A non-residential 2-day retreat with Emily and Jan of “I Eat What I Need”

Learn to express the full range of feelings that arise from your body so you can:

Address ongoing symptoms in your body that don’t seem to go away

Discover who you truly are and what you truly want, underneath layers of masking and numbness

Feel the vibrancy of your own aliveness, a source of energy and healing

Create deeper, more honest and more meaningful connections with the people you care about

Friday 30th August 2024 - 2.30pm-7pm

Saturday 31st August 2024 10.30am - 5.30pm

£145

includes all practises, meals, snacks and drinks

Where?

Great Horkesley New Village Hall

23 Tile House Lane,

Great Horkesley,

Colchester,

CO6 4EA

Women of our community are often dancing around the same questions:

How do I break through this barrier of numbness? I feel like a walking head.

Can I really put my needs first, as in do things that are just for me? Isn’t that a bit selfish?

And shouldn’t I be on some kind of improvement programme right now? I feel like whatever I do, I never truly arrive. Do I get to exist, exactly as I am right now? Surely that means I’ve given up!

And so we invite our people to come into deep connection with their insides, to feel, breathe and move their bodies.

We break through the walls of numbness until we find our true EXPRESSION.

And then, even though it feel so good to have this powerful release of tension and emotion, often a bit of resistance arises:

Can I fully express all of what I’m feeling - the anger, the sadness, the joy, the ecstasy?

Wouldn’t that be kind of childish, to just freely express whatever comes up? To my British sensitivities, this sounds a bit awkward, embarrassing, and exposing…

Ok honey, we get it.  Now, let’s walk together. Imagine a woman.  She’s comfortable in her own skin.In her bones, she knows she has the right to exist, exactly as she is now.It doesn’t feel selfish to take care of herself.  She knows her animal body requires daily practices and rituals to support her equilibrium. She is very alive. Alive in her movements, awake in her body, she responds freely and expressively to life. When she’s sad, she cries. When she’s angry, she feels the rage, she knows how protective and powerful this energy is.  It tells her: this is important to me.  This is precious. When she’s lonely, she goes inside her own body, and there she finds a quiet, loving presence that says: sweetie, I’m here, and I love you. When she’s joyful, she grins, she laughs, she squeals with pleasure.  Maybe she also cries too. She won’t be tamed.  Perhaps she makes people a bit uncomfortable sometimes.  But she’s ok with that discomfort.  

She knows that hiding her truth has dangerous consequences for her health.  

She’s already healed many issues, and she knows that expressing her true self with the people she loves and cares about is the core of her health. When she’s hiding, pretending, or people pleasing, her symptoms return, and she takes notice of that. She also knows that in the sanctuary of her own intuitive bodywork practice, it’s all welcome.  She doesn’t have to express her full authentic self wherever she goes, to whoever is around.  She respects her own boundaries and privacy is important to her. But in her practice, she’s untamed, unleashed.  Spontaneous movements, sounds, emotional releases…  In the sacred space we create together, we’re safe to express all of our humanity.

I once heard Gabrielle Roth (founder of 5 rhythms intuitive dance practice) tell a story about a beautiful mansion that had fallen into disrepair.Only a handful of the rooms still had electricity.  One woman alone lived in this mansion her whole life, only using the rooms that felt safe to her.The other rooms of the mansion, once full of splendour, stayed in permanent darkness.  The woman never went into the other rooms.  A whole mansion, and she lived in her 3 little rooms, too scared to explore those dark corridors.

Do you see where Gabrielle is going with this?

Our society, our culture, and our upbringing limits us to a few rooms.  These rooms represent the version of us who expresses what’s safe and acceptable to our culture.  Smile.  Stay small.  Don’t be too loud, shiny, weird, expressive….  Stay within those confines, or we’ll kick you out of the group.We’re suffocating here.  The health of our bodies demands that we express so much more than what is deemed ‘appropriate’.  The stiff upper lip is making us sick.  Watch any young child who hasn’t yet been squashed by socialization, and you’ll see the beauty of their expressiveness, the ways their faces contort with pain, shock, and delight.

It’s time to take off the mask of our polite adult selves and unleash the glory of our true expression.

It’s time to learn some embodied skills so that this summer, we can EXPRESS OURSELVES into a more vibrant state of health and well-being.

Are you ready to explore the treasures inside your mansion?

Are you ready to enjoy a new feeling of aliveness, excitement, fun and freedom?

If you are, please join us!

Spaces are limited and always sell out, so please book early if you want to make sure you get a spot by using our booking form at the bottom of this page.

You can pay in full or just a £50 deposit for now if you prefer.

So would you like to join us?