About Me
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Summary
I've been facilitating and teaching conscious dances since 2012, first in Devon, later in Stroud, while travelling in Tanzania and living in Corfu. I have been a qualified counsellor since 2010, and a qualified Open Floor dance teacher since June 2017. Discovering 5Rhythms over 20 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. Equally importantly I found a community of like-minded people that I had no idea even existed, that I am now incredibly grateful to be a part of. Back then I had no idea that 5Rhythms would be a catalyst that propelled me into a voyage of self discovery and spiritual awakening that is still ongoing…. From the first 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, and the fire in 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 have run Earth Beats at Buddhafield in 2013 and in 2015, for school children in Africa in 2021 and on the Greek island of Corfu, where I now call home. Doing a counseling training felt a natural step so that I would be able to hold a dance space with safety and integrity. Inspired by the work of Susannah Darling Khan and Gabrielle Roth (the founder of 5Rhythms), I 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 so I was excited that my counselling training also included elements of Gestalt therapy (e.g. Empty chair work). For over two years I worked as a counsellor with teenagers and young adults at Checkpoint, a drop in centre for young people gaining a huge amount of experience and training. Then at the Totnes Natural Health Centre and Plymouth University before offering counselling and tantric sessions for personal and spiritual development in Stroud. After travelling in Africa, now I am working online and in-person in Arillas in Corfu, Greece. A traumatic car crash and interest in the bodies cellular memory led me into 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 are a major part of my life. I have spent over 20 years dancing and training in 5Rhythms and became an Open Floor teacher. I trained internationally with many exceptional teachers including Jo Hardy, Sue Rickards, Cathy Ryan, Sarah Davies and 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, Andrea's partner. 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 and traditional flavours of dance including Tango, which is all about surrender and presence. 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 love teaching Open Floor - a natural evolution of 5Rhythms translated for the times we live in. It gives us life skills for dealing with the crises of, climate change and resource depletion. It stands on the shoulders of 5Rhythms. Open Floor ripped up the 5R map and gave me even 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 love offer these possibilities to dancers. I offer individual sessions in Divine Light healing, dance, coaching and counselling online and in-person in Corfu. Call +44 (0)7916 167214 or email cliona@earthbeats.co.uk or see www.wilddivinelight.com for information and appointments. |
Qualifications & Training
Nearly 20 Years practice and training in Conscious Dance 5Rhythms: Well over 2000 hours of Waves and intensive trainings in Heartbeat, Cycles, God Sex & the Body and Mirrors. Open Floor: Open Floor International teacher training 2015 - 2017. Numerous workshops: Encounter, Ground Floor Lab, Wild prayer, Concerto, Bare Bones, Anchored in the Unknown, Libido, What a Shame, Human's Being and Libido 2. Seven Years training & practice of The Work That Reconnects & Council of All Beings At Sharpham, Landmatters, 2007. Facilitator Trainings in East Sussex, 2007, Monkton Wild, 2008 and 3 Day weekend Facilitator Training with Joanna who created the system & Fran Macy in Bath 2008. 6 Week Active Hope Group in Totnes 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 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, 2010, CPCAB Level 2 & 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills, 2007 & 2008, 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 service for young people and Plymouth University in Devon. Private practice in Devon since 2008 and Stroud since 2017. Nearly 20 Years Tantric Training experience 3 years ongoing weekly groups for couples - Soul Mate Training with Ma Ananda Sarita and Geho, 2001-2004. Level 1 & 2 week intensives: Sexual Spiritual Shamanic Initiation with ISTA, 2017- 2018. 3 month long ISTA Professional Practitioner Training 2017. Working 121 with men, women and couples for over 5 years. |
