Embracing Change
18 - 22 August 2025 ~ FINDHORN, Scotland
Reserve your place - email: beth@vitalmoves.co.uk
We are living in times of “unprecedented” change. The need to adapt in a resourced way is an essential life skill.
The challenges of life can easily weigh us down – both the small challenges of everyday life and the large challenges facing our planet. With so much feeling out of our control, it is important for us to come together and find pathways of empowered action that help to alleviate the sense of helplessness. We will dance as we learn how to embrace the changes in our lives.
This workshop will take place at Universal Hall, The Park Ecovillage in FINDHORN, Scotland, minutes from the sea and the Moray Firth and Findhorn Village.
What you will learn with Embracing Change
Participants will develop a greater sensitivity towards recognising and responding to the information their body communicates to them in a supportive non-judgemental environment.
With space to validate your resistance to change and the feelings that accompany it, you will learn to be more accepting of ‘what is’.
A higher degree of embodied emotional intelligence may also surface in relation to how you feel about both personal and collective changes that are occurring.
A developed capacity to listen and to speak, both verbally and non-verbally.
How to stay grounded and centred in the midst of change; whether it is your own, someone else’s, or the planets’.
Who the workshop is for
This workshop is open to all aged 18+ and for those who have an appreciation or curiosity for the inherent wisdom found in our somatic intelligence.With space to validate your resistance to change and the feelings that accompany it, you will learn to be more accepting of ‘what is’.
Experience Level: Beginners and advanced dancers welcome. At least one class of an Embodied Movement Practice (eg. Open Floor, 5Rhythms® or Movement Medicine) is recommended.
This workshop counts for the Open Floor Teacher Training.
Findhorn Bay, image courtesy of Rob Ashworth
Findhorn Bay, image courtesy of Rob Ashworth
The Shape of Our Time Together
With each passing year, the pace of change seems to quicken, inviting you to pause, to delve deeper into yourself, and to integrate the lessons that life presents.
What makes our time together in Findhorn truly special is the ever-evolving nature of both our group and the workshop material. Like the gentle ebb and flow of the tide, we adapt to what is unfolding, crafting an experience that is as unique as each one of you.
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.
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.
Universal Hall entrance
The Phoenix Cafe, nestled right next to our dance space.
The Practicalities
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18 - 22 August 2025
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Registration 9.45am, first session begins at 10.30am.
Closing at 1.30pm on Friday.
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Prices: TBC
Deposit: £150, will secure your place.
Balance: Due 1 month before the workshop, 21 July 2025
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 two subsidised places available. Contact us to apply.
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Venue: Universal Hall, The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn, Forres IV36 3TZ
Universal Hall, within the world famous eco-village in FINDHORN.
Surrounded by pine forests, rivers, iconic dunelands and pristine beaches, Findhorn has been my home by the sea for over 30 years. Built on sacred land, providing spiritual sanctuary to those who visit, I encourage you to spend time in the Findhorn community following your retreat to support the integration of our time together.
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For those seeking sanctuary and connection during our time together, you can consider sharing the serene haven of the self-catering chalets at Findhorn Bay Holiday Park. With options ranging from cozy private rooms to communal spaces with a buzz of shared energy, there's a place for everyone to rest and rejuvenate all within walking distance to the venue.
There's also the possibility to camp in the Hinterland - the woods near the windmills.
We have an ‘Embracing Change’ 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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The Phoenix Cafe, nestled right next to our dance space, will provide you with wholesome daily lunches and a heartfelt mid-week evening group dinner, sustenance for both body and spirit.
Meals are additional and optional, full details, menu and booking form will be emailed prior to the workshop.
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We encourage travel by public transport and car sharing.
Traveling by train: The closest train station is Forres.
We aim to coordinate lift sharing and taxis amongst the participants.
Traveling by plane: The nearest airports are Inverness and Aberdeen. If travelling to Edinburgh or Glasgow, it may be possible to arrange a lift share with dancers driving from either city.
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We recommend bringing:
Loose / comfortable clothing
Warm clothes
Shoes for walking (there are beautiful local walks)
Notebook and pen
Water bottle
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.”
“The opportunity to explore deeply in a safe and supportive environment and to be trusted and respected to take responsibility for my inner process. This allowed great change and healing to occur.”
“I so very much enjoyed the workshop and moreover, there was a huge but gentle shift for me over the weekend that was transformational. I think the work we did plus the setting of Findhorn, a very special place by all accounts, is what did it.
I really feel as though my nervous system was completely reset. I am much less often activated, more aware of when I’m activated and interestingly, also when others are activated around me. Relationally this has made me aware of being attracted to those in a similar state and also how we synchronise with each other. This is all changing and very fluid, thanks to the consideration of the nervous system in the workshop alongside the work we did more generally. I feel it has accelerated a change in my awareness but in a very gentle way, somewhat unconsciously then moving into consciousness as the dance does. ”
“With the support of Deborah’s excellent teaching, Ann’s brilliant backup, the dedication of several staff, and not least, the love and friendship of the other participants, I think I finally threw off the last vestiges of inhibition around dancing. I hadn’t realised that this was going to be as much a personal growth as a dance workshop. And whilst I harboured a little resistance to spending so much time in exercises, including a half-day trip to the river which I’d visited a thousand times, I can see in retrospect just how meticulously Deborah had planned it to optimise our growth and learning. Thank you all. Deep love and gratitude.”
“I attended Deborah’s Embracing Change workshop and it was exactly what I needed. Deborah skilfully moved us through the internal chaos that can accompany change to a place where we could tap into our resources, a great help with facing change and with everyday challenges. Her gentleness and grounded presence made this journey so much easier. I would certainly recommend her work. Go for it!”