor environments and can often be found rolling with sand dunes, partnering with trees and dancing with rocks. Tara is currently developing climate action awareness through movement and dance performances in conjunction with the Environmental Research Institute at UCC.

OFFERINGS

ENVIRONMENTAL DANCE WORKSHOP

Deep listening, deep dancing. Using the body to connect more deeply to our natural environment. This workshop offers an embodied experience of our natural environment. Each workshop weaves together practice based movement/dance in the beautiful landscape of West Cork including native woodlands and boglands, allowing participants to develop a visceral experience of their natural surroundings, and deepen their relationship with nature and our native ecosystems.

VISCERAL LISTENING

A contact improvisation workshop. Using principles of visceral listening, non-verbal communication, and trust to develop forms of collaborative movement. Creating structures, scores and physics that allow different points of view to create new possibilities. Working with the solidness of the core structures and the subtlety of the surfaces, using the nerve endings of the skin and the solidness of our bones as guides. How do we apply CI principles of deep listening, deep dancing and weight?

Through spontaneous movement, gentle qi gong, breath-work and visceral self-massage, Jan guides participants into a more embodied experience of themselves. The work supports self-regulation and internal alignment, creating space for the body to reorganise and restore through its own intrinsic rhythm.
fourseasonsqi.org (work in progress)

OFFERINGS

4 SEASONS QI – AWAKEN THE FLOW

In this dynamic morning practice, we weave spontaneous stretching and movement grounded in basic qigong principles to explore the body as a responsive, multi-layered system. Movement is guided by internal rhythm and sensation, allowing a natural alignment between breath, awareness and form. Participants will also learn simple, accessible practices to support daily balance, improve circulation and build vitality — encouraging a more open, connected and embodied way of moving, and supporting the body’s innate capacity for self-regulation.

4 SEASONS QI - THE RHYTHM WITHIN

This somatic workshop explores the body as a living organism moving through natural bio-energetic cycles. The focus is on direct, sensory experience, supporting the system to self-regulate and reorganise from within. The session integrates gentle qigong, elements of craniosacral-based practice and guided visceral self-massage. These are offered in a simple, accessible way, with an emphasis on sensing, allowing movement and response to arise from internal impulse rather than effort. This shift invites a more receptive, somatic mode of awareness, supporting deeper regulation, internal alignment and a sense of ease within the organism.

Over the years he has brought these strands together through workshops and group experiences that combine rhythm, voice and simple body-based practices in a relaxed and engaging way. His work invites people to reconnect with their natural musicality and with a deeper sense of grounding in themselves, creating spaces where creativity, rhythm and nervous system awareness can meet in a very accessible and human way.

OFFERINGS

BEING IN RHYTHM

Being in Rhythm is a two-hour workshop offering a chance to reconnect with the body through rhythm, movement and sound. Using simple guided exercises, we’ll explore how rhythm can help the nervous system settle, the mind slow down and the body return to a more natural sense of itself. No musical experience is needed. The focus is on participation, enjoyment and allowing the body to move and respond to rhythm in an easy, natural way. The session blends gentle movement, body rhythm, nervous system resets, simple drumming and voice work in a relaxed and welcoming circle. As the group settles into shared rhythm, people often find they begin to feel more grounded, present and connected, and a natural musicality starts to emerge. By the end of the workshop you can expect to feel clearer and energised, having given your body and mind a reset in a beautiful natural setting.

BEING IN VOICE

Being in Voice is a 90 minute workshop exploring how the voice can help regulate the nervous system and bring the body back into a more natural state of ease. The voice is closely connected to breath, posture and attention, and when we begin to work with simple sound and vibration the body often settles quickly. Through gentle guided exercises participants will explore humming, toning and simple vocal expression as a way of releasing tension, slowing the mind and reconnecting with a deeper sense of presence. No singing experience is needed. The focus is on curiosity, participation and allowing the voice to emerge in a relaxed and natural way.

A key part of the session is working with some of the body’s main nervous system “gates”. We’ll explore how small shifts in the eyes, the jaw and the back of the head can change the way the whole system feels. Softening the eyes, releasing the jaw and allowing the spine and breath to move more freely can open the voice and help the body settle. From there the group will move into shared sound practices such as humming, simple vocal tones , chanting and gentle call and response. As the room begins to resonate together people often notice a natural sense of grounding, connection and energy arising.

I trained in somatic and contemporary dance forms including Skinner Releasing Technique, and improvisation is at the heart of everything I make and facilitate. I am drawn to the places where play, dancing and collective attention become acts of connection, self-love and quiet subversion – where bodies that are rarely centred get to take up space and be witnessed on their own terms.

The edges of things – where land meets water, where belonging is never fixed – feel most like home to me. I find myself returning to the shoreline and to what becomes possible when we slow down and follow sensation, attend to the ebb and flow, avoid the rip tide.

I am a director of Hackney Children's Theatre and have worked in children's theatre and dance in London for many years. Over the last decade, my focus has shifted increasingly towards older people, developing accessible movement practices and dynamic interactions that challenge assumptions around ageing, gender and what bodies are supposed to do..

Knowing ourselves somatically can also support us in processing our experience, in finding stability as we change and transform through living life, through experiencing ourselves Living. This is a sensitive and often challenging process, but it allows for organic growth. Claire offers individual sessions and also group sessions to learn and practise using tools that help us stay with and process sensation, and follow what arises within us as thoughts, emotions or energy.

Clair Lalor is a psychotherapist, Yoga teacher and Somatic Movement therapist, who works with Body-mind centering (BMC), Amerta movement, Feldenkrais, IDME (Infant Movement Development Educator) with BMC.

Patricia's background is in Okido Yoga and inclusive dance. Her journey through life has brought to the fore for her a love of expression and connecting with others through movement – navigating the play between weight and lightness. Together with Lucia Smyth, she has enjoyed co-facilitating C.I. classes at An Sanctóir in West Cork since 2022.

OFFERING

In my workshop for ‘..The Waters and The Wild’, I will carry us safely on a journey of inner listening – deep active listening on a cellular level that allows:

• a greater felt sense of our own weight by releasing into gravity
• a play between weight and lightness.

When we come into contact with each other, through specific shared exercises and exploratory play, we can expand that listening to include the flow of information between us through the point of contact ...and thus enjoy the authenticity and immediate expression of the present moment in a grounded way.

I've been a fully accredited Yoga therapist since 2012, and more recently completed a masters in art therapy and now work with individuals and groups.

My movement work is based primarily on 23 years of study of Amerta movement with it's creator Suprapto Suryadarmo, and other movement disciplines such as community dance and 5 Rhythms. I work outside with the natural world whenever possible.

My approach is grounded in the philosophy behind Amerta and Yoga, as well as principles from art-psychotherapy. My work is humanistic, somatic and trauma-informed.

I believe in offering people the opportunity to move towards a more empowered and engaged life, through embodiment, self enquiry, expression, movement and stillness.

OFFERING

LOVING THE LAND

A workshop inviting embodied deep listening, responding and connecting with the natural world through Amerta movement and somatically-informed art-making using found materials.

Drawing on 27 years of practice of Amerta and my professional work as a movement guide and art therapist.

With Claire Osborne: Amerta movement guide, art therapist, Yoga teacher and Yoga therapist.

His extensive studies convinced him that modernisation and a strong infusion of the concepts of Zen Buddhism would made the teaching of Yoga more meaningful for people today.

What followed for me was a week of Summer Camp in Holland, the main European Dojo, then three seminars in Ireland with Dutch Okido teacher John Hulshop in October. This led to an invitation to live in his Dojo in Holland where I would give ten weekends of basic Shiatsu training to his students and in exchange I could attend eight weekly Okido yoga classes given by him and also attend the main Dojo 20Km away in Laren for weekend trainings especially in pregnancy Yoga and shiatsu. My stay lasted five months and was quite transformative. On returning to Ireland I formed the Okido Ireland association with some friends and we studied and practiced together with visiting teachers from Holland, Japan and Italy for over 20 years.

I gave weekly Okido yoga classes at An Sanctoir for twenty years and gave a series of classes to community groups all over Cork and West Cork. I also offered classes at West Cork yoga festivals.

The stimulation depends on the condition of the participants, maybe corrective exercises singly or in pairs, Do-In, breath control, Kyokaho hara strengthening practices, chanting, Shiatsu etc. Most important is to enjoy it. Gassho.

I've been a fully accredited Yoga therapist since 2012, and more recently completed a masters in art therapy and now work with individuals and groups.

My movement work is based primarily on 23 years of study of Amerta movement with it's creator Suprapto Suryadarmo, and other movement disciplines such as community dance and 5 Rhythms. I work outside with the natural world whenever possible.

My approach is grounded in the philosophy behind Amerta and Yoga, as well as principles from art-psychotherapy. My work is humanistic, somatic and trauma-informed.

I believe in offering people the opportunity to move towards a more empowered and engaged life, through embodiment, self enquiry, expression, movement and stillness.

In my twenties I started to explore the field of holistic bodywork and became passionate about working with the body in a way that recognises and supports others in their entire being. The Western mechanistic approach to working with the body that views it as the sum of its parts was at odds with the profound states of bliss and healing connection I was experiencing through integrative bodywork. I felt inspired to learn more and deepen my understanding of conscious touch and the mind-body connection.

My journey took me to India and Thailand where I immersed myself in Yoga, meditation and the Eastern healing arts. I had entered a new world of sensitivity and feeling that neither my physiotherapy schooling nor my culture had yet even contemplated. I learnt about touch communication, presence, how to feel what was under my hand and how to stay in contact with the person under my hands. I began to really inhabit my natural self and expand beyond the conditioned patterns embedded in my upbringing and education.
fluidbody.ie

OFFERING

THE DANCE OF ELEMENTAL TOUCH

'It is impossible to touch the body without accessing the Whole'

In this workshop we will be working fully clothed in pairs on the mat, where each person is giving and receiving a guided bodywork session.

Drawing on the principles of Thai Yoga Massage, Myo-fascial release and Daoist principles, the focus will be on finding rhythm and stillness with another and awakening our capacity to listen with our hands and touch with love.

Through touch, rocking and oscillatory mobilizations of the body we will unravel pathways into playfulness and freedom where the body remembers itself and its full potential once again.

All the techniques will be combined very thoughtfully into an integrated flow that allows the release of holding patterns in the body, supports integration and a remembering of our inate bodily intelligence .

We will also explore grounding into the stillness and building full body presence as the the bedrock for moving into this practice of bodywork.

We will be working on comfy mats on the floor, but a massage table is also an option if you have difficulty working on the floor.

We will come together in a circle, opening a sacred collective space and invoking the great goddess Eriú to bless the land and reinforce her people. We will commit our energies in a collective call for inner peace which we will then radiate outwardly. Using sound, the elements and movement, we will step into the the altered space of the otherworld, opening to the realms of Faerie and connecting with our inner child.

Fiona has hosted both workshops and intimate music gatherings for over three decades – spaces of warmth and presence, where creating music and singing together becomes a bridge between people, the natural world, our hearts and our divinity.

Her current work centres around singing circles, singing for ceremonies, and workshops that weave together meditation and voice, inviting participants into a deeper relationship with themselves, each other, the world around them and all that is eternal within them. Through sound, she encourages an embodied exploration of personal stories, emotional truth, and the heart’s capacity for love, strength, and compassion.

Jen first became really interested in how we move, exploring Yoga and dance when she was younger; this evolved towards organic farming and how we move in a way to grow food from the soil we live upon.  This further evolved into a deep passion for wild food and medicinal plants, finding that what was growing in the hedgerows and by the salted coats on our wonderful island country is what enthralled her the most. 

This all led to her beginning her herbal medicine training with Danny O'Rawe in Belfast where she learnt from many herbalists all around Ireland and the world.  Jen feels that if everyone looks far back enough in their bloodlines, there is a grandmother or grandfather who was making remedies, throwing nettles into their porridge or holding the cure for a specific ailment. This looking back and remembering recovers the power we all have to listen and look after our health with the food and medicine that’s all around us by the coast, amongst the woodlands and in the hedgerows. This in turn helps us to create relationship with the land we live on and to protect it. 

OFFERING

With backgrounds in soft acrobatics, capoeira & mindfulness as well as multi-instrumental music, foraging & psychology, Luc brings a varied mix of fields together in his facilitation of workshops and hosting of events/retreats.

OFFERING

ANIMAL MOVEMENT

Luc’s workshop takes inspiration from the animal kingdom and taps into the animal of ourselves through movement, embodied interaction and playful re-wilding.
instagram.com/luc.orourke

OFFERING

We will begin our journey through our body:: our felt sense connection to the natural world and within. We will then continue to journey through our mark making, colour and word as we step further into the mythic word. This process allows us to come home to our communing and deep listening to the natural world, to re-kindle our relationship to place, animal kin, body and myth.

OFFERING