What a year this has been.
More than ever, I feel profoundly grateful to be alive, now. I feel privileged to witness what I witness on our dance floors, to experience what I experience between myself and Ya’Acov, and in life. I see such goodness, humanity, beauty and generosity in people so often. And it's both hope bringing and heart rending to feel the gap between this experience of what humanity can be, and the tragic seeming endlessness of polarisation and violence we also see unfolding in our world.
This has also been a year for Ya'Acov and myself marked by personal experience of losing ones close to us. Death, sudden losses and deep grief have touched us time after time. And this closeness with the reality and unpredictability of mortality has changed us. We share more about this in December's Movement Medicine Study Hub’s Keynote.
This meeting of beauty and heartbreak has brought about a powerful shift in focus: a renewed, tender appreciation of life right now, and of the people with whom we share it. Again and again we am reminded: these are the moments of our lives, these are the people of our lives, these are the connections that weave the fabric of our days and this is the time to treasure them.
One of those sudden deaths was an old friend and teacher. She died in her sleep a few days after we saw her unexpectedly in our local town. We were both in our cars when we saw each other, smiled and waved warmly. I had the impulse to flag her down, get out of the car, race over to give her a hug. And I didn't. As I said at her funeral, that will remain as one of the regrets of my life and something I am doing my best to learn from day to day.
I want to go on to share a few of the many pearls of this year which have meant so much to me.
Pearl 1
When I look back on the pearls of this year, the moments I want to hold close and remember, my heart returns again and again to the Long Dance, our annual fundraiser and profound central ceremony of Movement Medicine. Ya'Acov's mother Angella came and joined us on the last day, which was very beautiful (see top picture). I simply love my dear mother in law so very much and am so glad we could share this experience with her. She had always wanted to come to the Long Dance. After all that had already happened in the year there was a new aliveness to "Let's do it now!" Big thanks to all the dancers who welcomed her so warmly.
This year, during the Long Dance ceremony there was an especially potent time of collective grieving. It came late on in the ceremony. We had been been fasting and dancing for some time, and the "armour" around our hearts had already softened and thinned.
Held by the spirits of the land and the natural world around us, we let go into our pain and sorrow for our world. I found it deeply moving to witness this collective outpouring: men and women, younger and older, allowing our hearts to break and let go together.
And then, once we had wept all the tears that we could weep for now, after a gentle time of transition, something extraordinary rose which I have begun to call the trampoline effect. Our grief had been deeply allowed, met, shared and danced, and what emerged was a rare quality of joy. A raw, irrepressible uplift of energy shimmering in a dancing bouncing collective celebration of life’s beauty. What a gift.
I take my hat off to all the Long Dancers for the courage, devotion, and heart you brought to this ceremony and all the moneys raised for the Fundacion Pachamama and other charities world-wide. Congratulations to your love committed in action.
Ya’Acov and I warmly invite you to join us for the Long Dance next year, to experience this profound journey for yourself and be part of breaking the celling of £1 million for the total money raised for charity in the name of the Long Dance. See below for details if you are interested.
We are hoping and praying that Belen Paez, Chumpi Ramiro Vargas and Manari Ushigua will all be able to join us next year.
Pearl 2
Another of the many pearls was when, in the spirit of "do it now" I took a trip to Wales to see my elderly Aunty Liz. Aunty Liz and Uncle Arthur had one of the first organic dairy farms of the modern era, and tended their small herd of Jersey cows with great tenderness. Our annual visits to help with the hay harvest were crowning points of my childhood year.
This summer I was happy to see Liz so well and feisty, with my cousin Jack taking good care of her together with Julie, his lady. I was able to spend some real celebratory time with Liz, thanking her for all she had taught me, visiting my Uncle's burial site together in the top field, picking blackberries and having a beautiful girl time. I'm so pleased I followed that small quiet voice inside me which urged me to go and not regret the "ungiven hug".
Aunty Liz taught me so much about touch and presence, and how to be a calm, friendly presence alongside large animals. These teachings are with me every time I am with my Exmoor ponies Ivor and Ivanhoe, who are teaching me so much themselves.
Pearl 3
After the Long Dance we had the pleasure of Achuar leader Chumpi Ramiro Vargas staying with us for a few days. Chumpi is becoming a integral part of the Long Dance, dancing deeply, representing his people and helping us explain why we are so passionate about supporting the Fundacion Pachamama.
Chumpu is also integral to our the journey's we take people on in the Amazon with the Fundacion Pachamama, at the invitation and request of the indigenous people whose territories we visit.
Want to join us? Here is a heartfelt invitation to join us in the Amazon (and meet Chumpi in his home territory) in January 2026, not as tourists, not as saviours, and not as people needing to be saved, but as partners. Partners standing shoulder to shoulder with the Achuar and Sapara indigenous peoples who have invited us to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their commitment to protect the rainforest for the future of all life on Earth.
There are still a few places available. If you feel called, please consider this deep, life-changing journey, information at the bottom this article.
More about this story here in the Amazon Blog.
Prevarication & PRIDE
As many of you may recognise (in me or in you) I am rather good at prevarication, especially about things which both scare me and are important to me. One of those things is making sure that the books that are in me are not just written, but shared. It's easy for me to write but to leave it on the computer. I get to an inner threshold where I find myself stopping. I recognise the fear of failure and that I try to protect myself from it by subconsciously holding back from committing to completing and ensuring that, one way or anther those books get out there.
So I am proud that this year I have continued working on getting my book published. The words of its title; "I will live until I die" are my mother's and reflect her commitment to life and acceptance of death. This book is the honest story of accompanying my parents through their journeys with cancer, which was both surprisingly beautiful and not surprisingly gruelling, but which I'm so glad I was fully there for. Both of their lives eventually ended under the tender care of hospices for which I'll always be infinitely grateful.
I’ve written this book alongside my god-sister, Nell Stanislas; a nurse with long depth of experience in palliative care. Nell's compassion, support and wisdom for us all during the time of my father’s dying (he lived next door to us for the last years of his life) was profoundly helpful. I wanted others to be able to receive something of the exquisite support she gave us, so I asked asked her to write a professional commentary for the book. She said yes, and what she has written has blown me away; so profound, moving and deeply helpful.
This year I have been completing the manuscript, seeking a publisher, and taking steady steps in that direction. There is a possible connection emerging now; we will see. I feel sure this book will be of service. Those who’ve read it have been deeply moved, and I look forward to being able to share it with you.
I offer gratitude to my parents for their honesty, courage, and the profound intimacy of their dying journeys; which continue to shape and teach me, and for Nell’s willingness to bring her voice into the book with me.
And I celebrate life itself: the beauty, the difficulty, the mystery, the grief, the wild joy, and the privilege of walking this path with others.
I am so privileged, happy and grateful to be living into this next era of my and our lives with Ya'Acov, my love, my husband, my fellow dancing dreamer.
With love, respect, and gratitude for all who have added to the vibration of Movement Medicine by loving and dancing sincerely with good heart and intent, for all those bringing beauty, love and gentleness into the world, and for your right attention now.
THANK YOU!
Let's Dance! Wishing you all blessings,
