About Me
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Summary
I've been facilitating and teaching conscious dances since 2012, first in Devon more recently in Stroud. I am a qualified counsellor since 2010, and an Open Floor dance teacher since June 2017. Discovering 5Rhythms over 15 years ago in London was a life changing experience. I had finally found a space that welcomed all of me and encouraged me to express what I was feeling in dance, and equally importantly I met a community of like-minded people that I had no idea even existed, and I am incredibly grateful to be a part of it. Back then I had no idea that 5Rhythms and conscious dance would be a catalyst that propelled me into a voyage of self discovery and spiritual awakening that included Tantra and is still ongoing…. From the first 5Rhythms dance in May 2001, I was hooked. On my journey I discovered that I wanted to teach people how to dance, or rather I wanted to create a space that gave permission for dancers to feel free enough to find their own dance, and recover their hearts, their fire and their souls in the process. So in 2006, I dived into a deeper 5Rhythms exploration by training for a year with Susannah Darling Khan in Devon. This course was the impetus I needed to leave the rat race of London and move to Devon. When I discovered The Work That Reconnects in 2007, I knew this was another important piece of my soul work. And I always knew I’d be teaching it as a dance. Since then I have become a facilitator of this work and run Earth Beats at Buddhafield in 2013 and in 2015 incorporating elements of the Work That Reconnects spiral. Doing a counseling training felt a natural step so that I would be able to hold a dance space with integrity. Inspired by the work of Susannah Darling Khan and Gabrielle Roth (the founder of 5Rhythms), I found a counseling training that included Gestalt therapy and gained a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling from Heartwood Institute of Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2010. Fritz Perls the founder of Gestalt therapy was involved in the early days of 5Rhythms because he met Gabrielle at in the Esalen Institute in California. (A centre for spiritual development). I worked as a counsellor with teenagers and young adults at Checkpoint, a drop in centre for young people for over two years gaining a huge amount of experience and training. Then at the Totnes Natural Health Centre and Plymouth University. Having relocated I now offer 121 dance sessions for personal and spiritual development and counselling and tantric sessions in private practice in Stroud. A car crash trauma and interest in the bodies cellular memory led me into a training on Stress & Trauma Resolution, followed by a 2-year long ongoing training in Somatic Trauma Therapy, with Babette Rothschild (renowned trauma specialist and author of The Body Remembers). The body-awareness and bodywork techniques I learned bridged the gap between sitting therapy and movement work. Earth Beats came out of this melting pot. This dance aims to give participants an experience of landing in their bodies belonging in their communities and interconnection with the earth as a foundation and doorway to empowerment and living the magnificence of their true potential. Dance and movement continue to be a major influence in my life. I have spent nearly 20 years dancing and training in 5Rhythms (5R) and more recently Open Floor International with many wonderful teachers including Jo Hardy, Sue Rickards, Cathy Ryan, Sarah Davies and the teachers who were the core faculty of Gabrielle Roth's 5Rhythms teacher training: Jonathan Horan, Andrea Juhan, Kathy Altman and Lori Saltzman. After Gabrielle's death the latter three set up their own organisation called Open Floor International with Vic Cooper. I’ve also studied Movement Medicine with Susannah and Ya’Acov Darling Khan, environmental movement work with Helen Poynor, and embodied presence and movement with Colin Harrison and Joanna Watters. I continue to explore new teachers offering new and traditional flavours of dance including Tango, which is all about surrender and presence. I currently dance as much as possible with Leigh Tolson in Bristol. My passion for Tantra started in 2001 and some years ago I trained as a Tantric Practitioner with ISTA. The International School of Temple Arts. (See www.templefiretantra.co.uk for more details). This is the most recent influence to inspire my dance classes. I am very happy to teach Open Floor. Open Floor is a natural evolution of 5Rhythms translated for the times we live in, giving us real skills for dealing with the crises of climate change and resource depletion. It stands on the shoulders of 5Rhythms. Personally Open Floor ripped up the 5R map and gave me more freedom on the dance floor, new ways of moving and a more expansive movement vocabulary than I knew was possible. It also offers invaluable resources for expanding our range of experience and skills in relating and I'd love to offer these possibilities to you too. I am grateful to all my teachers and everything they taught me. This moving body of experience feeds into my dance and movement work and my personal practice. I offer individual sessions in dance and movement, tantra, and counselling in Stroud. Call 07960 235 442 or email cliona@earthbeats.co.uk or see www.templefiretantra.co.uk for information and appointments. |
Qualifications & Training
Nearly 20 Years practice and training in Conscious Dance 5Rhythms: Since 2001- at least 2000 hours Waves, 17 days Heartbeat, 17 days Cycles, 6 days God Sex & the Body and 12 days Mirrors. Open Floor: Since 2014 - Open Floor International teacher training April 2015 - June 2017 - 27 Days. Encounter work - 8 days, Ground Floor Lab professional training (Sept 2014) - 10 days. Various Open Floor workshops - 20 days: Wild prayer, Concerto (Bare Bones, Anchored in the Unknown, Libido, What a Shame, Human's Being) and Libido 2 in 2019 ongoing. Seven Years training & practice of The Work That Reconnects 3 Day Weekend workshop, Sharpham, 2007 3 Day Council of All Beings, Landmatters, 2007 7 Day Facilitator Training, East Sussex, 2007 3 Day Facilitator Training, Monkton Wild, 2008 3 Day weekend Facilitator Training with Joanna & Fran Macy, Bath 2008 6 Week long Active Hope Group, 2014 Active Hope Group, Stroud, 2019 Facilitated and co-facilitated many Work That Reconnects workshops and Earth Beats dances for Inner Transition, Heartwood Counsellors and Buddhafield Festival from 2007 - 2015. Ten Years Counselling Training & Practice Level 2 & 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills, 2007 & 2008, CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, 2010, CPCAB Levels 1, 2 and 3 in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, 2009, ICAP Somatic Trauma Therapy 12 day Training with Babette Rothschild, 2010-2013. Experience of working with young people and students for 3 Years at Checkpoint and Plymouth University in Devon. Working with adults in private practice in Devon since 2008 and Stroud since 2017. Nearly 20 Years Tantric Training experience (See www.templefiretantra.co.uk) 3 years ongoing weekly groups - Soul Mate Training with Ma Ananda Sarita and Geho, 2001-2004. Level 1 - a week-long intensive: Sexual Spiritual Shamanic Experience with ISTA, the International School of Temple Arts, May 2017. Level 2 - a week-long intensive: Sexual Spiritual Shamanic Initiation with ISTA, May 2018. 3 month long Sexual Spiritual Shamanic Practitioner Training with ISTA, June 2017-Sept 2017 ongoing. Working 121 with men, women and couples for over 5 years. |
