Workshops overview (physical and online conferencing)

Resilience & Embodiment
A user manual for the Body-Mind

workshops by
Andrew Cook MSc RCST

Workshops

stream, Ardnamurchan. image Copyright Andrew Cook 2020

I have been teaching various aspects of bodywork, movement, meditation and body awareness on-and-off for about 30 years. These are all techniques and adaptations that I have put together over my 25 years as a Craniosacral therapist, and are informed by a very broad range of sources and personal experience.

Over the years I have increasingly focussed on passing on skills to patients so that they have tools that can be used at home, as valuable life-skills. These are always available in one-to-one treatments. I believe that if somebody understands why they are doing something, it ceases to be a magic formula and can be integrated meaningfully into life.

Currently available workshops can be found on my TicketSource event page
The subjects that I am particularly interested in teaching to a wider audience at this stage are :

For personal use

A "User's Manual for the Body-Mind" ... how to be more resilient in an increasingly challenging world. Positive Body Awareness is a method of setting up meaningful communication with the body, and a practical understanding of the rules by which that works.

I’ve had treatment sessions with Andrew before [the Coronavirus lockdown], and found, in the one-one Zoom session, a depth of contact and presence that was really helpful for me. It’s definitely, maybe surprisingly, possible to work with embodiment over distance in this way, and the quality of attention and spaciousness that Andrew brings to it is sensitive and aware.

(Kate, Norwich)

In addition, it forms a powerful basic set of ground rules for the treatment of dissociation, trauma, difficulty maintaining appropriate boundaries, central sensitisation and somatisations. Much of this is based on the PolyVagal theory of Stephen Porges.

An important part of the whole package is the capacity to engage the Earth through the feet, and therefore to be able to be fully aware of ones own physical presence - another aspect of embodiment.

For both personal and professional use

I am currently putting together a set of educational material around the subject of how we have evolved to engage the ground through the feet - and how it is possible to re-train that form of body-use. The advantages are :

reduced musculoskeletal pain
greater capacity for embodiment
reduced risk of damage to the spine and intervertebral disks
improved connection with the Earth
a sense of physical and mental lightness (or certainly - less heaviness!)
better quality Yoga, Pilates, sports, Qigong and martial arts
understanding what is involved in order to successfully adapt to a barefoot walking/running style

For therapists/ professional use

Distance Work - Finding the Edge as a safe, trauma-informed and efficient way to reset personal boundaries, reduce dissociation, de-escalate hyper-arousal, and make subsequent therapy sessions more effective.
Positive Body Awareness... An application of PolyVagal Theory within the context of a wellness model of the human being as a living ecosystem.

coast, Ardnamurchan. image Copyright Andrew Cook 2020