becoming - where to from here?
5-8 December 2024 ~ FINDHORN, Scotland
Join me close to midwinter in Scotland, at a time when our bodies need the warmth and joy of movement. Come and delight in the chill and the dark that we will light up with movement, connection, glittering stars, candles and hot tub….
Taking the time to gather close to the winter solstice and the end of the year, we will explore how Open Floor movement practice can support the discovery and integration of what has been and who we are becoming.
See this 1 minute video from participant Subhanaya at a ‘becoming’ 2022 workshop, who shares the vitality of exploring this theme of ‘becoming’ through movement.
becoming is for you if ...
You are called to nourish yourself this midwinter.
You’d appreciate being in a space where rest and stillness is as valued as outward action.
You hunger for the connection of dancing with others.
You have a longing for some space for you, solitude, new encounters, wonderful music and nature.
You have been a bit stuck when thinking about 'where to from here’ and next steps? There's a sense in you that to drop into your body would support you in opening up to possibilities and answers ...
participants at the May 2022 ‘becoming’ | image courtesy of Beth McDougall Photography
Universal Hall dance floor in December 2023 (Christmas tree will not be in the space in 2024)
The Shape of Our Time Together
We gather on Thursday evening to come together to meet each other in movement for a short while.
We continue our journey in movement on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
Each session will include time for movement, connecting with words both spoken and written, and will be taught in such a way as to encourage pacing yourself. There will be guided input from myself and plenty of space for your own free inquiry into how you are and where you might go from here; how do you nourish and support yourself as well as deepen trust in your inner compass?
There will be intentional open space to see what wants to emerge; this is part of what I love about my work, being able to respond to the unique moment, drawing upon my years of experience to be able to craft something that meets a group of people where they are at.
Sunday morning is our time for closure; again, the space to move and share so we can end well, in fullness and pleasure in the dance and the community of movers. We will close at 1pm.
Universal Hall entrance
View of Findhorn Bay
The Practicalities
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5-8 December 2024
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Registration on Thursday evening 6.45pm, ending Sunday 1pm.
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Early bird £235, before 10 October
Full Price £260, after 11 October
Deposit: £150 non-refundable deposit secures your place.
Places: Places are limited, once workshop is full we will begin a waiting list.
Solidarity payments: if you are able to contribute to a solidarity fund, to join with us so that we can offer places to those with less financial resources who want to attend, then please indicate this on the booking form.
Subsidised places - if you feel a strong call to join this group and your finances are significantly stretched there are several subsidised places available. Contact us to apply. -
Universal Hall, The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn, Forres, IV36 3TZ
The Universal Hall is based in the The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn, Moray, known throughout the world as a major international centre for sustainable living. The community itself is situated on a 2-mile long peninsula amongst beautiful beaches and woodland. The Universal Hall has an organic cafe and hot tub.
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We encourage travel by public transport and car sharing.
We aim to coordinate lift sharing and taxis amongst the participants. If you would like to contact other dancers to share travel, we have a private Telegram group which you can join to discuss arrangements together.By train:
The nearest train station is 5 miles from Findhorn in the nearby town of Forres. Trains run between Inverness and Aberdeen, connecting to the wider Scottish rail network. For tickets and train times visit ScotRail or Trainline. There is a limited bus service between Forres town centre and Findhorn.
By bus:
Megabus run a service to Inverness from Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Stagecoach run a direct bus service between Inverness and Aberdeen via Forres. They also run a direct airport bus from Inverness airport to Inverness city centre and Nairn with connections to Forres from Tornagrain Village and Nairn. A limited bus service runs between Forres and Findhorn.
By car:
The venue is about 4 hours drive north from Edinburgh or Glasgow. See web-based maps for best routes and check travel services for routes affected by inclement weather.
Follow the A96 east from Inverness and west from Aberdeen until you reach the Findhorn roundabout at Forres. Take the B9011 to Findhorn and follow the Moray Coast Trail until you reach signs to the Findhorn Foundation.
Coming from the south, take the A9 from Perth to Inverness before picking up the A96 and following the directions above (or shortcut via the A95 at Grantown-on-Spey)
By plane:
The nearest airports are Inverness (25 miles) and Aberdeen (75 miles), both of which welcome flights from the UK and Europe. Stagecoach run a direct bus service to Inverness city centre and Nairn, with connections to Forres from Tornagrain Village.
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We appreciate that this group is being offered within the context of continuing uncertainty around Covid.
The priority is that we can all arrive, relax and be in community and dance for each module, staying safe and well; to that end, we will implement smart and sensible practices for health and safety.
Requirements around testing will be informed by the wider formal health and safety guidance and we will make this clear before the workshop. It’s likely that we’ll ask everyone to do a lateral flow test before arrival.There is more information on the booking form about the cancellation policy and Covid.
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Shared accommodation may be available in chalets at Findhorn Bay Holiday Park.
We will have a ‘becoming-where to from here?’ Telegram Group so that dancers can arrange accommodation and travel together.
For private local recommended options:
You will also find more options online e.g. AirBnB
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We hope to arrange the The Phoenix Cafe in the Universal Hall to offer lunches that can be pre-booked for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Also an option to book for a group dinner on the Saturday night.
Full details will be received by dancers prior to the workshop.
“Just want to thank you again - from the bottom of my heart - for a profoundly affecting time in Findhorn. The things that your masterful facilitation have awakened in me are almost beyond count, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that my life will not be the same after it.
One of the great surprises for me was the number of men, and how often we gravitated into working in pairs and trios and how naturally we coped with a quite ‘unmanly’ level of intimacy both emotionally and physically! And that’s further testament to the environment that you and everyone involved created between us.
So thank you for your compassion and your wisdom and for creating a space and a time for our group of bizarre and most wonderful human beings to come together in dance and connection and love.”
Meet Deborah
Professionally, Deborah has been working in the field of movement and embodiment for 30+ years. She qualified as a Sesame Movement and Drama Therapist in her early 20s, soon broadening into the field of conscious movement and teaching 5Rhythms® for over 25 years. In 2014, she was one of a group of 15 Founding Teachers of Open Floor International (OFI) and in 2016 attended OFI’s Therapy in Motion training with Andrea Juhan and Irit Ziv-Ron. In 2023, she completed a Foundation Training with The Centre for Systemic Constellations.
She has a blended professional life, working online and in-person, with large groups, small groups, and one-to-one. Her respect for the wisdom of the creative body is incisive and contagious.
“I am committed to personal development, and nurturing individual and collective transformation….. I hold the teaching space with deep attentiveness, clear instruction, and an absolute delight and love of movement.”
“I would recommend it to the curious.. to anyone looking to expand their self-awareness and intrigued by what it means to live a relational, embodied human experience, particularly those to whom soul-stirring music and empathic guidance sounds appealing.”
“I found the focus on the idea of ‘becoming’ helpful to reflect on and dance with. ‘Becoming’ as a ‘journey’ rather than as an an end point, balancing the relational with the embodied/personal - it gave me space and time to reflect on what this means for me at this moment in lifes journey... it is an ongoing process of enquiry/reflection.”