BECOMING RESILIENT
A course to cultivate connection and trust in yourself
Testimonials from Cohort 1
why now?
We’re living through complex times. Though the problems we face are becoming more intractable, many people are fighting hard to make the world a better place.
It can be exhausting working at the frontlines of systems change. I know, I worked as a designer and writer on climate change communications for fifteen years, and became very depleted over that time.
That’s why I’m offering a space for people on the edge of burnout to come back into connection with themselves - becoming resilient in the process.
This course is a reminder of your sensory intelligence and embodied knowing.
“This course supported me to connect more deeply with my body and understand its yeses and nos and the things I need more of in my life to feel alive, connected and resilient. ”
what is it?
5 week course on becoming resilient
90 minute sessions, once a week
10 people per group
Exploring your current questions
Refreshing your energy and creativity
Tools to process overwhelm
Cultivating connection and trust in yourself
who is it for?
People who feel under pressure, overwhelmed, and exhausted at work. People who feel disconnected from themselves in their attempts to build a better future for everyone.
The joy and benefit of group working is sharing different perspectives. You can expect to be in a group of diverse people who all have a common interest in cultivating a deeper, more supportive connection with themselves.
Course dates:
The first 2024 cohort is now open for booking at the button below.
Wednesdays at 12.30pm GMT, hosted via Google Meet.
31st January, 7th February, 14th, 21st, 28th
Course price
£250 per person
There are two places available, in each time slot, at a sliding scale price. If you’re currently experiencing limited funds, please get in touch to discuss options.
““I’ve never done anything like that before and it’s made me realise how much I am missing by just sitting here thinking things through. I need to get up more - shout, move, and go up and down the bounce scale a few times.””
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Each week we’ll meet online (Google Meet) in a group of 10 people for 90 mins.
Why 10 people? Because it’s a large enough number to provide interest and diversity of experience, but small enough that everyone gets to know each other and each person has enough time to speak and share.
Why 90 mins? I realise this is a significant chunk of time to take out of your busy working schedule. However, this course is about creating space for yourself to move, reflect, and deepen connection. There is a change of pace in this window of time that allows the nervous system to settle. This is an investment in your long-term health and your ability to be of service in the world.
What will we do? Each session will contain two embodied practice tools, which is to say movement, breathing, or physical exploration exercises. These tools are takeaways for you to use in your everyday life to bring you back to yourself and help process overwhelm. These exercises will be bracketed by note-taking, automatic writing, drawing, reflective conversation and sharing.
course content
Week 1: TRUST
We spend time remembering our embodied intelligence. We start to build trust with the body’s voice and what it’s trying to tell us. We also begin to build trust in the working group, getting to know each other and hearing each other’s points of view.
Week 2: KNOWING
This week we cultivate our connection to a deeper knowing. This internal exploration of sensation is known as interoception. We often override sensations in the body which are there to help us, so this is about noticing what we’ve missed.
Week 3: CONFIDENCE
This week we look at how we feel in our bodies when we’re in pressured situations like pitches, public speaking, interviews etc. Tuning into our felt senses, can help us be more present and communicate with authenticity and impact.
Week 4: CREATIVITY
Movement helps us refresh our energy and creativity. A 2012 Stanford study found, “Across three experiments, fluid arm movement led to enhanced creativity in three domains: creative generation, cognitive flexibility, and remote associations.”
Week 5: RESILIENCE
Why are so many people experiencing depletion and burnout? A recent research report from McKinsey labelled the phenomenon as ‘The Great Exhaustion’. This week we look at ways of becoming resilient, even with a heavy work schedule.
““This course has been such a lovely experience - introducing me to a whole array of practices that I’ve never come across, and creating spaciousness, creativity and gentleness in my hectic week. Try it!””
About Leonora
I've worked for some of the most creative designers in the world (Thomas Heatherwick, Marcel Wanders, Atelier Van Lieshout). I've taught at some of the best design schools (RCA, Goldsmiths, Bath Spa). I worked in climate change communications for over 15 years.
This is to say, I have experience working in high pressure environments, dealing with a lot of problem solving, and grappling with challenging subject matters. I continue to witness brilliant, passionate people, who are motivated to make a better, safer world, driving themselves into the ground.
I’ve done it myself. In 2017, heavily depleted after 13 years of working as a designer and writer in sustainability, I took time out to replenish my health, energy, and creativity via an MFA at Trinity Laban. This is where I began to study movement, performance, and somatics - the internal experience of the body. This lead to me training as a Feldenkrais practitioner.
Since 2018, I’ve been teaching embodied practice to designers, researchers, facilitators, and innovation specialists, in both higher education and professional teams. Now I want to offer what I’ve learned to a wider audience.
It is important to note: while I’ve trained in somatic modalities, am qualified to teach Awareness through Movement classes, and have experience teaching embodied practice, I am NOT a psychotherapist, nor am I trained in trauma release work. If you feel you are coping with significant trauma, I recommend you seek a specialist in that field.
lineages
I’m drawing from a range of modalities in my teaching. I am grateful to all my teachers at Trinity Laban, Independent Dance, Feldenkrais London, and Plum Village for enabling me to share this work.
In this course, we take inspiration from practices and practitioners such as: Feldenkrais, Yoga, The Viewpoints Book, Laban’s Theory of Movement, Qi Gong, Augusto Boal, Proprioceptive writing, Miranda Tufnell, Somatic Experiencing.
““Each activity led to a greater understanding of your whole purpose. It was as if when we got to the final incarnation of the gesture/phrase we were looking through a clearer lens. The ‘embodiment’ part was new and surprisingly instructive.””