Technically we are in the depths of Winter, a time for rest…I wonder how many of us feel rested after the recent festivities…! Last year I was conscious of this ideal time for rest and recuperation and allowed my budding ideas around the lost art of simple dying to percolate slowly, before taking the bull by the horns just as we were coming into Spring. The ideas bore fruit and over the year I taught a dozen people in the village how to tap into their own intuition when faced with situations involving death and dying. We now have a Death and Dying Discussion group (DDD), formed from the workshop attendees, and are meeting every three months or so. I also gave talks on the same subject at two Summer festivals and was contacted by a local section of the NHS who hope to include my workshop in their training programme this year. My motivation is always to facilitate access to people’s own innate wisdom, which is forever present, though often buried deeply thanks to the way we live in modern times. If this interests you, please contact me here or look at the Lost Art of Simple Dying page here. The  next workshop is scheduled for 6 February.

So that was last year; this year it was different! I joined a lovely Circle Dance group in Summertown, having started dancing occasionally some five years ago. (To read an earlier blog from 2018 with my musings following a magical Circle Dance experience, please click here.) Suddenly, at the end of term in December, one of our teachers announced the following week would be the last one, unless someone else could take it over. I have never seen so many crestfallen faces in one room… and yet, it seemed as if some serendipitous force was at play, for I had trained as a Circle Dance teacher only the previous year, never thinking I would actually teach! I needed to think about whether I could take this on, especially as it would mean a lot of work right through the “rest” period of Winter! When I talked about it with my husband, he said from what he could see I have two passions (apart from him of course!): Death & Dying, and Circle Dance. He thought it was a no-brainer. The following week I said I would take it on. Fortunately, the other teacher is able to continue, so we now share the class, and a fellow dancer is helping with all the admin – we are a happy team.

So, perhaps we can also be productive in Winter, particularly if we do it consciously – I worked hard over the holidays to increase my repertoire and practise speaking the steps as well as dancing them – no mean feat! It didn’t feel like work – it was pure joy, listening to the beautiful music and letting my body flow into the movement. Our first class as a new team was a great success. Gratitude to our team and to all our dancers. If you’d like to join us, please contact me here for full information. Our classes run in term time Wed afternoons, 2.30-4pm