I grew up in central London but moved around a lot as a child, also living in Jersey and Scotland. I was a quiet sensitive child with a vivid imagination and love of the magical in life. I did some ballet at an early age; the beginning of an interest in dance, music, and embodiment! I remember my first clunky tape recorder, and the sheer excitement of playing pop music age seven. Actually my first album was called “Mounting Excitement” anyone remember that?!
As a teenager London was the centre of the universe for me and I wouldn’t have been anywhere else. From age fifteen I frequented night clubs and became socially emerged in the "Acid House" scene. It brought a deep love of dance, connection and sense of tribe to my life. Around the same time I discovered festivals; music, dance and the outdoors, which I have loved since. Around this time I also became very interested in complimentary medicine and healing. This was certainly influenced by my mother who was passionate about yoga, astrology, homeopathy and the teachings of Krisnamurti. These things were deemed as unusual or even strange in the Thatcherite Britain of the 1980’s. How things have changed! Age seventeen I went for a course of acupuncture, this became a seed of inspiration which led me to study and work with acupuncture years later.
When I was seventeen I went inter-railing through Europe which was my first taste of independent travel. At nineteen I went to Asia discovering Thailand, India, Japan, Indonesia, The Philippines creating a love affair that kept me mostly in Asia for seven years. I dwelt in a tropical jungle paradise in Thailand, went to some wild outdoor parties, swam in the most sublime warm, life-filled oceans, shopped in colourful, sensorial Asian markets, meet a vast array of people from sinners to saints, and meditated in monasteries in the Himalaya. Needless to say Eastern culture has had a huge impact on my life and who I am.
Age twenty six I came back to the UK to study acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for four years. This is a system which explains all life as an inter-connected energetic; as such human life is part of nature and the cycles of life. I loved discovering this new cosmology, or map as a way to understand the world and creation. This helped me to understand what it is to be human, and also to feel more comfortable with my place in the world. It also took me deeply into anatomy, the body and energetics of human anatomy and function.
I became increasingly interested in various healing modalities and personal-development over the following years, everything from singing, acting, counselling, various dance forms (Salsa, Tango, Contact-improv’, Egyptian) Toaist practices and Tantra. In 2007 I attended the first of many Tantra retreats with with Ma Ananda Sarita, School of Awakening, (now Tantra Essence). This was a very powerful experience for me combining aspects such as deep meditations with ritualistic ceremony. After this I went through the three year couples Tantra training with this school. And a few years after this I went through the whole process again this time as an apprentice to facilitate. Tantra brought a new beauty of merging intimacy and spirit in my life which deepened my relationships, and enhanced my journey as a spiritual woman.
During this same period I experience death through numerous bereavements of people close to me, particularly my mother. These events took me into a very deep place within myself, where I discovered a much more profound relationship with spirit. I was simultaneously experiencing the dark night of the soul, whist also having powerful openings in myself and experience of divine ecstasy!
It was within this period of grieving that I discovered Biodanza as taught by Patricia Martello. I remember crying and crying during these days whilst dancing, wondering if the tears would ever end. The tears just poured out of me like a river. The Biodanza environment was a place I perceived as safe and non-judgemental where I could let me emotions move in a non verbal space., where nothing had to be explained or fixed. The tears eventually lessened of there own accord and became intersected with moments of joy and love within my experience of the group. As I became happier my interest in Biodanza grew and I decided to learn about this as a group facilitation. I felt analogy with other systems I’d learnt such as the Chinese understanding of human life and potential. I became immersed in this as a healing modality and particularly as a connecting capacity which encourages human sensitivity, self expression, embodiment and caring. I experienced a re-education of some of the qualities which I wasn’t able to live-out as a child yet were so much of who I really am, experiencing a kind of resurrection through Biodanza. This technique Patricia later updated, and transformed into Vital Development, or Vitaldanza for short.
In 2010 I organised my first workshop, bringing Patricia to Thailand and we ran a five day Vitaldanza workshop at The Sanctuary. In September the same year I began facilitating my own groups in Vitaldanza. In 2011 I assisted Sarita in running a Tantra retreat in Poland. This enabled my perspective to shift from me as an individual to expanding to sense what was happening in the group which was at times utterly profound. I assisted and witnessed a group who arrived with a lot of fear of sexuality, from a Catholic background, into a blossoming of truth, openness and sheer beauty. That group was an initiation for me. Soon after I began facilitated Tantra events myself. Later I also began to work with Tantra with individuals and couples.
In 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a terrible shock at the time. That has been a journey, primarily through natural medicine such as nutrition, herbs, spiritual practice and love. At times a lot of fear arose and this in itself has been a force to learn to manage. I had surgery in January 2018. The cancer has gone, but I’m very much still humble to it as a teacher and I continue to look after myself on all levels as best I can. I absolutely know that some of the practices I’ve done over the years, particularly Tantra and meditation helped me move through this challenging period with more grace than I would have managed without them. When I had time off for the surgery I reflected that one of the best medicines for me would be to get back to my work, because to be in this physical reality I need to live my passion, it literally grounds me here. I also need and love being in community of open and loving people.
I discovered The Wheel of Consent, created by Dr Betty Martin in 2016. I have learned much about myself from courses I have participated on. For example despite all the Tantra practice I’d done I realised I still didn’t always ask for what I want, or accept completely what another is willing to give. I began to add The Wheel of Consent to subjects I facilitate, and it now also informs my private sessions bringing more clarity of communication and listening. I continue to learn and receive support as a practitioner through the School of Consent as it’s so valuable to me and my work.
I’m grateful to be here. I continue to learn and transform and I believe that it the purpose of life. It’s what I’ve been doing most of my life and that is where I can also offer support to others. There is nothing more gratifying to me to invite others back to the wisdom and joy of who they are, and if possible to live an inspired and in pleasure-filled life.
