Reconnect 53

The good living and community magazine for exeter, Plymouth and across South Devon FEB/MAR 18 ISSUE 53

produce ❋ energy ❋ land ❋ homes ❋ community ❋ wellbeing ❋ arts

our big festivals guide

Pleas e tak e one

FREE !

Plan your summer with us

rewilding IN springtime Reconnect with Devon’s nature

A natural guiding light

local events & happenings

Find wellbeing across the county

To keep you happy in the sunshine

Full of Devon community living - including our unique guide to festivals and shows in the South West in 2018!

Visit us online at www.reconnectonline.co.uk

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Upfront

WELCOME...

IT'SWHAT WE'REABOUT

Broughttoyou by...

INTHISISSUE...

HILLYFIELD APPEAL

Coming to a climax eDITOR Scott Williams

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EDGE OF POTENTIAL 6 Wellbeing with kids

COMMUNITY CHARTERS 9 A non-violent fight back eDITORIAL ASSISTANT Karen Williams

GOING OUT

11

Places to go, people to see

ORGANIC GARDENING14 WeLLBeING eDITOR Kate Philbin

A joyous time

MARKET HOUSING 16 Community land trusts

COUNSeLLOR WRITeR Leigh Smith

MYSTIC HEART 17

Alchemy, magic and love

Wild play - page 26

19

NOURISHING FOOD

A healthy crowd pleaser

OPENING THE SENSES 20 A deeper connection

FESTIVAAAAAALS!

22

Our guide to summer fun!

CHILD SOUL LIFE

25

WELLBEING PAGES

27

to the February/March issue of Reconnect. I write this as another blast of cold air sends the country into a spin. This part of South Devon rarely freezes and so I look at pictures of snow wishing we had at least enough to make a snowman.

But I realise, that when you read this, Spring will be starting to show itself. The mornings will be getting longer and our minds will be directed to all that outdoor stuff we’ve been itching to do once the days lengthen.

It’s handy then that this issue is chock full of things to do over the coming months and beyond. Whether it’s exploring nature outside or your own wellbeing inside, doing something with the family or volunteering to help out friends you haven’t met yet, we’ve got some great suggestions for you within these pages.

We’ve still got all the Reconnect regular features for you too. If you want to feature too, don’t forget to get in touch. It’s been a year since I embarked on my Reconnect journey, I’m enjoying the adventure. x

Scott

COVERSTORY...

The good living and community magazine for Exeter, Plymouth and across South Devon FEB/MAR 18 ISSUE 53

produce k energy k land k homes k community k wellbeing k arts

our big festivals guide

Please take one

FREE !

Plan your summer with us

Childrens mental health Our holistic health guide

EMOTIONAL HEALTH 28

GARDeNING eXPeRT Joa Grower Meditation retreat - page 40 FOOD WRITeR Jane Hutton

WeBSITe eDITORS www.doetsdesign.com

TeCHNICAL AIDe Zelah Williams

STAY IN TOUCH...

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rewilding IN springtime Reconnect with Devon’s nature

Dark illumination

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COVER IMAGES Main picture: Samjhana Moon (www. samjhanamoon.com) Left to right: Rebecca Card (http:// naturewisdom. life); Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com); and Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year photo by Andrea Zampatti

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APR/MAY issue out end of March - next deadline March 1 THESMALL PRINT...

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Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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news&views Bodykind

4,000 bras

AN Exmouth artist seeks your bras to celebrate International women’s day. Anna Fitzgerald wants to create a fun tribute to Exmouth’s female history and also celebrate the 100 year anniversary of suffragettes winning the vote. All the bras will be donated to the charity Bras not Bombs. Collection points are Franklins and Sea Dog Art in Exmouth or Glorious Art House in Exeter or Post to Sea Dog Art, Exmouth EX82SD

History festival PLYMOUTH History Festival returns from May 5 to June 3 for a sixth year and takes place across the city featuring around 100 different events.

Energy deals

SOUTH Dartmoor Community Energy (SDCE) are offering drop in advice sessions across the South Hams in February and also have a series of ‘Energy Bill Busting Info Sessions’. Their team helps local people to save energy and money in their homes, with free and impartial advice. Advisors Katie Reville and Sophie Phillips said: “Bring your fuel bills to one of our next drop-in sessions to check you are on the best tariff and getting all the support you are entitled to.” Advice is also available on smart meters, extra support from energy suppliers and grants for heating and insulation.

For further information please visit www. southdartmoorcommunity energy.org or call Freephone 0800 112 3044.

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A new challenge

Coming to a climax...

The Hillyfield appeal The Countdown has begun toward a Public Inquiry to be held on Dartmoor National Park investigating the needs of small woodland restoration.

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TARTING on 10th April 2018, ‘The Hillyfield’ will be appealing against decisions made by Dartmoor National Park Authority to refuse permission for a timber drying barn and machinery store, and subsequently against enforcement notices served that demand the removal of all the temporary structures used to manage this Award winning woodland.

Despite woodlands being centre-stage at discussions in Parliament this month, and the impressive support for The Hillyfield Appeal from many forestry experts and over 100 local people writing letters of support, the Public Inquiry is now having to run for 3 and possibly 4 days rather than the 2 initially scheduled.

“It’s costing an arm and a leg” says Doug King-Smith, who manages the wood.

“Thanks to everyone who supported last year’s crowd-funder we have got this far, but due to the extra days needed in court, we now need to raise a further £13,000 to pay for the legal fees and planning experts.”

“We’ve worked hard to try to reduce the scale and scope of the Inquiry, but Dartmoor National Park have refused every application we have made. It now looks like the Inquiry might take 4 days.”

Exciting news is that Jim Parkyn, the senior model-maker at Aardman studios (yes - the creators of Wallace & Grommit & ‘Early Man’) heard about The Hillyfield plight and has offered to put together a short animation to launch a 2nd Crowd-funder in early March. In a fun way this will hopefully put across the importance of small-woodland restoration and the need to help planning authorities play a positive part in bringing back neglected woodlands into active management.

If you want to see small woodlands cared for in the UK, and support The Hillyfield then please make an effort to share the crowd-funder on social media and if possible make a donation.

All donors of £20+ will be invited to a weekend of camping at The Hillyfield for friends and supporters in July. l You can make a donation to the appeal direct via the website www.savehillyfield. co.uk and find out more at www.thehillyfield.co.uk

LIVING Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo and aquarium is looking for new volunteers, aged over 18 and living within easy travelling distance of the facility, which is at Beacon Quay. The three volunteer roles are all to do with helping visitors: meeting and greeting people as they arrive; fund-raising; and providing information. For more information go to www. livingcoasts.org.uk/supportus/volunteer or ring 01803 697511.

Borrow don’t buy

PLYMOUTH’s first Library of Things, Borrow Don’t Buy, housed at Moments Cafe on New George Street, will be opening to the public on February 3. Organisers have been working on this project for almost a year and after a successful crowdfunding campaign are looking forward to a year of sharing and growing the community.

Festival of history

LUPTON Manor House situated on the outskirts of Brixham transforms this August into the Lupton House Festival of History.

Visitors can take a flit through the ages from the Vikings to the Tudors, all the way to the 1940s. With re-enactments, talks, displays, stalls and more.

Seeking volunteer tree lovers Free party of Devon food and music

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OR those looking to connect with nature, the folks at Sharpham are offering a chance to join their team of volunteers during their Tree Care Day, which takes place on Sunday February 18 from 10am to 3.30pm and is free.

This year the focus will be on planting new trees on the Estate. Volunteers will get guidance and advice that they can use in their own gardens.

The Trust has been working to preserve that landscape, whilst ensuring that future planting works not only for our eyes and hearts, but for birdlife, insects and other animals.

The day will involve a range of tasks: some heavy and some lighter. Participants should bring gloves, boots and suitable clothing. The Trust will supply a tasty lunch to keep volunteers warm and refreshed.

Participants interested in getting involved can just turn up on the day, without booking. However, the day is not suitable for very young children. Before you set out, check the website and their social media for announcements if the weather is terrible.

For more information, with directions on how to get to Sharpham see their website www.sharphamtrust.org Find out more about volunteering at The Sharpham Trust throughout the year by emailing Maya on volunteer@ sharphamtrust.org or on the phone at 01803 731802.

Advertising: 01392 346342

South Devon’s best food and music talent will be showcased at the seventh annual Kingsbridge Food & Music Festival, running June 1-3.

A firm favourite in the South Hams events calendar, the free party showcases the eclectic mix of local produce and home-grown music talent from the region.

Set on the waterside quay and town bandstand, the familyfriendly festival music line-up is still under-wraps. Expect the usual diverse selection of sounds, plus a wide range of delicious treats, including Thai, Middle Eastern, Southern

Indian, wood fired pizzas, proper Devon pasties, ice cream, meringues, cream teas and much more. There will also be artisan coffee makers, local wines, ciders and a cocktail bar.

There will be a Kids Zone (Saturday and Sunday only) featuring nature-inspired craft activities, kids fancy dress disco, healthy fruity treats and a bouncy castle.

For the latest visit www. kingsbridgefoodandmusic. org or www.facebook.com/ kingsbridgefoodandmusic and follow @Kb_FoodandMusic

Photos Scot Baston, Zooming Feet Photography

FOLLOWING on from 2017’s first ever festival of body acceptance, which proved there was a need for such an event… the second is being planned. There will be a delightful selection of speakers, performers and artists storming the town from October 1214, who will take us to whole new areas of how we inhabit our bodies, and how we can become more comfortable in our skin. Issues of gender, disability, age, sexuality and size will be looked at in interactive, accessible, questioning and fun ways. Bring your body to Totnes in October - times they are a-changing.

NEWS&views Muddy kids

KIDS can get muddy for a good cause at a new obstacle course event from Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life. Race for Life Pretty Muddy Kids takes place at Westpoint Arena, on July 21. The traditional 5k, 10k and Pretty Muddy courses happen at the same venue on July 21 and 22. To enter go to raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.

Dragon search

THE seventh Local Entrepreneur Forum are seeking entrepreneurs and local enterprises interested in pitching at this year’s Community of Dragons. Worthy projects should contact the Totnes REconomy Centre.

Riviera art fair

TORBAY Guild of Artists, Devon Art Society and Brixham Art Society are taking part in The Riviera Art Fair at Torre Abbey in Torquay throughout the whole of February. Entry to see the paintings, prints, and cards for sale is free.

Summer fayre

DODGY will headline the Dart Music Festival 2018.

A billion trees

TREESISTERS are a group of women raising both awareness and funds to reforest the tropics. Their Billion Trees Campaign aims to normailse giving back and encourage our capacity to become a restorer species. Find out more at https://billiontrees.me and also on facebook.

4th transition town Totnes film festival

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HE fourth Transitions Film Festival in partnership with both the Barn Cinema in Dartington and Totnes Cinema will take place November 13 – 18. There will also be two full days of showings at the Civic Hall.

The Transitions Film Festival showcases a range of Transition issues including climate change, food production, declining resources and the value of community, amongst others. It also addresses key challenges of our time such as refugees, global exploitation, social exclusion/justice, and women’s empowerment.

Organisers announced: “We seek to present films which provide hope, inspiration and imaginative solutions whilst not avoiding the stark realities with which we are currently faced.”

Many sessions will offer time for discussions, often with the filmmakers. There will also be four film-making workshops over the weekend for both children and adults. More info nearer the time.

The festival is looking for someone with IT skills to help out with their website and promotional programme.

If you’d like to contribute, contact joancrawford5656@gmail.com

Plymouth’s Looe Street detectives ARTIST Sara Bowler is investigating the hidden histories of Plymouth Arts Centre’s location in Looe Street, for a new exhibition opening in February.

Sara leads The Looe Street Detectives a group of local residents, exploring the influence of Plymouth Arts Centre over the past 70 years, and the people who have lived, worked in and visited the site throughout the last 500 years. Visitors are invited to explore the activities and lives of the previous occupants of Looe Street, and their impact on the wider world.

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

Prince of tears

One of our favourite local festivals, Cornwall’s Port Eliot, has announced Baxter Dury will headline on the first day of the festival, promising the biggest Thursday of music since the festival began in 2003. The festival of creative arts will take place on July 26-29 in the grounds of the Earl of St German’s Cornish estate in Cornwall and offers a rich diversity of arts and entertainment encompassing music, literature, poetry, comedy, film and art.

There will also be a new children’s area of the festival, Wildlings Wood, a mini-Port Eliot. Weekend tickets and 50/50 deposit tickets are available now at porteliotfestival. com/buy-tickets

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

5

news&views Clay park plan given green light

Dartmoor films

Scrambling Owl by Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year Tibor Kercz

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AMM have teamed up with Exeter Phoenix to showcase a series of films that have been shot on or inspired by Dartmoor. Taking place from March 7 to 28 tickets are £7 from Exeterphoenix.org.

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EARLY two years after the submission of their planning application, Transition Homes Community Land Trust are celebrating getting planning permission for Clay Park in Dartington. The voluntary notfor-profit community organisation was set up in response to conventional resource-hungry, profit-driven housing development around Totnes and Dartington.

Clay Park has been designed to be highly sustainable, including the use of local natural building materials, extremely high levels of insulation, composting toilets, renewable energy systems, food growing areas and composting, shared facilities, and other initiatives to help residents reduce their environmental impact.

Nicola Lang said: “We are really excited that, after so many years of hard work by our dedicated team, we have permission for this innovative project. It would have been easy to get frustrated with how long it’s taken, but the important thing to remember is that, in a couple of years’ time, we’ll be welcoming 27 families to their new homes in an amazing community, and helping to house local people in housing need. All being well, construction should start in Autumn this year, and the allocations and sales process shortly after.”

Ocean Discovery

BRIXHAM Marine Conservation Day is not happening this year, instead organisers are working in conjunction with Edfest, The Whale Workshop and the Devon County Show to have an Ocean Discovery Zone (with participants from Brixham Marine Conservation Day and many more) at Devon County Show in May 2018.

Learn permaculture TAPELEY Park, at Instow, will be hosting a three day, intensive, weekend course - Introduction To Permaculture on January 26-28 and March 16-18. Cost is £170 see website for more details northdevonpermaculture.com

Love summer

Local act NUMB - Never Underestimate Musical Belief were the first act to be announced for Plymouth’s Love Summer Festival held at Newnham Park on August 10-12.

Tickets are available at www. lovesummerfestival.com/tickets

Pay what you want SKINNIBUDDHA has set up ‘Pay what you want’ yoga therapy sessions to make tailor made programmes accessible and affordable to the people of Plymouth and surrounding areas.

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Cute Dormouse by Andrea Zampatti

Comedy wildlife competition returns HANNAHS is to host the hilarious Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Seale-Hayne for the second year in a row.

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HE popular free exhibition happening from January 13 to March 5 will feature photographs by 40 finalists selected from over 3,500 entries from 86 countries around the world. Organised in association with international wildlife charity, the Born Free Foundation, the aim of the Awards is to put a spotlight on wildlife conservation efforts while simultaneously injecting some humour into the world of wildlife photography.

The winners have just been announced and the Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 is Tibor Kercz with his fantastic and hilarious image of a scrambling owl! Winner of the Creatures of the Land category was a very cute dormouse by Andrea Zampatti from Italy. Other entries this year are a shocked seal by George Cathcart of California, a gurning gorilla by Josef Friedhuber,

a hare standing to attention with a grass moustache by Olivier Colle, a grooving kangaroo by Andrey Giljov, an exasperated owl by Barb D’Arpino and a cackling African wild dog by Tina Stehr.

Hannahs Head of Marketing Rebecca Bowen-Keay said “We are delighted to be welcoming the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Exhibition to Hannahs for a second year - with a hilarious new selection of images! In addition, this year we are planning a week of wildlife themed activities during February half term (February 12-18) - see our website for more details.”

The week of fun wildlife activities will include an animal hunt, crazy golf, quad games, workshops and special guests throughout the week.

See www.discoverhannahs.org/whats-on

Wellbeing work with kids at Huxhams Cross CO-DIRECTORS of the Apricot Centre at Huxhams Cross Farm have found that wellbeing and therapeutic work with kids along with experiences in the natural environment on an organic farm go really well together.

Family psychotherapist Mark O’Connell explained: “We’ve often seen children, teenagers, and families, come to the farm stressed and within a short time often becoming more relaxed.”

Mark, together with farm project manager Bob Mehew, and farmer Marina O’Connell, have over the last 10 or more years brought together their skills and experiences in organic farming and process oriented psychology. They call the possibilities they find mixing their respective experience with the fuzzy edges of children’s experience ‘The Edge of Potential’.

Mark added: “Wellbeing is a bit of a buzz word at the moment, but we like it because it covers a wide range of physical, mental, relationship,

emotional, and spiritual areas which are all part of feeling connected with nature. Whether through enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables together, playing near a brook or in the magic of a woodland, exploring sound and making music, using our bodies and our senses, feeling a sense of connection or belonging, children are able to breathe and expand in the natural environment.”

The Apricot Centre offers all kinds of therapeutic services and mentoring support (‘Buddies’), therapeutic groups and activities, inspiration around education and learning, and seasonal farm-based events.

Each month they invite local people, children, families, and organisations who support children to come and meet them on the farm on their ‘Wellbeing Walks’. You can find details of these walks on Facebook @apricotcentrewellbeingservice.

Children can be referred for support via their website apricotcentrewellbeingservice.co.uk

Advertising: 01392 346342 adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk

Green awards

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EVON Environmental Business Initiative (DEBI) have held their 25th Anniversary Devon Environmental Awards recognising organisations that go the extra mile in environmental best practice.

Exeter’s SunGift Energy won the prestigious Overall Winner Award and the Made in Devon Award.

The green ethosed company have installed over 200 cost-saving environmental solutions in 2017.

East Devon District Council’s StreetScene Department won the Public Service in Devon Award.

North Devon’s winners included Millbrook Cottages in High Bickington (Enjoyed in Devon Award), South Molton CP School (Educated in Devon ) and the Glorious Oyster Cafe in Instow (The Sustainable in Devon Award).

Exeter lawyer Sonya Bedford from Stephens Scown was crowned the 2017 Environmental Champion for her mission to promote a zerocarbon lifestyle to young people.

To find out more about DEBI visit debi-online.org.uk

Longbow canoe races THE free family friendly Totnes Longbow Canoe Festival returns for a 7th year on Sunday May 21. Their popular community event offers a great day of excitement and family fun on the River Dart at Longmarsh. Expect entertainment, live music, charity and refreshment stalls and a licensed bar.

Another sea change

SEA Change returns to Totnes on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th August 2018 with a full program of music, panel talks and events running in The Civic Hall, The Barrel House Ballroom, St Mary’s Church, Totnes Cinema and many other small spaces. For the first time there will be a new, large scale space where everyone can congregate and party long into the night!

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

NEWS&views

A writing debut

Proud2Be back in 2018 LAST year, alongside their various free celebrations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) communities across the county, Proud2Be launched a counselling and mentoring service and fortnightly sexual health drop-in for young people, hosted social groups, craft days and youth groups, and delivered Anti-Bullying Training to 10 schools in Devon.

This year Exeter Pride will take place on May 12. Exmouth Pride takes place on June 30, Plymouth Pride on August 11, and Totnes Pride on September 1.

Each year thousands of people attend the parades included community groups, firefighters, police, students, trade union and business LGBT+ groups plus individuals.

Visit wwww.proud2be.co.uk for more information.

LOCAL author Celia Moore has contacted us to say she has published her first novel, Fox Halt Farm. Celia was born on a farm in Devon and chose a future as a chartered surveyor.

She worked in London and has had a varied life until the pull of Reconnectland drew her back again.

Celebrating life at 50, Celia says looking back over her life inspired many of the situations in her book - a tale of love set over two decades with a backdrop of Dartmoor.

The novel can be obtained as a signed copy direct from Celia - £10 including postage (£19 for two) – Celia Moore, 1 Matridge Cottage, Longdown, Exeter EX6 7BE or email celia@frub.org. It’s also available on Amazon as a paperback or ebook.

Make a difference - volunteer

The Sea Light art cafe and gallery is now open!

28 The Strand, Dawlish, EX7 9PS www.thesea.co

Leading-Edge, International Trainings in Embodiment 24-25 February

Consensual Touch™ Weekend - The Wheel of Consent with Katie Sarra & Kian de la Cour These weekends will guide you to discover how to trust when you want to be touched and how to discover how you might want to touch another.

3-4 July

Opening the Senses Painting Course with Katie Sarra

22-26 September tbc

Like a Pro – Training for Practitioners: Consent.

Boundaries, Clarity

27 February

with Betty Martin

Tarte Noire Playback Theatre Performance

“If you work hands-on, you need this training!”

www.seaschoolofembodiment.com

IF YOU are looking for ways to make a difference in the world then consider Devon Voluntary Action (DeVA) who are asking people to make this their year to volunteer. They have a wide range of volunteer opportunities available with local community groups looking for people with all types of skills including IT, Finance, social media, management, marketing and media.

DeVA has been awarded an Awards for All grant. Clare Humphreys, Volunteering Support Coordinator said: “The money awarded will help us to promote and market volunteering in a way that we haven’t been able to before. By using social media and Google to its full potential we will be able to broaden our marketing of volunteering, and engage with a wider audience.”

DeVA welcomes anyone wanting to volunteer but are particularly keen to engage with those who are in employment.

For more details see www.devonva.org/campaign

Chrysalis

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HREE lead artists, Ruth Ben-Tovim, Shelley Castle and Michael Martin, are inviting people of all ages and backgrounds in the five communities in Reconnectland to get involved over the next year at any or all stages of the making of Chrysalis - a mobile arts, culture and learning space.

Based in Totnes, Encounters Arts, alongside the people of Totnes, Newton Abbot, Stokenham and Kingsbridge and Paignton, will be co-producing an iconic new mobile space that will support the environmental, cultural and learning needs of the area.

Ruth Ben-Tovim said: “‘Over the years working in this area of Devon we have had the immense pleasure and honour of uncovering a huge number of enthusiastic, passionate, skilled and creative people. With this grant from Arts Council England we are now in the position of being

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

able to offer workshops and shared learning space to the people here to help design, build and then use this fantastic tool for South Devon.”

Shelley Castle added: “There will be something for anybody to have a go at designing and making and you don’t have to already have any skills - you just need to come along to a workshop and find out more and be prepared to think out of the box!”

If you are interested in getting involved or just finding out more please contact Encounters through their web site: www.encounters-arts. org.uk.

Evolution, Exeter’s Holistic and Ethnic Shop has now moved to 96 Fore St (same side at the top of the hill opposite St Olave’s Church) Come and see our incredible and Extended range of products including Books, Crystals, Cards, Candles, Clothes etc.

Tel: 01392 410759 Mobile: 07773282861 Email: info@evolution-exeter.co.uk Website: www.evolution-exeter.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/evolutionexeter

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

7

news&views One love next door

A wintery taste of Manifest

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HIS year sees Manifest, the wild camp for men and boys, offer a taster of their summer event with a late Winter Cabaret held at Ashprington Village Hall.

Prices are Men £8 / Boys £4 (under 18). To book contact massimo@ itsorted.org.uk (or 07795 257849).Manifest returns with their 5 day camp for men and boys this year from May 30 to Sun June 3.

FANS of reggae will be aware of the nomadic One Love festival. Their 10th edition happens at a new site, this time in neighbouring Somerset at Gilcombe Farm, Bruton and happening from August 31 until Sunday September 2. The festival of reggae and ska, with soundsystems, created in recognition of Bob Marley’s famous 1978 ‘One Love’ concert offers 4 nights camping, a Rasta Village, increased toilet and pamper facilities, increased children’s and circus activities, more healers in the dedicated Field of Love, and a Strummerville Field. Acts confirmed so far include Johnny Osbourne, the Mighty Diamonds, Twinkle Brothers, Carroll Thompson, Zion Train, Dennis Bovell, and Earl Gateshead.

See onelovefestival.co.uk for more details.

Steampunk time travellers descend on exeter museum EXETER’s RAMM is to host a Victorian Time Travellers Ball throughout the museum on the evening of Saturday February 17, for those aged over 18 years.

The organisers said: “Where else can you experience music, magic and mayhem while passing from Devon’s prehistoric past, through its meddlesome Middle Ages to its Vintage Victorian present?

“For one night only, suspend your disbelief, leave your reality at home, and embrace the ‘now’ that may have

8

been. Embark on a timetravelling green screen adventure, learn to street dance Steampunk style with Urbanflow, marvel at an authentic Victorian Magic Lantern show, and test your wits in a race against time to uncover the secret of the alchemist’s stone in an immersive and interactive game designed exclusively for RAMM by Red House Mysteries.”

A band of space pirates called The Mechanisms will be providing the live music

performing their fourth album, the BiFrost Incident, and there will be two themed bars.

Attendees can also expect snacks, steampunk decor and additional entertainment.

Steampunk, vintage or Victorian dress optional.

Tickets are priced at £24 (early bird £20 by Feb 3) To buy tickets call 01392 265 858 or visit the booking page at https://tinyurl.com/ ycyyhlc7.

Advertising: 01392 346342 adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk

Hospice fund raisers

THREE events raising funds in aid of Children’s Hospice South West have been announced. On May 13 Elizabethan house Bowringsleigh (near Kingsbridge ) opens their gardens for viewing, with teas, refreshments, plant and cake stalls.

On June 23- 24 the 15th Dartmouth Art & Craft Weekend happens in the Royal Avenue Gardens featuring artists and craft workers plus children’s activities and music, with teas, and homemade cakes. Then on November 24 there will be an Advent Fair in aid of Children’s Hospice South West in The Old Market, Dartmouth, with lots of Christmas present ideas. For further information or to apply for a stall, contact Sue Tweed at tweed833@btinternet.com or 01803 770730.

Photo by Matt Austin

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

NEWS&views Fighting for freedom for 800 years

south westerlies...

Reconnectland regular PETE SCOTT, who runs two choirs locally, is one of the dedicated people fighting to prevent fracking being forced on communities in the future. He sees Community Charters as vital in the non-violent fight by the frack free movement.

With this being our festival special issue, Scott feels in his element. In this column he tries to explain why he feels festivals are so wonderful, with so much to offer.

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Life is after all a carnival

T

HINGS have certainly settled down since I wrote my first ramblings for these pages at this time last year. 12 months in the editorial chair at Reconnect has resulted in some big changes in my life.

This being the annual festival and events themed special, it’s a heartfelt issue for me. Coming from a job where, for decades, I was immersed in this country’s musical carnivals across the seasons, I have a great affinity for those ‘lost weekends’.

Now, I’ve found I’ve had to make changes. Less festivals in my life has meant less time living in the van, and losing touch with some of the friends I had on the festival circuit a bit. I never seem to be very good at keeping in touch anyway, and festivals were always handy for bumping into people at least once a year.

On the upside I’ve also forged new friendships with some very wonderful people here in Reconnectland. I’ve been completely blown away by how positive everyone has been, it’s been inspiring getting a greater perspective of how much positive and helpful community spirit we have here in Devon.

I won’t go into the emotional changes of suddenly becoming an owner of a business for the first time now. Suffice it to say it’s taken a year to get to grips with a more diverse subject matter than I’ve been used to - bands, food stalls, festival capacities, and the like. It’s been a wonderful diversification for me to learn more about this community I have a home in - its wellbeing, arts, produce, land matters, and human spirit.

These things have all previously been part of what has made a good festival experience for me.

So, it’s not too much of a world away just more permanent.

For me, festivals are a kind of annual ritual for those who attend. Real grass roots events offer a chance to find some spiritual depth whether in song, dance, arts, or healing.

They bring about an exuberance and a shared community experience. Good ones are a safe space, and give both you and the kids a chance to ‘rewild’.

They offer the festivalgoer a new intensity and insight into being human as the crowds pass by regardless of the weather. They give you a feeling of being a small part of something bigger, of shared emotions, a feeling of being in the moment and in the place, and of permanence even though you’re at a recurring

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temporary event.

You get to mix with all ages, and social ranks. To experience peace without authority where the audience are all equals. There’s no real discipline - you can get up when you like, eat when you like, see and do what you like, and you’ll still find yourself falling into the indefinable rhythm with your fellow festival goers.

Festivals in reality are something ephemeral and especially transitory. As I write this I remember they create something else too, nostalgia - as those memories of weekends under canvas surface.

Festivals force you to connect to nature, take more notice of the elements (the mud and rain usually), the turning of the season, and even the changes from day to night and night to day.

They offer you a chance to escape the mundane, to think, to change your mind, perhaps your life, and to find enjoyment in the simple things, and shared experience.

There’s a chance to embrace speech, music, dancing, comedy, decoration, workshops, artistry, poetry, performance, dressing-up, carnival, games, foods, flavours, and to try something new. To be inspired by new or alternative ideas, to find the chance to heal.

To learn something new.

They are also often a place of politics, where you can find the like minded, or become the like minded.

Festivals are where I learnt about ethics and ecology. They infused me with a love for the environment, a desire to leave no trace, to re-use and recycle. To not leave litter for those who came after me to sit in. To care about others and how they’re feeling. To help those distressed to feel cosy.

Festivals are testament to community focus and shared ideals. More deeply they are a market economy, a model of community and a shared vision of how we can all get along and find common ground.

There have been some downsides - a speaker blowing in front of me resulted in permanent tinnitus, and my body has been slightly frayed by rollies and scrumpy cider.

I may have moved on from a permanent life at festivals. But Reconnect also celebrates that community, and I hope you get the chance to let go and celebrate the wonder of life somewhere in a field this summer.

Scott

RDINARY people increasingly shut out from the means of subsistence; a rich and powerful minority privatising and extracting rent from common resources – these were the grievances addressed 800 years ago by the sealing into law of the Charter of the Forest in 1217. Its resonances today are so strong that this ancient document is providing the inspiration for a modern fight against rising inequality and tyranny.

The Charter of the Forest was the lesser-known but equally significant twin of Magna Carta, and asserted the rights of ordinary people to access from the commons the means for a livelihood and shelter while restricting the rights of the king and nobles to privatise and exploit the forest. It represented an early constitutional victory for ordinary people over a wealthy elite.

Almost eight hundred years later, in 2013, Community Charters (based on the original Charter of the Forest) were created to combat fracking in Scotland, around Falkirk. In 2015 a moratorium was called by the Scottish Government in response to the dispute between the communities and the fracking company, Dart Energy (now Ineos). After a full scientific investigation and a consultation with the Scottish people, fracking was deemed to be dangerous and deeply unpopular and was banned in 2017.

Without those Community Charters this outcome probably would never have happened.

A similar situation exists in Yorkshire and Lancashire at this time. Unless fracking is halted, it will spread into the rest of England and create enormous destruction. Communities in Yorkshire are exploring setting up Community Charters right now, to try and create the same outcome as in Scotland.

Such Charters lay down positives – e.g.

‘We value our clean air, unpolluted watercourses, fertile soil, prolific wildlife, beautiful countryside, great heritage value, community cohesion etc’ – rather than stating opposition to fracking. They value common resources to be treasured and looked after for subsequent generations, rather than viewing them as commodities to be exploited by whoever grabs them first.

Recent revelations about the pervasive practice of tax dodging and abuse of secrecy jurisdictions in the Paradise Papers only serve to highlight just how skewed the system has become, in favour of the interests of the very rich and at the expense of everyone else.

The deregulated free markets that neoliberal ideology promised us would generate wealth for all have turned out not to be free, but rigged in favour of big corporations and elites. Oligopolies have captured sector after sector, while oligarchs have spirited away to tax havens resources that belonged to whole nations. Privatisation of key industries has allowed investors to collect rent in the form of inflated bills, even where they fail to maintain standards or infrastructure. Workers rights and conditions have been decimated and the agreement at the heart of the postwar social contract, that work pays for a decent living, has been broken. Millions of people in the west work hard but do not earn enough to cover basic living costs or afford housing. The political myth exists that the only alternative to market fundamentalism is a bureaucratic, inefficient state that leads in short order back to socialist totalitarianism.

Community Charters can point us in the direction of a saner more sensible society just as the Charter of the Forest did.

The Community Chartering Network exists to help communities anywhere draw up such charters. The process of drawing one up is uncomplicated and can take as little as two months. Any community wishing to explore setting up such a charter please: l visit the website at http:// www.communitychartering.org l email info@ communitychartering.org l or call us on 07775 566648 / 07932 508210.

Community Charters seek to influence the planning process in 4 primary ways: l A Charter declares the sum total of the community’s intangible and tangible assets to be its ‘Cultural Heritage’ for assessment under the EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. It asserts the basic right of the community to have decision-making powers with respect to these assets. l A Charter is presented as a “material consideration” that the planning authority must take into account in its decision-making. l A Charter recognises that nature has intrinsic value, and not just an economic value. It invites local authorities and corporations to engage in participatory planning processes that give recognition to this intrinsic value. l In invoking the Precautionary Principle, which presumes against developments which pose a suspected risk until the developer can prove that it is safe, it aligns itself on a local scale with the proposed international law of Ecocide.

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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NEWS&views

Traditional Phulkari Bagh

TRIBAL nomadic rugs, carpets & textiles from the Silk Road, Caucasus mountains, Anatolia, Persia, India, Europe and South America will be coming to Totnes in February. Stitches in Time will bring global antique textiles, rugs and ethnic clothing from the Dominic Orr Collection to the Gallery at Birdwood House from Sunday Feb 25 to Saturday Mar 3. Prior to Birdwood House The Old School Community Centre, in South Brent will host the exhibition from February 20-24.

Jeff asks whodunnit?

Off to an arty start ART has become a loaded word, according to children’s illustrator Katz Cowley.

I

T CAN conjure images of clinical galleries, intellectual creations hung perfectly on white walls and hefty price tags and champagne glasses clinking at openings. This ‘Art’ can feel a million miles from our own creative capacity or expression. So, we asked Katz to explain what really IS art?

At it’s core, stripped right back, it is our unique creative self-expression, unabashedly unleashed.

Think back, if you can, to

the little you, before the internal assessor snuck in and made itself at home.

Having navigated creative blocks, wrestled inner critics, stumbled over self doubt and triumphed to find peace at what has spilled out on the page, I have witnessed these aspects of our psyche in so many who have attended my creative workshops.

Our true, natural expression is not so much about learning and developing, as much as initially unlearning our idea of what art really is, and unlayering our limiting beliefs to unearth the true, authentic expression of you.

This way, we melt

into creating true art...from the Heart.

This then spills into everyday life, to make life itself a creative experience.

My invitation to you, is to explore bringing more of your creative expression to what you do in daily life in 2018...

Become more curious, see with fresh eyes, go that little extra, dare to express yourself more! l Katz facilitates workshops in creative self expression through drawing to explore and reclaim our creative curiosity and playful delight. www.katzcowley.com

We’ve extended the giveaway competition to win a copy of Katz’s award-winning children’s book ‘The Wonky Donkey’.

Entries are open to big and little kids. Just tell us: ‘What do you really want for 2018, beyond any material thing?’

There’s a twist, to get you creating: Your answer must be visual...be it drawn, constructed, photographed, etc.

Entries in by February 28 please. Please send entries to: editor@reconnectonline.co.uk The winner will be announced in the next issue of Reconnect.

Even more fun for dads and kids planned The Dangerous Dads Network is looking forward to more regular, fun outdoor activities for dads and children during 2018.

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AMILIES can access any of the activities run by twenty or so groups across Devon, Somerset and Cornwall.

Network Co-ordinator Ian Blackwell said: ’Dangerous Dads events are hugely popular with dads from all walks of life attending with their children to have a few hours of fun and fresh air. Dangerous Dads events are varied, from rock-pooling or simply blackberry picking, to campfire cooking, bord-box making, silly science and overnight camps.

With funding from Devon & Cornwall Housing, and in partnership with South Hams Children’s Centres,we will be focusing on monthly events across South Devon this year. Events run on Saturday afternoons and all male carers are welcome to come to any of the activities.

Events are usually free with a request for a donation. More information about all their events are posted regularly on their website

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and Facebook page, or you can get email updates by joining their mailing list. In June watch out as tickets for DadFest - home to The World Dad Dancing Championship - will go on sale. This year’s event is September 14-15-16 and tickets sell out fast.

For all information, contact Ian on 01803 840990 or info@dangerousdads.org.uk All details are on the website www. dangerousdads.org.uk Facebook: look for ‘The Dangerous Dads Network

Advertising: 01392 346342 adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk

Jeff Sleeman outside Exeter’s Cowick Barton

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N a world where entertainment is often a remote, individual and passive experience - whether watching TV, playing computer games or viewing glimpses of other peoples’ lives on social media, it is reassuring to know there is an upsurge in less technologydependant pastimes which bring people together. Enterprises such as board games cafes, escape room experiences, open mic music and poetry events and interactive theatre performances are flourishing. One form of entertainment which has been particularly popular in recent years is the murder mystery evening where a group of friends, work colleagues or other wannabe Hercule Poirots gather together at a hotel, pub or country house for an evening to try to work out the clues and solve a ‘heinous crime’ committed right under their noses.

For many people, the opportunity to chat to and question the characters (played by a team of actors) over the course of a meal is one of the most enjoyable parts of the event and the hope is that some crucial piece of information will be disclosed in the process which will help them to outwit their colleagues in coming up with the right solution.

The newly refurbished Cowick Barton Inn in Exeter will be hosting its first ever murder mystery evening on Friday March 16 with a plot written especially for the event by Reconnect regular and local actor Jeff Sleeman. Jeff has been collaborating with the Inn’s new owner Luke Davies to put together a unique evening’s entertainment which it is hoped will become a regular event at the historic sixteenth century inn.

Said Jeff: “I love interactive events like this which allow the actors to improvise and involve the audience and having the opportunity to devise a bespoke plot for this venue has been especially enjoyable. I obviously can’t give too much away but suffice it to say that there will be a few surprises in store and we are confident we will keep all the amateur sleuths on their toes throughout the course of the evening.”

More information and booking details can be found on the Cowick Barton website www. thecowickbarton.co.uk or by contacting Jeff on 07977 272174.

Jeff also offers one to one coaching and support to anyone who wants to make positive changes to their life. For details of his work see www.jeffsleeman.com

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

Goingout

february/march 2018

OUR BIGGUIDETO BIG LOCAL EVENTS ART EXHIBITIONS EXETER’S FINE ART COLLECTION: MODERN Until Feb 28, RAMM, Exeter.

How to get YOUR events into Going Out...

WELCOME to Reconnect’s out of this world GoingOut pages...

We connect all the hot stuff from across the region, categorised for easy access.

We have an EVEN MORE comprehensive online version at www.hubcast.co.uk/reconnect - also available via our busy website at www.reconnectonline.co.uk.

To get YOUR event listed online (and when possible, have it listed here in the mag too), simply register at ReconnectHub and enter the info free of charge.

To advertise here or online, email adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk or call 01392 346342.

DARTMOOR: A WILD AND WONDROUS REGION Until Feb 28, RAMM, Exeter.

SPECIMENS FROM AN IMAGINARY VOYAGE Until Apr 1, RAMM, Exeter.

ARCADIA STRING QUARTET Feb 18, The Courtenay Centre, Newton Abbot.

COMEDY

ELGAR’S CELLO EULOGY (BSO) Feb 21, Great Hall, Exeter.

Feb 23, Theatre Royal, Plymouth.

MILTON JONES Feb 7, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

TANNERY: PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL GLENDELL Until Mar 4, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey.

THE ENERGY OF PLANTS Mar 28-Apr 14, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT? TOY STORER Until Apr 1, RAMM, Exeter.

AZTEC GAMES

ROMEO & JULIET Mar 16, 17, 23, 24, The Soapbox Children’s Theatre, Plymouth.

Until Mar 21, TLH Leisure Resort, Torquay.

CHOIRS

EXETER AND YAROSLAVL Until Apr 1, RAMM, Exeter.

TWILIGHT TALES Feb 2 + Mar 2, The Soapbox Children’s Theatre, Plymouth.

Every Tuesday, St Sidwell’s Community Centre, Exeter.

EXHIBITION: JERWOOD MAKERS OPEN Until Mar 11, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey.

DINO-SAW Feb 9, The Soapbox Children’s Theatre, Plymouth.

SING PLYMOUTH Every Thursday, Pomphlett Methodist Centre, Plymouth.

PASSAMEZZO: MUSIC FROM THE RESTORATION Mar 10, St Mary’s, Totnes.

FEBRUARY HALF TERM AT CREALY Feb 10-18 Crealy Adventure Park, Exeter.

CHORAL WORKSHOP Feb 17, Mint Methodist Church, Exeter.

ELEGANCE CONCERT Mar 10, St. John’s, Totnes.

TIM VINE Feb 22-23, Babbacombe Theatre, Torquay.

DARKNESS TO LIGHT (VOCES) Feb 24, Buckfast Abbey, Buckfastleigh.

THE LORD MAYOR’S CONCERT - MOZART REQUIEM Mar 10, Exeter Cathedral, Exeter.

ADAM HESS AND GLENN MOORE Feb 25, Phoenix, Exeter.

AVE MARIA ( WEST DEVON CHORALE) Mar 3, Roman Catholic Cathedral, Plymouth.

DARTINGTON SINFONIETTA: DSCH Mar 11 Great Hall, Dartington.

THE WINGS OF FAITH (SOUTH WEST CHAMBER CHOIR) Mar 4, Buckfast Abbey, Buckfastleigh.

FINDING ANSWERS (BSO) Mar 15, Great Hall, Exeter.

GEORGE SHAW: MY BACK TO NATURE Until Apr 8, RAMM, Exeter.

PLYMOUTH FILM SHOWCASE Until Feb 17, Peninsula Arts, Plymouth.

RIVIERA ART FAIR Feb 3-25, Torbay Guild of Artists, Torquay.

TO CELEBRATE THE DISTANCE Feb 20-25, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY EXHIBITION TOUR Feb 22, RAMM, Exeter.

SIXTH SENSE Feb 27-Mar 3, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

SPRING EXHIBITION Mar 6-11, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

CELEBRATING PASTELS Mar 13-18, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

CHILDREN/FAMILY

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Feb 11, Exeter Library, Exeter.

MR MORTIMER’S TIME-TRAVELLING EXHIBITION Feb 14, RAMM, Exeter.

THE MAGIC OF VICTORIAN PHOTOGRAPHY Feb 15, RAMM, Exeter.

STORY STOMPS Feb 23, The Soapbox Children’s Theatre, Plymouth.

Crealy’s Cracking Easter Mar 30-Apr 15 Crealy Adventure Park, Exeter.

BUBBLICIOUS Mar 3, The Soapbox Children’s Theatre, Plymouth.

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

NO FEATU W FREE RING O ENTR NLINE I E MOR S AND E IN EXPO -MAG SURE

MOTHERS DAY Mar 11, Morwellham Quay, Tavistock.

MUSIC IN THE CASTLE - MORIARTY WINDS Mar 9, Powderham Castle, Exeter.

SING EXETER

CLARE HAMMOND Mar 16, The Courtenay Centre, Newton Abbot.

CLASSICAL MUSIC MONUMENTAL BRAHMS (BSO)

Feb 1, Great Hall, Exeter.

RUSSIAN GALA CONCERT Feb 9, Cygnet Theatre, Exeter.

Feb 10, Central Church, Torquay.

HEROES AND MONSTERS (BSO) Feb 15, Great Hall, Exeter.

ROWCROFT CHARITY BAROQUE CONCERT – DEVON TELEMANN ENSEMBLE Mar 18, St John’s, Totnes.

MONTEVERDI: TORBAY SINGERS Mar 24, All Saints’ Church, Babbacombe.

MATTHEW COLERIDGE REQUIEM Mar 24, St Clements Church, Dartmouth.

MARK THOMAS Feb 6, Phoenix, Exeter.

JONATHAN PIE Feb 9, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

JOSIE LONG / GRACE PETRIE / JONNY & THE BAPTISTS Mar 15, Phoenix, Exeter.

ANDY ZALTZMAN Feb 18 Phoenix, Exeter.

SOPHIE WILLAN Feb 25, The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter.

STEVE SHANYASKI Mar 1, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

RICHARD HERRING Mar 2, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

JOHNNY AWSUM Mar 3, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

ANNA MORRIS Mar 4, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

JOE LYCETT Mar 4, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

IAIN STIRLING Mar 4, Phoenix, Exeter.

JOHN ROBINS Mar 6, Phoenix, Exeter.

DR PHIL HAMMOND Mar 14, Phoenix, Exeter.

MILTON JONES Mar 16, Babbacombe Theatre, Torquay.

ROB NEWMAN Mar 20, Phoenix, Exeter.

MO GILLIGAN Mar 22, Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

GRIFF RHYS JONES Mar 23, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

IAIN STIRLING Mar 31, Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

DANCE EXETER DANCE FESTIVAL Feb 16-17, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

CHINESE NEW YEAR: DRAGON DANCING Mar 03, RAMM, Exeter.

THE LAND AND US: DANCE PERFORMANCE Mar 27, RAMM, Exeter.

EVENTS VICTORIAN TIME TRAVELLERS BALL Feb 17, RAMM, Exeter.

MIND BODY SPIRIT & CRAFT FAIR Mar 3, Woolwell Centre, Plymouth.

DARTMOOR MINI FILM FESTIVAL Mar 7-28, RAMM, Exeter.

TRANSFORMATIONAL HEALING DAY Mar 10, Woodbury Salterton.

SNOWDROP SPECTACULAR Until Feb 28, Fast Rabbit Farm Gardens, Dartmouth.

TEIGNMOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL Mar 15-18, Pavilions, Teignmouth.

BEEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS March 9-11, Furzeleigh Farm, Ashburton.

Turn over the page for more GoingOut listings

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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GOING OUT FARMERS MARKETS

ASHBURTON 5 days a week: Tuesday – Saturday Tuckers Yard, Ashburton BOVEY TRACEY Alternate Saturdays every month Town Square, Bovey Tracey

Four Days of Alchemy, Magic and Love a 4 day gathering of Mystics, Seekers, Healers, Lovers and Friends. channelingsoul readingclairvoyance satsanggoddess ritualspalmistrytarot fire walkingpagancrystal healing human designastrology live music

Price including great vegetarian food From £207 Together we will co-create a beautifully held space of the heart.

WWW.OSHOLEELA.UK WW

BUCKFASTLEIGH Every Thursday Near The Globe Inn, Town Centre BUDLEIGH SALTERTON Last Friday of every month Polle Car Park, off High Street CREDITON Every 1st Saturday of the month The Market Square, Crediton DARTMOUTH Every second Saturday of the month The Old Market, Dartmouth DAWLISH Every second Saturday of the month The Lawn, Dawlish EXETER Every Thursday Junction of South Street and Fore Street

Hartford Road Car Park, Ivybridge KINGSBRIDGE Every first & third Saturday of the month Town Square, Kingsbridge NEWTON ABBOT Every Tuesday Courtnay Street, Newton Abbot PLYMOUTH Every second & fourth Saturday of the month Town Centre Plaza, Plymouth PLYMOUTH (GOOD FOOD MARKET) First Sunday of every month Royal William Yard, Plymouth TEIGNMOUTH Last Saturday of every month The Triangle, Teignmouth TORQUAY Every Friday Union Street, Torquay TOTNES GOOD FOOD MARKET Every Third Sunday of the Month Market Square, Totnes

FESTIVALS

EXMOUTH 2nd Wednesday every month The Strand Gardens, Exmouth

See our centre pages for more details.

ILFRACOMBE Every 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month St Peters Church, Highfield Road

PAUL YOUNG Feb 1, Phoenix, Exeter.

IVYBRIDGE Third Saturday of every month

MUSIC GIGS THE RANCH Feb 2, Barrel House, Totnes.

THE OH HELLOS Feb 2, Phoenix, Exeter.

BOO HEWERDINE Feb 2, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

PHIL BEER Feb 2, St Paul’s Church, Starcross.

MARTIN SIMPSON Feb 3, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

DUB PISTOLS Feb 3, Phoenix, Exeter.

JOHN BRAMWELL Feb 3, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

CHRIS WOOD Feb 4, Phoenix, Exeter.

JULIAN STRINGLE WITH THE CRAIG MILVERTON TRIO Feb 4, Plymouth Jazz Club, Plymouth.

NICK HARPER Feb 4, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

WILLY MASON Feb 8, Barrel House, Totnes.

MARTHA TILSTON Feb 9, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

SAM BAKER Feb 9, B-Bar, Plymouth.

PHAT BOLLARD Feb 9, The Junction, Plymouth.

WILLE AND THE BANDITS Feb 9, Barrel House, Totnes.

KATHRYN STOTT Feb 10, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

MIKE SKINNER Feb 10, The Hub, Plymouth.

Get YOUR event out there with Reconnect’s Going Out pages TO ADVERTISE your event on our diary website, Reconnecthub, simply visit www.hubcast.co.uk/reconnect and register - then you can enter your own events whenever you want.

AND many of them will appear in the next (April/May issue of Reconnect magazine.

AND they will be viewed through other HUBCAST websites (across the SW).

AND it’s all FREE! (There are some online advertisements available too and it’s first come, first served - so call Scott now on 01392 346342)

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GOING OUT MIRANDA SYKES Feb 10, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

MO KENNEY Feb 10, Phoenix, Exeter.

BRITISH SEA POWER Feb 10, Phoenix, Exeter.

MAD FOR IT! Feb 10, Bishop Blaize, Exeter.

LISBEE STAINTON Feb 11, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

THE ESKIES Feb 14, Phoenix, Exeter.

LA VIE EN ROSE Feb 14, Speakeasy, Torquay.

JACQUI DANKWORTH Feb 17, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

TALISMAN Feb 17, Phoenix, Exeter.

NAJMA AKHTAR’S FIVE RIVERS Feb 17, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

STOMP Feb 18, Plymouth Jazz Club, Plymouth.

FEBRUARY ARTIZAN ACOUSTIC SESSIONS Feb 19, Artizan Gallery Cafe Venue, Torquay.

KIT HAWES & AARON CATLOW Feb 20, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

FAIRPORT CONVENTION Feb 21, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

BAHLA Feb 21, Speakeasy, Torquay.

THE SOUTH HAMS SINGERS Feb 23, The Watermark, Ivybridge.

CAROLINE SPENCE Feb 25, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

STEVE KNIGHTLEY Feb 28, Phoenix, Exeter.

G4 Mar 3, Babbacombe Theatre, Torquay.

MAD FOR IT! Mar 3, The Kings, Exeter.

DREAMING THE NIGHT FIELD Mar 4, Phoenix, Exeter.

KEVIN GRENFELL’S HOT BANANA Mar 4, Plymouth Jazz Club, Plymouth.

MAD DOG MCREA Mar 10, Phoenix, Exeter.

POLICE DOG HOGAN Mar 24, Phoenix, Exeter.

JOHN OTWAY Mar 10, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

THE YOUNG’UNS Mar 25, Phoenix, Exeter.

JACKIE OATES Mar 10, Village Hall, South Brent.

SAM KELLY Mar 11, Phoenix, Exeter.

FIELD MUSIC Mar 11, Phoenix, Exeter.

LLOYD COLE Mar 7, Exeter Corn Exchange, Exeter.

AJS BIG BAND Mar 16, Pavilions, Teignmouth.

THE HANDSOME FAMILY Mar 7, Phoenix, Exeter.

DREADZONE Mar 17, Phoenix, Exeter.

SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA Mar 8, The Hub, Plymouth.

JUAN MARTIN Mar 19, Phoenix, Exeter.

LAND OF THE GIANTS Mar 21, Phoenix, Exeter.

JO HARMAN Mar 1, Phoenix, Exeter.

MARTIN HARLEY & DANIEL KIMBRO Mar 8, Phoenix, Exeter.

DR JOHN COOPER CLARKE Mar 22, Phoenix, Exeter.

KEITH JAMES Mar 2, Pavilions, Teignmouth.

SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA Mar 9, Phoenix, Exeter.

THE FURROW COLLECTIVE Mar 23, The Flavel, Dartmouth.

NINEBARROW Mar 3, Parish Church, Kingskerswell.

RIVIERA DOGS Mar 3, The Watermark, Ivybridge.

ONCE & FUTURE BAND Mar 10, Barrel House, Totnes.

COSGRAVE AND BANKS Mar 23, St Paul’s Church, Starcross.

REJJIE SNOW Mar 10, Lemon Grove, Exeter.

ALBERT LEE Mar 24, The Watermark, Ivybridge.

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TURIN BREAKS Mar 29, Phoenix, Exeter.

LEE SCRATCH PERRY Mar 30, Phoenix, Exeter.

THE SNOW BEAST Feb 14-17, Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

TRANSLUNAR PARADISE Feb 26, Phoenix, Exeter.

THE BOB DYLAN STORY Mar 11, Barnfield Theatre, Exeter.

EDGELARKS (FORMERLY PHILLIP HENRY AND HANNAH MARTIN) Mar 30, Barrel House, Totnes.

TESTERONE

THEATRE

SUSANAH SUNFLOWER

CINDERELLA Until Feb 3, Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

Mar 13, Phoenix, Exeter.

LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE Mar 15, Phoenix, Exeter.

Mar 24, Pavilions, Teignmouth.

THE LONG MIRROR

LES MISERABLES

Until Feb 3, Cygnet Theatre, Exeter.

Mar 27-Apr 3, Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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ORGANICGARDENING IT’S a new growing season and our gardening expert JOA GROWER has some tips for gardeners wanting to grow their own vegetables.

It’s a joyous time for growing edibles

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ELL, here we are with have a great deal of time to another growing season spend gardening but would like ahead of us and all that grow something edible, why not gardening to look forward to. But plant a fruit garden. There are where to start? a lot of choices, from rhubarb which is picked in spring, Over the past ten or more years strawberries and blueberries so many people have come to in summer, to raspberries in our nursery (at Yealmpton) or to the autumn. Once planted the market stall (in Totnes) and they will probably only need a asked me what they should be small amount growing in of weeding, their vegetable pruning once a gardens. What year and picking a big question fruits when ever that is! ready and of My immediate course most fruits response is are very easy to how much freeze. space have you Tomatoes and got, and most cucumbers can importantly be grown in large what vegetables compost filled do you like to containers and eat? For those stood against of you with a sunny south large gardens facing wall or or allotments Try something fruity better still in a and plenty of warm conservatory or even a front time on your hands I would say porch. have a go at growing a little bit of everything. Potatoes are fun So many people buy herb plants to grow as it always feels a bit and keep them on the kitchen like digging up treasure when window sill only to find that they harvesting them. A nice job to do don’t last very long. If you pot with children! Onions are also them into a good quality compost a good space filler. However, in a small bucket sized pot and if your garden is only a modest place out side in full sun or space, then I would give both partial shade, they will produce of these a miss, as they are not so much more and should last expensive vegetables to buy. you the whole season.

Try to grow things like carrots What ever you choose to grow this season, enjoy it. which taste totally different when pulled fresh from the ground. l JUST a reminder that Growers Garden peas are absolutely Organics nursery in Yealmpton amazing picked and eaten straight will reopen early February 2018 from the pea pod and sweetcorn and our plant stall will also like you’ve never tasted, ideally be back in the market square cook within minutes of picking. in Totnes in February. Happy Growing!

For those of you who really don’t

It’s the season to start sowing seeds

NOW is the time to start sowing and most seed packets have far more seeds than you need but don’t forget that doesn’t mean you have to sow a whole packet every time, the majority of seeds will last 2 or 3 years as long as you store them properly in a cool dry place (a sweet tin or plastic container placed in the shed would be ideal). This year when sowing try covering your seeds with fine vermiculite instead of compost. It works really well!

Keep an eye on the forecast for frosts as plants in an unheated green house may still need just a little more extra protection. And for those of you growing your seeds on window sills in the house don’t forget that as soon as your seedlings start to come through the compost or vermiculite turn the pots or trays every day, this will help to stop them becoming tall and straggly. Prick out or pot on when the plants are big enough to handle.

For those of you who don’t have the time or space to start your own seeds.

You can buy ready grown vegetable plug plants. If ordering online do check the size of the plugs as they do vary a lot from company to company. Most garden centres will also stock a small range of them. But better still, if you can find a specialist nursery and buy straight from the producer, not only are you likely to get better plants but also a bit of free advice too if needed.

Reconnect’s Organic Gardening column is written by Joa Grower of Growers Organics. Meet her at Totnes market on Fridays and Saturdays.

Visit www.growersorganics.com, or call 01752 881180.

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Jellyfish – our saved art space

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HIS issue we have a success story of local support saving an arts venue that has been an asset to their local community.

Last summer, Buckfastleigh’s Jellyfish discovered they didn’t

Inside a jellyfish have planning permission to be a community arts hub and needed to apply for a ‘change of use’ to continue. Thankfully local support has been strong enough to keep the hub open.

New owners Leo and Sundara Sofer, and Nathilde, the previous owner, were shocked to discover the venue didn’t have the right planning permission. For four years it had already been publicly enriching the town and local area with art classes, exhibitions, talks, concerts, and more.

Leo told Reconnect: “It was a complete shock to hear that Jellyfish didn’t actually have planning permission. We had only just completed, and our plans were now in ruins! But after the initial shock had worn off, we got to work. It soon became apparent that we had a strong case, based on previous use. But what really gave us confidence was the surge of support from the local community as soon as word got out that Jellyfish was in peril. We had so many emails of support! When our planning application went live, over 180 people went to the DNPA site

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to register their support. Reading all of these letters gave us a vivid sense of how loved this little arts hub has become over the years, and what a vital role it has served, and can continue to serve, in Buckfastleigh and beyond.”

Now that the venue has the right planning permission Jellyfish will be re-opening in January 2018.

Leo adds: “One of the things that most struck us [in reading people’s letters of support] was how vital it has become in the digital age to have places where people can physically gather and find shared interest and make connections. We hope that Jellyfish can serve in this way, with a focus on art, creativity and whatever makes people’s hearts sing. We ourselves will be offering the things that we are most passionate about: storytelling, singing, art and meditation, but we hope also to find ways of facilitating community connections, however that looks. Buckfastleigh already has a lot of that happening, and there’s a lovely feeling about the town. We will contribute to that as best we can, and hope that others will want to come and use this beautiful space too, for their art exhibitions, art classes, personal growth groups, as well as singing, yoga and movement classes.”

Nathilde Overrein Rapp added: “Not only will they continue Jellyfish in the way I intended, they will continue the warm, welcoming, engaging space for years to come.”

Reconnect wish them both all the best in the future. l For more information on Jellyfish see their website https:// jellyfishartshub.co.uk.

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Capturing life on the ocean waves PLYMOUTH based photographer Tony Fitzsimmons continues his tales of life as a documentary photographer and photojournalist. We join him, at this time last year....

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ITH the February storms of Doris and Ewan creating waves like some treacherous mountain pass on a Hobbit’s road to Mordor, my time onboard the William of Ladram was a mixture of utter excitement and sheer terror. Out at sea, scale is one thing that can easily go out of the window, as comparisons to size are often only made concerning you or the boat. Had I been on one of the Waterdance netters during this week, my stomach may have told a very different story altogether. Yet thanks to the graceful strength and resilience of a Eurocutter, the William, safely guided by skipper Jake Grantham, held her own as wave after wave crashed against portside, starboard, stern and bow, never a pause or moment for respite.

Even as Doris finally calmed her excessive tantrums, Ewan quickly joined the party with plenty to shout about.

To add to this fascinating week, on the final day, heading back to port, we were boarded by the stunning Naval vessel, HMS Severn. I had heard stories of such events taking place, though to see this first hand was incredible.

The intimidating presence of a Royal Navy River Class Patrol vessel holding the horizon line with a watchful gaze, as a RHIB made its way towards the William was something I would never forget. In my mind I

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really didn’t know what to expect.

Maybe something more along the lines of the Expendables, with attack helicopter support overhead and a quip of one liners, ready to be used at a moments notice as soon as the crew were in chains.

To be honest, the whole ordeal was actually quite the anticlimax. With records of the catch checked and double checked via log books, online reports and what was iced up in the fish room, it was quite a friendly affair.

There was even time in the end for a quick cuppa to be had by all. As Jake said, they were there to do a job, we were there to do ours, and in many ways it was no different to some routine stop and search by the police. Those that got aggressive verbally or physically were generally the ones with something to hide. Given the company I continued to find myself within over the last year, I never doubted the honest dealings of the William’s skipper and crew, or any of the Waterdance vessels for that matter.

Back on dry land, I had only one more vessel left before the completion of the Waterdance commission. The Newlyn Netter, Govenek of Ladram, as seen not too long ago on Channel Four’s The Catch.

Maybe I had saved the best to last. And if that was the case, it was going to be a cracking trip. l You can view my Life at Sea series so far at www. tonyfitzsimmons.com

EARLY YEARS AND NEWBORN ISSUE! THE NEXT (APR/MAY) ISSUE OF RECONNECT IS AN EARLY YEARS AND NEWBORN SPECIAL! Email editor@reconnectonline.co.uk to be in it!

New community pottery in the heart of the Dartington Estate.

Studio 45 is a busy hub and interactive learning space for potters and ceramicists.

It is an open-plan learning environment where members and students alike have access to wheels, kilns and equipment as well as technical know-how. We provide weekly classes in ceramics from beginners to advanced and specialist weekend workshops on glaze technology, low impact firing, women making big pots and kiln building. We are also offering low cost courses for special interest groups and low-income individuals.

For more information on membership, workshops and courses have a look at the website www.studio45.uk.com or contact us directly at info@studio45.uk.com

Empowering families across Devon & Cornwall since 1999

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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land matters Our local community land trusts

Rocketlog The Or ig ina l One - Log Bonfire

Hand carved in the heart of the woods

LOG

A flaming centrepiece for any outdoor event, wedding, party or ceremony

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OMMUNITY Land Trusts (CLTs) are not-for-profits organisation set up by ordinary people often in order to build affordable housing for people living in their community, but a CLT can also manage other community assets like businesses (such as the village shop), land or workspaces. In a country where the majority of housing is built by large, profit-driven developers, CLTs offer the chance to deliver what a community really needs, especially in areas like the South Hams where property prices are high and so many people are unable to afford market housing.

CLTs are also often motivated to build much more sustainable houses than conventional developers, reducing the impact on the environment while building energy efficient homes which are cheaper (and more comfortable) for people to live in.

In Reconnectland we have many active CLTs at various stages in their plans: l Stoke Gabriel CLT is a fledgling group who have recently set up their CLT. Working with an adviser, their next key step is to hold discussions with local landowners about potential sites on which to develop affordable housing. They are also working on activities to engage the village.

Visit: sgsb.org.uk l South Brent CLT suffered a set back when the land they were pursuing was withdrawn by the vendor but are now in negotiations for another piece of land, in conjunction with South Hams DC, and with support from District Councillors and Dartmoor NPA. They have already done a lot of work building a solid footing for the CLT, designing 14 straw bale self build homes, engaging the local community, and have been heavily involved in helping develop the village Parish Plan. Visit: sbclt.co.uk l Harberton & Harbertonford CLT have secured land, and recently submitted their planning application for 12 ‘self finish’ eco homes at Oak Tree Field, with support from by the Parish Council. It is expected to go to the South Hams Development Committee as Devon County Council Highways have objected regarding access - often a problem for rural locations, as the size of development required to get the economies of scale required then cause challenges for our small roads. Visit: facebook.com/groups/Hx2CLT

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l Transition Homes CLT were granted planning permission in December for 27 sustainable homes and a community building at Clay Park in Dartington, and building work should start in the autumn. They are presently seeking a Trustee with accountancy experience to join the team, and are getting on with conservation activities at Clay Park. Registration for housing is still open. transitionhomes.org.uk l Broadhempston CLT, after several years of hard work, moved into their homes late in 2016. Six families worked together to self build their timber frame and straw bale homes and are an inspiration to the other CLTs, that all the hard work will pay off in the end! broadhempstonclt.com l The Land Society are a CIC set up to support CLTs in the south west, and initiated Broadhempston CLT and H&HCLT among other projects. landsociety.org The groups take a lot of support and inspiration from each other, and recently took part in a panel discussion at the Eco & Community Homes Fair in Totnes in October (watch the video at tinyurl.com/CLTeco).

Enthusiasm for community-led housing is huge, and growing.

There are over 225 CLTs in England and Wales, who have already delivered over 700 homes with thousands more in the pipeline (check out the National CLT Network to find a CLT near you - communitylandtrusts.org. uk). Some of us recently travelled to London for the Community Housing Conference, where over 500 people attended. Housing minister Alok Sharma announced 4 more years of the Community Housing Fund - a grant fund of £300 million which CLTs can apply to - which is much needed.

Inspired? You can get involved.

Join your local CLT, register for housing (if you need it), donate, or volunteer and lend a hand creating something amazing, or if you want to start a new project the National CLT Network (and these local groups) can offer support and advice.

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news & views Founded on the strongest ethics

4 days of alchemy, magic and love

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HIS summer sees the second Mystic Heart Festival; now extended to a four day gathering of Mystics, Seekers, Healers, Lovers and Friends, held at Dorset’s Osho Leela, the centre for connection and celebration on July 4-8 2018.

The festival organisers will offer a beautifully held space of the heart starting with a powerful opening ceremony to enable you to feel centred within yourselves, connect with each other and feel supported by the earth and spirit.

Experienced hosts Svabhavo and Akhilanda, who both have many years of holding space for deep inner transformation say: “We are offering a chance to open minds and hearts to the esoteric, intuitive and metaphysical whilst being held in a grounded, safe and heartful space. This festival will be a wonderful opportunity to lift your vibration and feel your heart connected to spirit and others.”

Osho Leela is a unique space, combining the benefits of a retreat; transformative workshops and meditations, with onsite accommodation or camping

options and 3 delicious vegetarian meals pre-pared for you each day - enrichment and nourishment!

There will be workshops on Psychics, Goddess Rituals, Human Design, Channelling, Astrology, Crystal Healing, Satsang, Fire Walking, Meditations, Dance and more.

One of the highlights of the festival will be on the Thursday evening where there will be a profound Fire Walking preparation session with Jon Boys followed by walking across the hot coals. Other guests include Katinka Soetens, Richard Beaumont, Prajna Ginty, and Andrew Dee, plus live music on the Friday and Saturday evenings with The Grateful Dudes.

Early on the Friday there will be a trip to Stonehenge’s inner stones to do a meditation/ritual. This will be limited to 20 people and will cost £39 (inclusive of the minibus).

Prices from £207 including all meals. Contact Osho Leela, Common Mead Lane, Gillingham in Dorset SP8 4RE, see https:// osholeela.uk/events/mystic-heartfestival-2/ or call 01747 821221.

WILD Support, a Plymouth based nonprofit organisation dedicated to raising money for deserving conservation projects around the world by creating ethical products and fund-raising, hit the headlines last month after donating 100 per cent of their profits to charity. Adam Cook, 30, who runs the venture, said: “We wanted to start an enterprise that was 100 per cent ethical and found that the real way to make an impact with this was through a commercial model. But we won’t make any money from this and all profits will go into supporting the environment.” Wild Support ensure every part of its production cycle as sustainable as possible, before selling the products to shops all around the city. Find them at wildsupport.eu

Do your bit to make our coastline cleaner VOLUNTEERS are being sought by the Torbay Cleaner Coasts Initiative which aims to clean up and protect the coastal habitats in Torbay. The new initiative was formed through a partnership between environmental charities, local authorities and commercial operators including Fathoms Free, Tide, Living Coasts, Community Seagrass Initiative, Marine Management Organisation, Torbay Harbour Office, Torbay Council, Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, Nautilus Dive Charters and British Divers Marine Life Rescue. Its main objective is to prevent and reduce marine litter pollution in Torbay and its impact on marine organisms, habitats, public health and safety as well as reduce the socioeconomic costs it causes.

The main issues tackled are marine litter, ghost gear, anti-social behaviour and similar. The project aims to remove litter from the marine environment where practical and feasible, by organising ghost gear retrieval dives and from the coastal area through beach and coastal cleans in and around Torbay.

See the website tcci.org.uk for more information.

THE OLD WAY

A yearlong journey towards rewilding our ancestral blueprint

5 journeys in Devon 2 weeks in the Kalahari

April-November 2018

HOSTS

Robin Bowman

AR NI NG ·

QUINE · E

I L I TAT E D LE

C FA

Emily Fawcett

GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

Bruce Parry

Jon Young

Jessie W-B

Martin Shaw

Exploring Indigeny Hunter-gatherer life-ways Tracking and bird language Food procurement Ancient cra#s Learn from the San Bushmen

www.theoldway.info

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Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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LOCAL PRODUCE

Tigley Tump - sharing the love Want chickens in your garden?

We have young birds of all shapes, sizes and colours (some with fluffy legs). Call for details and all the advice you need.

A taste of freedom We will soon have truly free-range chicken, pork and lamb - all soya-free, GM-free and drug-free. Put your name down for the next batch.

Chemical-free fruit and veg For sale at our farm gate and online through Totnes Food Shed - find out more at facebook/tigleytump and www.totnesfoodshed.co.uk

Other good stuff We also sell amazing handmade crafts, Tigley Tump’s unique soya-free, GM-free poultry feed (with hemp seed meal), secondhand chicken feeders and drinkers and more check out our website.

Tigley Tump is... an off-grid, chemical-free smallholding run by family and friends just outside Totnes Visit www.tigleytump.co.uk and Facebook/tigleytump

Share, grow, and eat sustainably SUSTAINABLE Crediton help people in and around Crediton to lead more sustainable lifestyles and work towards a carbon neutral future.

They organise a range of events and campaigns to promote various aspects of sustainable living. Their Sustainable Crediton Seed Share takes place on Saturday February 24, at a new location his year, the Boniface Centre.

Sustainable Crediton have been holding a seed share since 2009, originally focussed on sharing seeds saved by local people, promote biodiverse, low-cost local growing, and encourage gardeners to get to know each other and share skills.

As well as seed sharing, they’ve been hosts to organisations such as the Devon Wildlife Trust, Orchards Live and Once Read Books. Stalls have included beekeeping, using

herbs, composting, bring and share table for gardening equipment and plants and children’s crafts. For this their 10th year they’re expanding to include other local businesses and organisations interested in gardening, organic production, or any other aspects of sustainable living.

The event offers an opportunity to meet with other growers and people interested in sustainability over homemade lunch (this year made from waste food donated by local businesses), tea and cakes.

The event is free to both stallholders and visitors.

If you would like to find out more information please contact Dee Ross at https://sustainablecrediton. org.uk/food or deniseross1234@ btinternet.com

Ashburton’s unique local produce market...a truly amazing variety of all sorts of delicious goodies. Free parking.

TUCKERS LOCAL PRODUCE MARKET, Tuckers Yard, Chuley Road, Ashburton TQ13 7DG

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Naturally nourishing The virtual wild foraging herb walk

TORBAY herbalist Dawn Ireland of Green Wyse continues her virtual Reconnect herb walk explaining a little about medicinal uses of common seeds or herbs, this issue features two well known countryside plants.

As we emerge from the wintery depths into the Spring sunshine, tradition has it that we turn to fresh greens in the form of such herbs as Dandelion and Nettle as Spring Tonics to help cleanse the sluggishness that winter and the cold weather and sitting indoors in stuffy atmospheres has created.

The terms cleansing and tonic are commonly used, but what do they actually mean? In literal terms you could say that it means promoting or stimulating the function of eliminative organs such as the liver, bowel, lymph system and bladder or kidneys. Tonic usually means something high in nutrients that will contribute to building up strength.

Both Nettle and Dandelion fit into those categories nicely.

Pick the fresh new green growth of dandelion leaves, and the top 4 or 6 leaves of nettles. Use to make teas, or eat dandelion salads.

In Spring they are more bitter, stimulating digestive function, liver and bowel efficiency. The roots can be added to lighter ways of preparing foods than the winter stews and casseroles we might favour, instead choose stir fries, clear vegetable soups such as minestrone style broths.

Nettle leaf soup is a delicious light green medicinal food, packed full of vitamins A, C, D, E, F, K, P, and b-complexes. There is also an appreciable amount of protein content, iron, magnesium, boron, silica and many more minerals.

Medicinally nettle has some natural anti-histamine action (great for preparation for the hayfever season to drink the tea daily starting now), it promotes digestive enzyme release, strong bones, hair, skin and nails.

Dandelion Easy soup recipe: Take a handful of fresh nettle leaves, poach/steam Dandelion leaves are a gentle but in a small amount of water with a strong acting diuretic, stimulating teaspoon of stock or miso paste. urination. There are high level of minerals such as potassium, iron, Add a chopped potato or a calcium and magnesium along with handful of brown rice, a chopped bitter tasting compounds which onion and couple of garlic cloves, when tasted on the tongue, trigger perhaps a sprinkle of dried a cascade of digestive enzymes seaweed for even more of a to be released by the pancreas, nutritional. aiding digestive function.

Add 500ml water, simmer gently for The spring harvested roots yield half an hour. Use a stick blender to different levels of constituents turn into soup, or leave as a chunky if preferred. Freezes well. than the autumn harvested ones.

Dawn Ireland www.torbay-herbalist.co.uk See website for herb walks, workshops and events. www.greenwyse.co.uk Hand Made Vegan Botanical Skin Care

WILD CAMPS FOR TEENAGERS NEAR BRISTOL: HUNGER GAMES AUGUST 21 - 25 MOCKINGJAY AUGUST 27 - 31

wildwisehungergames.co.uk • 01803 868269 www.reconnectonline.co.uk

The best way to taste the rainbow

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Nettles

DO YOU WISH YOUR TEENAGER SPENT MORE TIME IN NATURE?

OUR resident foodie, JANe HUTTON, explores the link between fresh, real food and keeping healthy.

feel better when they don’t eat 018 is the year where I hope to see more of us get certain foods or substances, like real about health, food, and gluten or dairy. The actual root disease. I saw a huge increase cause of the reaction, though, in awareness of the intrinsic links is not an intolerance or allergy, between us, our communities and the act of cutting out foods and the planet as a whole in removes a whole range of other 2017 – the shift towards local nutrients that may not be replaced producers, sustainable sourcing, elsewhere. The impact of this, food as medicine, reducing without professional guidance, waste, and that can have serious we can no longer consequences Rainbow chard make excuses as further down the the NHS reaches line. crisis point and The answer? Eat the planet’s local, seasonal resources run out.

The link between foods, experiment fresh, real food with new and health came ingredients, and through loud and consult experts! So clear too, as a what’s available foundation for right now that you healthy bodies, might not have healthy brains, tried? Try chard, and as the lasting way to a a lovely seasonal vegetable in healthy weight. the UK as we move towards It’s true that our size can have little spring. An array of vitamins to do with our health – if you’re and minerals give chard an a yo-yo dieter who has tried impressively broad profile – high all the fad diets over the years, levels of vitamins A, E, and C, B it’s very likely that your body is vitamins, potassium, magnesium, totally confused. As a functional calcium, iron, manganese, lutein, nutritionist, it’s not just what you zeaxanthin, and vitamin K make it eat that I look at. It’s the possibility an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant of bio-individual, genetic heavyweight, supporting influences, medical history, gut cardiovascular systems, eye health, health, inflammation, hormonal immunity, energy release, healing imbalances, previous dieting and bone building, plus a huge patterns, and more, examined number of other crucial processes. alongside your current eating patterns, stress, and lifestyle.

Many of these nutrients are only absorbed if fat is present, so be Conversely, if you’re slim, you’re sure to cook or eat in recipes not necessarily healthy. Some of that incorporate some healthy the most disordered eaters I see fats, like rapeseed oil, or organic are those trying so hard to be butter. Give my recipe a go – it’s ‘healthy’, they have excluded a an easy, comforting and healthy massive number of foods. Often, it’s because they find that they crowd pleaser!

Chard with sausage and beans THIS tasty comfort dish serves 4 400g chard 8 sausages 1 large onion 1-2 garlic cloves rapeseed oil 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed good quality stock of choice seasoning to taste Wash the chard, cutting off the stalks. Cook in the stock, just enough to cover, stalks first, adding the leaves when the stalks are tender.

Drain, reserving the stock, and set aside. While the chard is cooking, heat some rapeseed oil in a large

pan, cook the sausages until a few minutes from done, then slice. Return to the pan with the onions, adding the garlic as the sausages cook through and the onions caramelise.

Add a little stock to deglaze the pan, and add the sausages, onions, garlic, and deglazing liquid to the saucepan with the chard. Add the beans, combine, and pour in enough of the reserved stock to make a sauce in the pan. Heat through, adding more stock if necessary.

Season to taste, and serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Naturally Nourishing is written by nutritionist and “confirmed foodie” Jane Hutton. Visit her new website, www. functional-foodie.com, and sign up for programmes, recipes and advice.

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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MORE FOLLOWS...

FORMER Reconnect editor MARTIN FOSTER takes off his wellies and fires up his laptop to bring us another everyday tale of off-grid smallholding folk…

Opening the Senses for 2018

Still at the start of a new adventure

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URING my time as Reconnect editor, I always really enjoyed putting together the Feb/Mar issue. With its preview of the forthcoming festival season, it has a sense of optimism about it – a reminder of the brighter, warmer times to come. Although most of the work has to be done in the thick of Winter, the editor’s inbox soon fills with stories of the community’s future plans, popping up like early snowdrops in Spring.

Since moving out of the editor’s chair and more or less permanently into wellies here at Tigley Tump, I’ve hugely enjoyed living more in tune with the seasons. But that doesn’t mean just staying indoors with boardgames if it’s wet…

There’s a very different kind of energy and rhythm to winterlife on the land. This morning it didn’t get light until around 8.15am and it will be dark again by 4.30pm this evening. Life is slower and somehow heavier, but while the combination of lower energy levels and bad weather would suggest throwing another log on the stove and filling another bowl with hearty, root vegetable soup, there’s still work to be done.

If you produce some of your own food, as we do, and particularly if you keep livestock, waiting for fairer weather simply isn’t an option. Everything will have died

by April.

Professional fell-walker Alfred Wainwright famously said, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing…” But while ‘bad weather’ is definitely too subjective, getting into suitable clothing is definitely a pain in the arse.

This morning, like most days recently, I laid in bed waiting for the sun to rise and hoping the rain, beating on the roof, would abate. Like most days recently, it was still wet when I left the house, so I first pulled waterproof trousers over my work jeans and slipped into my rainproof, hooded coat and cap (with peak to reduce the amount of rain that falls on my glasses - God, glasses are a pain in the rain) before heading off into the storm.

Wet and windy weather means the animals and poultry (who apparently have more sense than we humans) spend more time

20

indoors. They also eat more.

And that means they need cleaning out more regularly.

Shovelling shit and replacing bedding is just one of the jobs the livestock keeper takes in his or her stride – but add a few acres of mud to the process and every stride becomes perilously risky.

The simple act of walking from A to B is… well, no longer that simple. Think shit-smeared ice rink and you’ll be getting close.

Stick a 20kg bag of chicken feed on your shoulder, or carry a full bucket of icy water, and the potential for hilarious consequences is enough to get Harry Hill tightening his pursestrings.

Bad weather (sorry, Mr Wainwright, but I definitely prefer clothing suitable for dry, sunny weather) not only makes it more difficult to perform what would normally be routine jobs – it’s a complete work-creation scheme in its own right. My day usually starts with letting the chickens out of their houses and topping up their food and drink, but last night was the windiest and wettest yet, so first I had to lift one of the chicken house roofs back into place (we bought the coop secondhand and I had kind of assumed someone had screwed the roof on); and then call on my friend Ivan to help me put our pig arc (a large plastic pig house) back on its base after the wind had ripped it from its fixings overnight. Yesterday I spent two hours replacing the roof of another chicken house which the wind had blown over, before removing, reworking and replacing a door which had swollen in the rain, putting extra strain on hinges and patience alike.

Now this does all sound a lot moanier than I really feel.

These first three months of the year are also an exciting time for planning; for reviewing how things went last year and deciding how we might improve things next time around. My wife Jenny and I have completely changed almost every aspect of our lives over the past 12 months and we are still only at the start of this new adventure.

Clearly, I don’t have to live this way – but in truth I love every muddy-booted moment of it.

Which, I suspect, is where Mr Wainwright and I do agree.

in

Mart

OPENING up the senses is the core intention of everything that happens at the Sea Light Gallery in Dawlish.

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HE gallery, which opened in 2016, is the culmination of a lifetime’s dream for Katie Sarra and Kian de la Cour.

Katie explained that much of her life has been dedicated to learning how to relax and create beauty. She believes that relaxation increases our receptivity and allows us to make decisions that are in alignment with our dreams.

The Sea Light Gallery is “a haven for relaxation and communion with ourselves or with each other”, according to Katie, somewhere to “rest, heal and experience creativity.”

This beautiful community space has a packed calendar of activities and events for 2018, promising something for everyone.

On February 24-25, Kian and Katie are running their fourth Consensual Touch weekend, designed to help people to make empowered decisions in the area of touch. Katie said: “This is entry level or advanced for anyone wanting to take steps out of loneliness into learning and navigating safe connections with people. It’s a gentle nourishing practice space for deepening connection with your own inner guides which support decisionmaking; a space to come tenderly home to yourself.”

The weekend will explore all four parts of Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent.

A recent participant described the weekend as “life-changing”.

Later in the year, Betty will make a return visit to the gallery to deliver Wheel of Consent training for people who use touch as part of their work.

Katie commented: “We are over the moon to be welcoming Betty Martin back to the UK in September to run her internationally famous ‘Like a Pro’ Wheel of Consent Training for touch professionals. Whether you are a bodyworker, a doctor or a nurse, if you touch people for a living then this is a must for staying in integrity and ensuring your clients have a voice in what happens to them. A profound opportunity for deepening your listening, knowing when you’ve given too much and learning what you are truly in service to.”

In previous years people have travelled from all over the world for this weekend so early booking is recommended.

March sees the launch of the fourth UK & Ireland Certificate in Sexological Bodywork professional training. Kian said: “We are especially excited to be lead facilitators for this year’s training and to be welcoming Joseph Kramer again, who founded of this profession and oversaw it’s accreditation by the State of California in 2003.”

On Tuesday February 27, Tarte

Noire Playback Theatre Company is performing at the gallery, promising to turn people’s stories into magical living theatre. Doors open at 6.30pm for preperformance drinks and food before the show at 8pm.

Katie will be running her first Opening the Senses painting classes this year, starting with a two-day mid-week workshop on July 3-4. She explained: “I will be teaching how to receive through the senses, liberating the mind from over-directing so you can, hopefully, experience joyful painting.”

Katie has 30 years’ experience as an artist, art psychotherapist and embodiment coach. This gives her an in-depth understanding of the creative process and the neuroscience that allows painting and creativity to flow easily.

Many of her paintings are on show in the gallery and this year sees a new underwater theme emerging.

The gallery has its own café serving delicious home-cooked food. It has become a popular meeting place for people and particular favourites are the gluten free cakes with strawberries and clotted cream. The café will be launching a special menu in the months ahead.

Another regular event to look out for is the monthly community sound bath.

The next one takes place on February 11 and then on the second Sunday of every month.

The start of the year is often the time when people think about making changes in their life and the gallery offers individual therapy sessions. Katie said: “I specialise in helping people to reconnect with their body’s intelligence in intimate decision-making and self expression. Kian offers embodied counselling, nutritional therapy and has over 20 years experience as a bodyworker, supporting the release of body held tensions.”

The gallery has a range of therapists offering different treatments. They recently welcomed Cathy Edgar and Jem Stones. Jem offers deeply relaxing hot stone massage in the roof terrace garden therapy suite. If you’d like an informal chat, Jem is in the Sea Light Gallery on Wednesdays. Cathy will be running the Sound in the Soul Community Sound Bath on the second Sunday of every month, from 3pm to 6pm. Described as “meditation with music”, it is the ideal place to relax with blankets and cushions and allow the sound to wash over you. l For more information visit: www. thesea.co

Monthly Community Sound Baths - on the second Sunday of the month February 24-25 Consensual Touch Weekend - The Wheel of Consent February 27 Tarte Noire Women’s Playback Theatre Performance March 10 Certificate in Sexological Bodywork July 3-4 Opening the Sense Painting Course with Katie Sarra September 2018 Like a Pro training with Betty Martin

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ReFURNISH

Like a complete unknown CASPAR WALSH author, poet, journalist and founder of Words from the earth discovers old english folk music from a rolling stone.

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OWARD the end of 2017 I was walking up Fore Street in Totnes, mobile phone in hand, loudspeaker on. On the back of the phone, my stick on NASA certified gizmo protecting me from the head frying microwaves. If it’s good for NASA its good for my neurosis.

The violin playing stopped me in my tracks. ‘Can you hear that?’ I asked Freddy on the other end of the line. I held the mobile up and we both listened to the soulful, folk tune filling the street. When the musician finished I asked if I could find any gig info online. He shook his head, smiled and introduced himself. Dave is part of the duo, ‘Pony’. They have swum free of the sea of online musical promotion and advertise their music the old way: the street and printed word.

No official web presence, no smart phone tech support. They play towns, pubs, festivals and fields.

As we spoke about this new/old way of getting your work out there,

Helping People & Reducing Waste

I made my decision about buying that smartphone (see issue 51). I’d felt pressured to get one because my publisher wants me to step up my online presence. I may step up the presence but I won’t be carrying it around in my pocket. Buying a Fairphone isn’t going to make my life better or easier. If I need info on the move, I can ask. I truly welcome time away from tech. My old school candy bar phone did a fine job of letting a friend share with me that sublime, old English folk music in the middle of Totnes.

So, how do I let the world know about my new book without falling into the infinite monkey cage? Here’s a good place to start: The Mindful Man – Words from the Earth (it will be available in shops).

You’ll find, ‘Pony’ busking in North Devon, Ashburton, Totnes, Newton Abbot and beyond. For their upcoming gig mailing list: ptrekker33@yahoo.co.uk You won’t find their music online.

See if you can find their fine, community centred talent in the real world. It’s a rare treat.

Read more from Caspar at www. wordsfromtheerath.co.uk

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Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

21

HERE’S your festival programme for 2018 featuring events across the South West.

Reconnectland has some of the best festivals in the country, and here are our highlights to look forward to throughout this year. We’ll continue to highlight a few of the local gems in future issues.

See you in the sunshine...

Healing Light Festival January 27-28 Heartlands, Pool TR15 3QY A showcase for Cornish based complementary therapists.

Manifest Cabaret February 24 Ashprington Village Hall A taste of Manifest with their late winter cabaret.

Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival March 2-4 Plymouth University PL4 8AA Celebrating 13 years of musical innovation.

Teignmouth Classical Music Festival March 2-11 Venues across Teignmouth Featuring top local amateur and professional musicians.

Teignmouth & Dawlish Drama Festival of One Act Plays March 15-17 Shaftesbury theatre, Dawlish, EX7 9PB Festival of one act plays previously called The Teignmouth Drama Festival.

Grinagog Festival April 20-22 Venues across Torquay The Torquay festival returns with a weekend of mudless mischief by the sea.

Paignton Bike Festival May 4-6 Paignton seafront Fund raising for Charity put on by Bikers Make A Difference.

Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink May 5-7 Exeter Castle & Northernhay Gardens Food and drink from across the area with demonstrations, and after dark party nights.

This Earth Gathering May 10-13 A venue near Broadclyst, Exeter A gathering for women.

Dart Music Festival May 11-13 Venues across Dartmouth Celebrating it’s 22nd year and free to attend. Donations welcome.

The Cursus Cider & Music Festival May 25-27 near Sixpenny Handley, Cranborne Chase, Dorset Expect cider and eclectic music.

Exeter Pride May 12 Venues across Exeter The 10th year of the biggest free celebration of the LGBT+ communities in the county.

Art Week Exeter May 22-28 Venues across Exeter International and homegrown artists, grassroots initiatives, cutting edge artists, and more.

Devon County Show May 17-19 Westpoint, Exeter, EX5 1DJ This year with an Ocean Discovery Zone.

The Bath Festival May 11-27 Venues across Bath 70th anniversary of the multi-arts festival of music and literature.

Wood Ipsden, Oxfordshire OX10 6AN May 18-20 Braziers Park community hold a low impact festival which is family friendly and a delight.

Rainbow’s End Holistic Wellbeing and Natural Crafts Totnes Civic Hall May 19-20 Exhibitors, demonstrations, talks, and workshops.

Mello Festival May 25-27 Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, WR8 0DP At a new location of the spring bank holiday weekend.

Shindig Weekender May 25-27 Gilcombe Farm, Somerset Returning for a fifth year to the countryside near Bath.

Port Eliot

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Festivaaaa

Here’s our pick of the festivals and

The Masked Ball May 25-27 Beacon Cragg, Porthleven Cornwall’s little gem of a themed electronic dance weekend for over 18s, happening near Looe.

Camping Be Cider Seaside May 25-28 Bredy Farm, Dorset Annual gathering for friends and families, just a pebble’s throw from the Jurassic Coast.

Bude & Stratton Folk Festival Venues across Bude, Cornwall May 25-28 A friendly mix of folk concerts, workshops and themed events with dance displays, music and song.

Bath Fringe Festival May 25-June 10 Venues across Bath Arts festival of music, dance, theatre, art exhibitions, carnival and children’s events.

Kindred Spirits Festival May 26-27 Waterloo Farm, near Launceston in Cornwall, PL15 8LL Catering for a variety of musical tastes and genres.

Love Saves The Day May 26-27 Eastville Park, Bristol BS5 6XA A ‘love fuelled’ weekend of bands and DJs. Vegfest May 26-28 Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol All exhibits are 100% vegan - no animal products used at all.

Dawlish Arts Festival May 26–June 2 Venues across Dawlish The oldest arts festival in the South West.

Plymouth Film Festival June 2-3 Plymouth Arts Centre, PL4 0EB Founded in 2013 as a local event, it now hosts international films alongside the work of the best of the west.

Manifest Southwest May 30-June 3 Dunnabridge, Dartmoor A camp for males of all ages.

Kingsbridge Food and Music Festival June 1-3 (TBC) The Town Square, Kingsbridge The perfect blend of local food and live music – family friendly.

Wychwood Music Festival June 1-3 Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire, GL50 4SH One of our favourites, familyfriendly.

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The Great Estate June 1-3 Scorrier House, Redruth A return of the rambunctious Garden Féte.

Bradninch Music Festival June 9-11 Various venues Bradninch Showcasing new and local performers in all genres of music, theatre, arts and performance.

Occombe Farm Festival June 15-16 Occombe Farm, Paignton TQ3 1RN Torbay’s only festival on a working farm - beer, cider, music and food.

3 Wishes Faery Fest June 15-17 Mount Edgecumbe, PL10 1HZ A family friendly festival full of fun, music, and faeries obviously.

Oceanfest June 15-17 Croyde Bay, Devon, EX33 1NZ Eco-projects and a celebration of the biosphere reserve also help to make it a festival with a conscience.

Stonehenge Summer Solstice June 18-21 Stonehenge, Wiltshire SP4 7DE The 10th year of the festival – celebrate the summer solstice at Stonehenge with sunrise at 4.15am on June 21.

The Shaldon Festival June 21-24 St Peter’s Church, Shaldon Quality classical music concerts in the village church.

Teignmouth Folk Festival June 22-24 Venues across Teignmouth Featuring concerts and performances, workshops, dance acts, and more.

Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival June 22-24 Venues across Falmouth Shanty singers fill pubs, bars, shops and stages across the town.

Eden Sessions June-July nr St Austell, Cornwall Cornwall’s Eden Project stage their annual sessions.

Wonder Fields June 29-July 1 Dunsford, EX6 7AJ Small family music festival now in its fourth year SouthCider Festival June 29-July 2 Bredy Farm, Dorset, DT6 4ND A long weekend of simple camping, quality music and cider.

Exeter Respect Festival June 30- July 1 Belmont Park, Exeter EX A celebration of the rich diversity in the city – mu dance, and more (no alc Exmouth Pride June 30 Venues across Exmouth LGBT Pride celebrating d Exmouth.

Let’s Rock Exeter June 30 Powderham Castle, EX6 A day full of 80’s music.

Summer Celebration: open day at Sharpham July 1 Sharpham House, Ashri Totnes TQ9 7UT Sharpham House day of drink, kids fun and perfo Mystic Heart Festival July 4-8 Osho Leela, Dorset SP8 The second four day gat mystics, seekers, healers and friends.

Glas-Denbury July 6-7 Fairfield Farm, Denbury 6DQ Down to earth happy loc festival near Newton Ab Rock Oyster Festival July 6-7 Dinham House, Wadebr Cornwall, PL27 6RH Food, music, art, and tho Cornish oysters.

Frome Festival July 6-15 Venues across Frome, So Music, drama, exhibition more at this cultural feas Ways With Words Festiv July 6-16 Dartington Hall, Totnes T The internationally famo festival right on our door 2000trees Festival July 12-14 Upcote Farm, Glouceste GL54 4BL Showcasing the undergr British music scene.

Once Upon A Time in th Festival July 13-15 A secret outdoor locatio West Ashton, Wiltshire The OUT West Festival m policy is varied and exp national and internation Budleigh Music Festival July 13-21 Venues across Budleigh Jazz and blues line-up.

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Beautiful Days

aaaaaaaal!

vals and events happening in the South West in 2018.

pect Festival uly 1 ark, Exeter EX1 2DH on of the richness of the city – music, food, d more (no alcohol). ide

oss Exmouth celebrating diversity in

Exeter

m Castle, EX6 8JQ of 80’s music. elebration: at Sharpham

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arm, Denbury, TQ12

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utdoor location, near on, Wiltshire West Festival music aried and expect local, nd international acts.

Music Festival

oss Budleigh lues line-up.

Tropical Pressure Festival July 13-15 Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Cornwall, TR4 8HL Live music from world artists, dance and craft workshops, and 100% vegetarian.

Snooky Fest July 14 Warren Farm, Dawlish EX7 0NG Raising funds for a local charity.

Buddhafield Festival July 18-22 Near Taunton, Somerset An intimate and joyful gathering celebrating community and connection with the land.

World Yoga Festival July 19-22 Beale Park, Reading RG8 9NW The ultimate yoga retreat-meetscamping festival experience.

Chagstock July 20-21 Whiddon Down, Chagford A family friendly music festival set in open fields on the north edge of Dartmoor.

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival July 20-22 Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum, Dorset, DT2 7EH Top up your activism with seminars, talks, and music.

Festival 8 July 20-22 Cabourne Parva, Lincolnshire A celebration of the senses held in a magical grove.

Godney Gathering July 21 Garslade Farm, Godney, Somerset, BA5 1RX A nice day out with multiple stages in Somerset.

Port Eliot Festival July 26-29 Port Eliot Estate, St Germans, just in Cornwall PL12 5ND Offers an impressive range of cultural delights in lovely setting.

WOMAD July 26-29 Charlton Park , Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 9DG A favourite not-too-far away festival for Reconnect readers.

Lapstock July 27-28 Lapford Mill, Lapford, EX17 6PU Small village festival – and all the better for it.

Kozfest July 27-29 Bobbie Watts Farm, Uffculme, EX15 2AW Imagine a Kozmik festival where everything is but a 30 second walk away…

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Leopallooza July 27-29 The Wyldes, Bude, Cornwall Often showcases acts before they hit the big time, plus bands and DJs from around the world.

The Green Gathering August 2-5 Piercefield Park, Wales NP16 6BE Off grid festival powered by wind, sun, and people.

Outcider Festival August 3-5 Fern Hill Farm, Compton Martin, Somerset BS40 6LD Just eclectic music, local cider, ale, food, and a good time.

Sidmouth Folk Week August 3-10 Venues across Sidmouth Offers more than 700 diverse events.

Lupton Holistic Festival August 4-5 Lupton House, Brixham TQ5 0LD A summer celebration with a village-like atmosphere.

Creation Fest August 4-10 Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge PL27 7JE Free Christian event with music, seminars, workshops, sports and family activities.

QuintaSensual August 4-9 The EarthSpirit Centre, Somerset TA11 6PE Tantra, sacred sexuality, meditation, yoga, love, dancing, music, and more.

Boardmasters August 8-12 Newquay, Cornwall TR8 4AN The region’s largest commercial festival which actually has a decent spirit.

Boomtown Fair August 9-12 Matterley Estate, Hampshire, SO21 1HW Their 10th anniversary will be the main replacement for Glastonbury for many.

Off Grid Festival August 9-12 The Biophilia Project, Goffins Land, Exeter EX4 9JL A 100% participatory off grid green event that’s close to Reconnect’s heart.

Dartmoor Folk Festival August 10-12 South Zeal, Dartmoor, EX20 2JL A weekend of concerts, ceilidhs, workshops, song and music sessions.

Love Summer Festival August 10-12 Newnham Park Estate, Plymouth A clean, safe, fun, family event in a secret South Devon meadow.

Plymouth Pride August 11 (TBC) Venues across Plymouth Celebrate and promoting the city’s diversity and talent.

Wilderness Gathering August 16-19 Bush Farm Bison Centre, Wiltshire, BA12 6AE A festival of bushcraft, survival and primitive living skills.

Purbeck Valley Folk Festival August 16-19 Purbeck Valley Farm, Corfe Castle, Dorset BH20 5HU Expect a good line-up at this family friendly festival.

The Green Man Festival August 16-19 Glanusk Park, Wales NP8 1LP Expect a strong line-up and lots of interesting other stuff on the programme.

Beautiful Days August 17-19 Escot Park, EX14 3AZ Levellers’ own festival sells out every year and justifiably.

Small World Summer Festival August 23-27 (TBC) Gloversbridge Farm, Headcorn, Kent TN27 9LS 100% solar powered festival of creative spirit & sustainable living.

Watchet Live Festival August 24-26 Watchet, Somerset TA23 0HS A personal favourite makes a return in 2018.

Sea Change Festival August 24-25 Venues across Totnes The Drift Records event returns.

End of the Road Festival August 30-September 2 Lamer Tree Gardens, Dorset The perfect end to the outdoor festival season.

One Love Festival August 31-September 2 Bruton, Somerset The camping festival of reggae and ska, comes to the southwest.

Exeter Green Fair September 1 (TBC) Exeter Cathedral Supporting great local causes.

Nourish September 1 Venues across Bovey Tracey A festival of music, craft and food.

Totnes Pride September 1 Venues across Totnes The UK’s largest rural pride event.

DadFest September 14-16 Forest & Beach Centre, Beeson For dangerous dads, grandfathers, male carers and their children.

Rainbow’s End Holistic Wellbeing and Natural Crafts Totnes Civic Hall May 15-16 Exhibitors, demonstrations, talks, and workshops.

Looe Music Festival September 21-23 Venues across Looe With the main stage on the beach.

Lost Weekend October/Autumn (TBC) Venues across Exeter Showcasing the best in digital creativity, art, ideas and cutting edge music.

Bodykind Festival October 12-14 Venues across Totnes The body positive event returns.

Two Moors Festival October 12-20 Venues across Dartmoor Classical music gigs in venues across Dartmoor and Exmoor.

Dartmouth Food Festival October 19-21 Venues across Dartmouth A free foodie event.

Transition Town Totnes Film Festival November 16-18 Venues across Totnes Moving to November this year, the annual film festival is based in and around Totnes Civic Hall. l ANYTHING TO ADD? Tell us about your favourite festival – email us at editor@ reconnectonline.co.uk

Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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rewilding From Dartmoor to the Kalahari - an 8 month rewilding adventure

Seasoned/ Experienced Nature Connection facilitators and wilderness skills teachers Robin Bowman and Emily Fawcett will be hosting an 8 month rewilding adventure which explores what it means to be indigenous to these islands, experiencing life and the land as hunter-fisher-gatherers, and making a return to the Old Way.

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HE journey will immerse the team in our local landscape of woodland, river, and coast, as well as the African desert. Robin explains: “From April till November we will be travelling on six journeys as a small tribe across the seasons and different habitats of Devon and the Kalahari desert, with an exciting team of trackers, elders, wilderness skills experts, wisdom keepers, foragers and storytellers.”

Robin adds: “As part of the core team on each journey, Bruce Parry will be bringing his experience and stories of living with hunter-gatherers and tribal peoples, whilst helping us fine tune our own small clan we’ll create for the year into an egalitarian tribe of sorts. Elders Linda Lemieux and Martin Shaw share the Old Stories of this land, to mark the beginning and end of our time together, to send us off well and to welcome us home again at completion.”

Over spring, summer and autumn attendees will follow in our ancestor’s footsteps: wandering, canoeing, fishing and hunting the wilds of Devon; foraging shellfish from estuaries; harvesting the ocean for fish, crabs and seaweeds, and Dartmoor for mammals, nuts, fruits and greens. “As we go we’ll be learning crafts from the experts, becoming confident in reading tracks and weather patterns, natural navigation, fire making and wild camping.”

The 8 month journey also includes travelling to the Kalahari. Robin reveals: “As the weather turns colder, we’ll set off on a two week adventure to Namibia, and journey with the oldest tribal hunter-gatherers on Earth, the Ju/hoansi San Bushmen, tracking lion, and leopard, elephant and eland.” Jon Young, renowned tracker, storyteller and founder of the Art of Mentoring and the Wilderness Awareness school, will join the group teaching bird language and tracking as well as sharing his insights into the deeper cultural elements of the Bushmen.

The final gathering, back in Reconnectland in late autumn, will seek to integrate the paths travelled as a tribe over the previous eight

months. “Elders catch our stories, and we reflect and complete what has surely been an unforgettable journey into the timelessness of the hunter-gatherer life-way.”

The course runs in association with and sponsors Louis Liebenburg’s Kalahari Master Tracker Program in Namibia and is helping to preserve San Bushmen culture and ancestral skills.

The cost of this year long re-wilding adventure is £4,500. Please be aware that travel insurance and the price of flights to and from Namibia are not included. For more information see the advert on page 17 and the website www.theoldway.info

wildlife expert MORWENNA ALLDIS from RSPB Put Spring in your children’s step OUR thinks it the perfect time to get kids out exploring.

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PRING is my favourite season because it feels like a reawakening, full of promise, energy and newness and this is really noticeable in nature. Green shoots peek through soil, delicate buds tentatively unfurl, and there’s a general buzz amongst wildlife as both the birds and bees gear-up for breeding season.

Longer daylight hours invite us to spend more time outdoors and so spring is the perfect time to nurture a connection between children and their natural environment. This is a vital relationship to build because children are the future guardians of nature. It’s only by developing a love for nature in children, a sense of awe, wonder and care for the environment, that as adults they’ll want to continue to give nature a home.

Natural England’s study into this connection reported that only 10% of UK children played regularly in natural places in 2009, compared to 40% in the 1970s. The RSPB is striving to rebalance this disconnection through our Schools Outreach work funded by Aldi supermarket. We’re offering free naturebased lessons to primary schools across the country including Plymouth. Since January 2017, RSPB’s Gemma Dunn, who runs our Plymouth Aldi project, has connected 3,400 school pupils to nature.

Gemma said: “We’re excited to be entering our second year delivering these fantastic sessions to primary

24

schools and early year providers in Plymouth. The response from schools is really positive - pupils love it. Whether watching gulls pulling up worms on the playing fields, catching woodlice in bug pots, chasing butterflies or making wild art from autumn leaves – there’s something for every age and interest.

We’re encouraging children to explore the outdoors and get personal with nature.”

Image by Ben Andrew (rspbimages.com)

l If you’re interested in an RSPB Plymouth primary school visit, email: gemma.dunn@rspb.org.uk

fun activities The RSPB’s Wild Challenges also offerand learn ore expl ver, disco to ly fami for all the Families about nature on their own doorsteps.awards for can achieve bronze, silver and gold Challenges completed activities too. The top Wild for spring are:

l prize and the Other than the perk of winning a smal made my sister really it g, siblin a ng beati of n actio satisf me eagle-eyed and I actually look at nature. We beca Our RSPB Springo ges. chan g’s sprin of e awar r and hype children connect Bingo Wild Challenge will help your the ten mini of eight lete comp just – n with the seaso g three different activities, from sniffing blossom to findin o’!

‘Bing t shou and leaf shapes,

l Sounds of Spring s begins tuning-up. l Count your Wild Miles From March the magical dawn choru s each morning increases Wild chord l As the weather improves and daylight for feet and walk voca dic melo their flex birds Male car the swap to y alarm y famil famil your Challenge your in the hope of attracting a mate. Set tion journeys of en, maybe enjoy a or cycle more. Try matching the migra early and take breakkie into the gard r the duvet, but ife: wildl some of our UK dawn stroll, or even stay snuggled unde windows wide miles from North oom • Painted lady butterflies travel 800 fling the curtains back and your bedr than day your start miles to eight way ’ for good cycle or ‘feel r walk bette – Africa – there’s no discovering the Scandinavia to with birdsong. Children will have fun et from a large • A waxwing covers 1,100 miles frommiles trump ear an ing Mak calls. different bird ing or cycling for 11 walk try – UK the piece of card is a fab way of listening. rint, help counter Wild Miles will cut your carbon footp and provide your ve your health, impro l Signs of Spring ing, warm l globa a sister and me the natural world When I was little my dad set my little the first signs of family with more opportunities to enjoy friendly competition – who could spot or bumblebee. g. sprin this challenge spring, like the first primrose, daffodil visit: https://www.rspb.org.uk/wild To take part in our Wild Challenges,

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rewilding Measure your child’s mental health? Good luck with that ALAN SWINDELL, principal of Steiner Academy Exeter, takes a look at something having a massive impact on our children - their mental health.

E HEAR plenty of statistics about child mental health these days and all are depressing. I am not going to add to them. Nor am I going to use the word ‘epidemic’. A government Green Paper set out an approach to Mental Health back in December, and it should come as no surprise that schools are expected to play a big part in ‘sorting it out’. Whatever ‘it’ might be, it is big, it is not going away any time soon, and it is already having a massive impact on our children.

Yes, schools do have a big role to play in promoting and protecting health. Although turkey twizzlers are still out there and obesity and diabetes are on the march, every good school now takes diet and exercise seriously.

On the mental health front as well, schools are doing a great deal to support the growing number of children with high levels of anxiety or ‘low mood’ (depression).

But we need to do more.

In my field of education there have

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always been three aspects to health and well-being, easily summed up as ‘body, soul and spirit’.

‘Body’ is obvious: I have often told trainee teachers ‘if in doubt, move!’ i.e. if a class is restless or not responding, some kind of relevant and structured movement will, quite literally ‘move’ things along. Add to movement a healthy diet and the body is taken care of: you have something to build on.

‘Soul’ and ‘spirit’ are vaguer, and more contentious. A magazine like this one is full of references to both, but there are national newspapers, and influential politicians, that rubbish anything that smacks of ‘Dippy-Hippy’ Totnes-speak.

One reason for this is that everything to do with the body you can measure, weigh and assess. With soul and spirit we are entering unchartered, and unmeasurable waters.

The words are sometimes used interchangeably and whilst this is not the place for semantics, I do believe that a meaningful approach to mental health will need to acknowledge a difference between the two things, and find ways of protecting both.

In a school like the Steiner Academy Exeter the soul life of children, and staff, is understood to mean everything we create together by way of our shared activity: our behaviour towards each other, our habits, our celebrations and traditions, our sense of connection, community and

context, the way we relate to our environment, right down to using colour, smell and texture to create beauty and calmness. Once the ‘body’ is taken care of in terms of food, exercise, warmth and safety, it is these shared aspects of our lives that create ‘soul’, a kind of ‘Commonwealth’.

When this Commonwealth, or ‘soul life’ is in place, there is room for the ‘spirit’ to find a home, to thrive and to flourish, a place where the individual can explore and attain his or her unique position in the world. A key word here is aspiration. I can aspire.

I can fulfil my potential. I can be unique and I can belong! The needs of my body are met, the needs of my soul are respected, the potential of my spirit can be realised. And nobody else can tell me what that is, not my parents, and certainly not my teachers!

If a healthy body makes for a healthy mind, it is a healthy soul life that will pave the way for a healthy spiritual development. If all three are in place, mental health issues may still rear their head, but the individual will have the wherewithal to manage the highs and lows, the victories and the defeats. Let’s hope for an appropriate level of funding for schools to nurture mental health in our children, and for the vision and courage to work with all aspects of the human being, not just the bits that can be measured.

Simple springtime nature activities RECONNECT with nature with our top tips. l Take a 10 minute walk in a natural space like your local park or on the beach l Top-up the bird feeders in your garden in readiness for the start of the breeding season in March/April l Make birdseed cakes with the kids – great, messy fun for the family l Watch the sun set l Create a mini pond in your garden – a huge benefit for all sorts of wildlife l Make a bug hotel in your garden l Splash in a puddle l Wrap-up and star gaze l Bring nature into your workplace environment in the form of plants or natural ‘found’ objects like sea shells.

Even these little connections with nature can be a tonic for the soul and help to increase both your physical and mental wellbeing – so get out there and re-wild yourself this spring.

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rewilding Nature is the perfect playground PLAY is vital to children’s health and wellbeing, and we need to ensure our children get to play in ways that offer play that is freer and more in tune with nature, much more than our safety oriented culture currently allows.

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OOKS such as ‘Last child in the Woods’ by Richard Louv and the work of campaigners such as Tim Gill highlight the need for children to take risks, connect with nature and each other, and spend time away from adults’ prying eyes to reach their full emotional and physical potential.

With trees and rocks to climb, hollows to hide in, streams to dam and muddy banks to get messy on, nature is the perfect playground, offering children ample room for the freedom, discovery and sensory delights that they crave.

Living in Devon we are lucky to have easy access to woodlands and streams, but we can also do our best to create or discover settings that mimic some of nature’s essential play qualities. Free play advocate and community organiser Inez Aponte who works for Earth Wrights, the local company that specialises in the design and build of natural play spaces, has a few ideas for our readers: 1) Get messy – get wet!

If you can’t access a natural body of water, look for water in public places. Public fountains offer

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endless fun. Or combine a grassy patch with a bucket of water.

Remember to bring a towel!

2) Allow them to roam Research shows that since the 1970s children’s ‘radius of activity’ has declined by 90%. Children need to experience a degree of independence to become sensible responsible adults, so offering them opportunities to go out on their own is important. If you are worried, start small: take a measure of what your child is ready for – going to the corner shop, walking to school, going to the park – and encourage them to go with a friend.

3) Find a community adventure playground Unlike commercial adventure playgrounds, community adventure playgrounds are created by the children themselves with help from qualified play workers who know how to keep your child safe while giving them the freedom they need to experiment and take risks. If there isn’t one near you encourage your council to open one or organise a pop-up adventure play event.

Picture by Earth Wrights

4) Get creative Create a collection of what is known in the trade as ‘loose parts’ – objects of all shapes and sizes that, combined with a child’s imagination, open up a world of possibilities: logs, shells, small bits of wood, egg cartons, rope. The sky’s the limit.

5) Reclaim your street Not so long ago our streets were filled with kids playing hopscotch, tag, skipping games and getting up to all sorts of shenanigans, which made up their own unique child culture. Street games are a

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great way for kids to connect, get fit and develop social skills.

6) Make a den Children need quiet reflective time too. Create cosy dens, in the garden or indoors, that encourage children to huddle together, share stories and secrets or read their favourite book.

These ideas offer children play that is self-directed and open-ended, encouraging them to use their own imaginations, test their physical skills, develop strong relationships and experience the delight and freedom they deserve.

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wellbeing email: wellbeing@reconnectonline.co.uk

WELLBEING

THE natural health and personal development PAGES Inside wellbeing...

Finding Active Hope

Heal relationship chords Exploring health on all levels Your business wellbeing Removing our fear

28 31 32 33

Experience nature’s wisdom “THE Soul’s home is in nature and its longing to rekindle this innate connection”, explains wilderness guide, Rebecca Card.

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Finding allies in leadership The power of unconscious Exploring eating disorders

37 38 39

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People might do this via a four-day Vision Quest or a shorter one-to-one session of just a few hours.

She lives and works on Dartmoor and says the area’s “other-thanhuman realm humbles, bewilders and enchants her.”

“My work is rooted in the earth and held by the land,” explains Rebecca. “Mystery and nature are the container.” She is inspired by the eco-therapy programs of Animas Valley Institute and the School of Lost Borders, as well as her own journey to find her true identity, Rebecca uses a map of the psyche that follows the cycles of nature through the year. Each represents an aspect of ourselves (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) and certain archetypes that are inside all of us. “This way of working is as ancient as the land itself,” says • Full health history • Blood pressure, nerve tests, lung tests & orthopaedic tests • Digital SPINAL SCAN with stateof-the-art NASA technology • An introduction to Network Spinal Analysis care (NSA) • Written report of findings The voucher is valid for care with DC Chris Bundy only

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Rebecca. “We are part of it and it is part of us. The map helps us to see what most needs our attention.”

Much of what participants experience is sitting and sharing in a safe, contained space and having their story reflected back to them to gain more understanding and depth. They also spend time out on the land by themselves and will receive guidance from Rebecca for self generated ceremony.

Oliver Bethany, who recently participated in one of the events, said: “Transformational. She is a truly authentic wilderness guide. Rebecca facilitated the entire process in a strong yet gentle way, helping shape our experience with subtlety, sensitivity, depth, balance, good humour, potency and a sure belief in the process, which helped me to surrender to it. Her support and guidance before, during and after was potent, measured, generous and profound. I recommend Rebecca to be your guide. I could not imagine being in safer hands.”

Rebecca is offering two Vision Quests in 2018 as well as ongoing one-toones and smaller events on Dartmoor. l For further information email: rebecca@naturewisdom.life Tel: 07960 520128 or visit: www. naturewisdom.life

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Juliette Medder

EMOTIONAL HEALTH WELCOME back to our exploration into all things emotional. In this edition our Emotional Health columnist Leigh Smith uses darkness to light the way to better emotional health.

The dark often gets a bad press

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ITH the festive season not to be ‘gloomy’ or ‘wallow behind us, the long in self pity’, but ironically it dark nights can seem is avoiding and suppressing endless, and stretch out in front these aspects of ourselves of us for many more weeks to which can lead to feelings of come with hardly a glimmer depression. of light or the promise of the Facing our inner darkness can Spring. We can lose faith in be a very real challenge, it can the possibility of change, of be a painful experience and new growth and the return of bring waves of sadness and the sun’s warmth. You might grief, but in some cases it is find these dark nights sap your necessary in order for change energy and leave you feeling to occur. Change can be hard, emotionally drained and dull. but these long dark nights can For many of us darkness can provide the opportunity to be something to fear, perhaps face even the darkest of our our deepest fears reside here, problems. The darkness forces and the shadows us to look more hide unexplored closely, focusing aspects of ourselves In a dark time, the eye and searching out begins to see, which we feel signs of growth, would be better left I meet my shadow in the here amongst the alone. However, the deepening shade. darkness lies the the dark time of In a Dark Time, by promise of emerging the year holds Theodore Roethke life, renewed and full benefits for our of hope. emotional health, In order to maintain good there is a potent tranquility emotional health and to in these dark months that function well physically we encourages introspection and need rest and stillness. Now is self reflection, and within it we the time to plant seeds, make can find the essence of who plans, and design the next we truly are. phase of who we choose to This is a good time of year be. The dark nights provide a to be with yourself, to turn place to rest, to be quiet and inwards and explore your still, revealing fertile ground, inner aspects which can be overshadowed at other times of slow down, and pause, and let out the long held breath. the year. Taking time to really be with yourself in a reflective Under the cloak of darkness is way without judgement, will your emerging self, the whisper give you insights into what of passions denied, the direction you want to move promise of creative endeavours in, and allow you the space not yet sought. Here lie the to explore what is getting in projects shelved in favour of the way. In our busy lives we more practical pursuits. As the rarely allow ourselves time seasons change let yourself to ponder, to daydream, reshuffle the deck of priority to reflect on times past and cards you hold in your hands, remember our motivations, pick your card, and follow the desires and passions. It is direction you choose. perfectly natural to push away As the light returns, and the darker more challenging energy emerges throwing moods and thoughts, in favour light on the shaded aspects of of more positive and up beat your needs, nourishing these ones. In fact we are taught fledgling hopes, foster the changes which will hold you in good emotional heath for the year ahead. The darkness is a valuable teacher, healer and resource. It holds a place of stillness and acceptance, and in its embrace we can be nurtured and comforted, here we can rest a while.

Let the darkness be your guide.

“

”

Leigh Smith is director of studies, course designer and tutor at Heartwood Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Training.

Visit www.heartwoodcounselling.org or call 01803 865464.

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Prevention and maintaining wellbeing

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tissue and to improve EN years spent living in Asia joint mobility,” explains and 20 studying Natalie. “As well as Eastern philosophies the physical benefits, has given yoga teacher massage also serves to strengthen and heal on and massage therapist, a mental and cognitive Natalie Austin a very level and to nurture and different perspective on relax us emotionally health and wellbeing.

Natalie Austin and psychologically.”

“In the West”, says Natalie believes that investing even Natalie, “we tend to seek help only in just a monthly massage treatment when we start to experience pain, is a great way for us to keep our when we can no longer ignore that body healthy. She believes that ‘niggle’ or our poor bodies are by deepening our relationship with screaming at us for attention. In ourselves, we become attuned to these instances, treatment can often our body’s needs and able to make require long-term attention and healthier choices for ourselves to prove costly.” prevent illness and poor health.

By contrast, in the East there Natalie specialises in deep tissue, is a focus on prevention and therapeutic massage and also maintaining health and wellbeing. offers reflexology and Indian head “Regular massage are a part of massage at Chapel House Studios, daily life over there and many Totnes every Wednesday. people receive massage once a week, not so much to cure but to l Visit: www.loveyogatree.co.uk for prevent illness and pain; to increase a full list of treatments and prices, circulation and heart health; to which start at £20. Email natalie@ stimulate organs and glands; to loveyogatree.co.uk or call 07516 condition and strengthen muscle 720246.

Healing our relationship cords RELATIONSHIPS define us… Our relationships with other people, with the world around us and with ourselves.

Marc Blausten, who founded The School of Energy Healing, explained that when we interact with people, there is an exchange of energy. We start to create relationship cords, which can become twisted and entangled.

Some of his work involves healing and smoothing tangled relationship cords. He tells Reconnect…

ELATIONSHIP Cords normally go from the chakra of one person to the chakra of the other, and have the shape of a rope made up of many fibres. An energy fibre is created whenever there is an interaction, communication or shared experience. The more long-lasting or intimate a relationship is, the stronger the bond will be.

Our first relationship cords are formed in childhood with our parents and family. This sets up our basic patterns of transference and ego defence.

Early experiences teach us that love is often conditional, and that in order be accepted we need to regulate our behaviour in relation to certain people.

In the same way that water flows down the path of least resistance, energy will flow down the already established route. So when we meet a new person there will be a tendency for the energy to flow down the existing parental cord, creating expectations and evoking habitual patterns of behaviour. Interestingly these patterns can be accessed through the relationship cords.

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Healthy, caring interactions create cords that are brightly coloured with positive emotions, and the energy flows equally between the people involved.

However, negative intention towards another person creates cords that can be misshapen or twisted, dull in colour and entangled with co-dependency hooks and transference. This can have a huge impact upon someone’s physical health, as many issues can be traced back to traumatic experiences within early relationships.

Energy healing works in the structure of the relationship cords to heal with these patterns of transference and dysfunction. As we heal these formative relationships with family, our present day relationships tend to also become more healthy and loving.

Marc has 30 years experience with Energy Healing and Homeopathy. He was clinical director at The College of Practical Homeopathy in the 90s, one of the first people in the UK to graduate from The Barbara Brennan School of Healing (USA) Marc sees clients in Totnes, Plymouth and Online. For more information visit: www. healingandhomeopathy.com or call: 0333 433 0454

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WELLBEING The meaning of healing

Real food, Real life,

Real health

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HAT is healing? This is the question posed by Teresa Wicksteed, who practices as a Sound Healing Practitioner in South East Cornwall.

People who are not familiar with holistic principles sometimes comment that they would not benefit from healing because they are not ill, or they ask what conditions a healing session could cure. Teresa believes that this misses the point.

“This is not the way that I, among many other holistic healers, would understand the meaning of healing (and personally I would always refer the client to their GP if they have undiagnosed conditions)”, she says. “For me, healing represents a state of balance and wholeness: the original root word in the old English was haelen which literally meant ‘being whole’.”

Teresa trained with the College of Sound Healing and says her understanding of what healing is has been strengthened and transformed as she has experienced its farreaching effects on clients.

She says: “Many conditions can be improved, and a cure can be effected, when the whole person is in balance.”

Teresa describes the process of achieving this state of balance and wholeness in a client as being a bit like tuning a musical instrument. “ I would argue that we all need re-tuning quite regularly, whether on a physical, emotional or energetic level, or more usually, in an holistic way, which involves a balance of all of these vitally interconnected parts of being human. The human body is remarkable in its ability to heal itself, but it is sometimes difficult for us to allow this to happen without a bit of

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Teresa Wicksteed external help and support.”

Teresa believes that the fast-paced world we live in means that there is a greater need than ever before for us to slow down, breathe, relax and receive healing.

“As the body is around seventy per cent water, sound waves easily flow through and re-balance internal organs and tissue, bringing a deep feeling of wellbeing. During a healing session, you will experience a feeling of profound relaxation allowing holistic healing to take place on all levels; physical, emotional and energetic.”

An individual sound healing session lasts around an hour. Teresa makes gentle vocal sounds, or “tones” somewhere between chanting and singing - interspersed with meditative silence. Depending on individual need, she also uses Tibetan bowls, Tingshas, special tuning forks and rattles. l For more information email: teresa@teresawicksteed.co.uk or call: 07968 941854.

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Nourish the body and ease the mind

instruments. It is a IF, like me, you’ve ever wondered what on earth profound experience. a “gong bath” is, Sally You are likely to feel Free of Sounds for the tension flowing away, Soul would like to shed a allowing greater little light on the subject. wellbeing, both She explains that gong physical and mental, baths are to do with and a lasting sense being bathed in sound.

There is not a bathtub in of peacefulness and sight and clients remain balance.” fully clothed throughout.

A client recently “Gongs produce sounds commented: “I have Sally Free that nourish the body received both a gong and ease the mind,” said Sally. bath and a singing bowl session “Sound creates movement and with Sally. Both were truly wonderful movement creates change.” experiences. During the sessions I felt Sally described feeling totally in completely relaxed and, afterwards, awe the first time she ever heard I felt energised and clear.” the gongs. “They had an incredibly powerful effect on me physically and Sally is based in Torbay but emotionally, I just knew that they offers regular monthly sessions in were the path I was going to take.”

Brixham at Lupton House, Torquay Four years ago she became a gong at the Yoga Studio and Dawlish at and sound practitioner. Sally offers Changes Now Studio sessions for individuals and groups, working all over the UK using Alongside her healing sessions, gongs, crystal singing bowls, and Sally is planning a programme of other instruments. workshops in 2018, combining A gong bath session lasts around an gongs and drums for soul hour and a half and mainly consists journeying, gongs and breath work, of gongs but there are also other and drumming circles with gongs. instruments included such as singing For more information visit: www. bowls (both Crystal and Tibetan). soundsforthesoul.co.uk or email: Sally explained: “You simply rest sally@soundsforthesoul.co.uk Tel: while listening to the gongs, crystal singing bowls, Koshi’s and other 07719 770660

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WELLBEING The goddess Lakshmi she say yes

TERESA WICKSTEED

It’s been a long process.

Sound Healing Practitioner

07968 941854 www.teresawicksteed.co.uk teresa@teresawicksteed.co.uk www.collegeofsoundhealing.co.uk

“1987, aged 22, I suffered a demonic attack.

It smashed down through my head and I had a vast demonic urge to literally rip my friend limb from limb. I knew that I could.

A dreadful space. The following day the whole room became manifested full of black veils flitting everywhere, extraordinarily awful to behold. When my mother came to visit I was so traumatised, deep deep inside, I couldn’t let her in to see the ruin of what had been her boy.”

OR some people, healing clearing work is a calling.

There can be many reasons that people are called to help others but one of the most powerful is a cathartic personal experience.

That is how it was for spiritual energy healer, Rob Sidoli.

He describes, at the age of 22, suffering from a demonic attack.

It left him traumatised and “in blackness that was truly awful to behold.” Rob felt like there as no future for him, but over the following decades he not only came to terms with the experience but he used it as his motivation to help others. “An absolute determination to run for the sun…” is how he describes the feeling.

Since 1992 he has been studying the teachings of The Ascended Masters, which provide spiritual

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education for people seeking a deeper understanding of life. He spent three years with the School of Energy Healing and eleven years practising as an energy healer with the Natural Health Centre in Totnes.

In his work as a healer, Rob calls on spiritual guidance from all disciplines, including the Goddess Lakshmi, Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Michael, Buddhas with many frequencies, Thor, Akasha and Jesus Christ. He explained that different spiritual beings convey different benefits, according to what is needed: Lakshmi conveys freedom from poverty (spiritual and otherwise); Buddhas represent anchors of light, immoveable; Archangel Ariel and Archangel Gabriel offer grounding in our earth and powerful rootedness; Ola Kala Akasha true feminine; Durga brings consuming darkness and so on.

Rob explained: “The wounds we carry act as portals for undesirable energies to enter. I access these portals and mobilise the forces of light to clear the area and take out all undesirables. My work includes soul body alignment, clearing ancestral karma, core healing.

Working at this level is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and your children and to the generations to come. The clients I work with act as catalysts for change, both here on earth and on the Astral level. This type of work moves mountains.”

Rob works from Rattery and Totnes.

For more information about energy healing, contact Rob on 07833 221118.

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WELLBEING Exploring health on all levels Who better to explain the task of the homeopath than Exeter Natural Health Centre’s Mo Morrish who has been a homeopath for more than 25 years.

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HE homeopathic consultation is potentially a unique opportunity in medicine as the patient is enabled to explore her health on all levels; physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually, within the context of her whole life i.e. her ancestry, her story, her history and her biology and pathology. This of itself is almost always enlightening and empowering.

The task of the homeopath is to listen, to listen and to listen some more and then to ask the questions which arise of themselves naturally within the flow of the exploration. In this way the patient enters fully into the inner landscape of their current disturbed state and a medicine emerges which can mirror and so help to move that state towards health.

A patient will often comment “this feels like psychotherapy or counselling” or “this is like being attended by a doctor who is also a counsellor”; “it’s two for the price of one!”

As an experienced practitioner, I

NATURE WISDOM

integrate a range of therapeutic disciplines without the need to name them.

As a homeopath, the territory to be explored is everything within the mind-body continuum. What engages me the most in the whole process are the questions that emerge, just so, through being fully present and attentive. T.S. Elliot wrote: “Oh my soul....be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions”, and I aspire to be that “him”.

This practice has proven useful to people struggling with all kinds of poor health, from recurring colds to cancer, and also to those engaged in personal development or moving through transitions from one life phase to another. In these cases the overriding question changes from, “what needs to be cured” to a more soulful, “what does his angel want with him?” So many times has a person exclaimed, “I have been through other therapeutic processes yet no one has ever asked me that before!”

To find out more or to make an appointment with Mo Morrish please call 01392 214074 www. thehomoeopathicpractice.co.uk

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Rebecca@naturewisdom.life • 07960 520128 • www.naturewisdom.life www.facebook.com/NatureWisdom.life/

Counselling can help to set your emotional house in order

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ITH the lengthening days, the year turning away from the Winter months and beginning to edge towards Spring, we may be feeling an inclination to clear out unneeded stuff from our living spaces.

Choosing to get rid of what we no longer want and need, can be both refreshing and liberating.

Counsellor Juliette Medder suggests that doing the same with the clutter of thoughts and feelings in our minds deciding what we want to keep or let go of - can also help to see our lives afresh and bring new inspiration.

She says: “Sometimes, coping with life’s challenges - either past or current - as well as juggling earning a living with caring for children or older adults, can mean there is no space or time for reflection about one’s own needs or desires in life. It can be difficult for us to get a sense of what we would even like to feel and do and be, because our minds and emotions are just too clogged up to see the wood for the trees.”

Prioritising ourselves by setting aside time and space in the week to just have the opportunity to air our thoughts in a confidential and well-held space, can sometimes be all we need to find some clarity and new ways of seeing ourselves and our lives.

“It can happen that people feel

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so stuck or overwhelmed that they don’t really know where to start to try to describe how they are feeling,” says Juliette. “ I may then offer the use of crayons and felt tips so they can express themselves on paper, or clay or Sand Tray to show how they are feeling. And it may not take very long before people start to feel a sense of mental and emotional space and see new ways to move forward. “ Juliette works in Totnes, Paignton and near Newton Abbot and offers a free introductory session. After that, sessions cost £40/hour.

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Juliette featured in our last issue, and we forgot to print her contact details (sorry Juliette). Here they are: Please contact her on 07923 894499 or 01803 906731 or email: info@juliettemedder. co.uk or visit her website www. juliettemedder.co.uk

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WELLBEING

Our Kate the cafe copywriter.

Body talking and understanding

Your business wellbeing

W

RECONNECT’s not just about your personal wellbeing, our own KATE PHILBIN is here to help with some blog advice for those of you reading this who have businesses.

B

LOG? What does it even mean? I hear that quite a lot and it’s a fair question. It’s one of those newlyinvented words that has slipped into common parlance, a bit like Brexit. Let’s not even go there.

The word “blog” originated from two words “web log”. Blogs started off as nothing more than online journals or diaries but they have developed and grown over the years into something much bigger.

Blogging has personal and business benefits. I can attest to this because writing a blog led to me doing a TED talk last year. I write lots of different blogs for lots of different people, all of whom have something they want to say and people they want to say it to.

As a healer or therapist or business, you might be at the stage of wanting to dip your toe in the blog pool or you might be paddling along slowly and thinking you really should learn front crawl. We teach the basics of blogging at our Writing for Social Media workshop. But, before you even start trying to write anything, it’s worth considering why you are blogging, what you are hoping to achieve.

Here are some of the reasons why blogging might be good for you and your business: 1. Say what you want to say and make a difference – blogs are a platform to share your thoughts, ideas and passions.

If your aim is to make a difference you

can use them to build awareness and gather followers.

2. Build your business – blogging is a great way of generating useful content that can help to boost your online presence and give you something to share on social media. This is about giving something valuable to clients and potential clients, it’s not about generating meaningless waffle.

3. Build your network – you might hear marketers talking about building a platform. They mean connected with likeminded individuals who are interested in what you say or do. All business is built on relationships. These people might become your clients or your advocates, your suppliers or your friends.

4. Be yourself – you don’t have to be a brilliant writer to blog well but you do need to be yourself. People are interested in you and what you have to say not your brilliant sentence construction or grammatical prowess.

There is loads more I could say but no more room to say it. If you are interested in having some blog coaching, give me a call, or come along to our next social media workshop. Or if you’d like me to write your blogs for you, I offer one-off prices and blog bundles of five or ten blogs.

For more information see www.cafecopywriter. com or email kate@katephilbin.com

E tend to think of “language” as being about the words we use. But, massage therapist, Tana Cohen who runs Soulbody Healing, points out that our bodies have a language all of their own and that massage is about creating a dialogue using the body’s own language.

Tana said: “It is an exchange of information. I have learned over the years of being a qualified massage therapist how to understand the body’s language and create “a conversation” with my clients.

It’s all about connecting to each person individually and being flexible and able to adjust one’s techniques and treatments. After all, we each decide to book a massage for different reasons. Aches and pains, insomnia, migraines, fatigue, low mood and emotional stress are just a few of the many challenges that can be addressed through massage therapy.”

Tana finds it rewarding to see people leave her treatment room feeling lighter in their body and calmer in their mind. She trained in the NSW School of Massage in Sydney and is qualified in relaxation, aromatherapy and deep tissue

massage, as well as having an in-depth understanding of anatomy and physiology.

She has built up an eclectic variety of massage techniques from around the world and incorporates many of these into her treatments. Being a lover of massage herself – receiving as well as giving – she admits to having had some poor massages over the years, which has taught her what not to do!

“As human beings, we experience ever-changing feelings, both on a physical and emotional level. At times, we may wish to have a firm massage that releases all those knots. On other days we may need to drift away and just rest. I believe it is the duty of a massage therapist to reflect those changes and understand the transience of our physical and emotional needs.

“I always ask what my clients wish to receive from the treatment on that day. I use my knowledge, intuition, and experience to treat them to the best of my ability and, with that, begin a conversation of healing and restoration.” l For more information call 07515456224 or email: tana.jcohen@gmail.com

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£41.85 WELLBEING

Lama Rod Owens

Removing our fear

FeAR can get in the way of intimacy and our sense of connection with others, according to Lama Rod Owens, Guiding Teacher for the Radical Dharma Boston Collective and co-author of ‘Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation’.

H

E will be visiting Gaia House in April to host a unique retreat looking at how Buddhist teachings can help foster conversations and contemplations on subjects we tend to fear talking about, such as race, gender, sex, class and identity. The two-night retreat will combine silence, meditation and Dharma talks with small group discussions, partner discussions, guided exercises, and movement practices.

He says: “Many of us experience a subtle fear of others. We bring our histories of wounded-ness into all our interactions in different ways. It’s often difficult to experience a sense of connection and openness with others when we feel limited by our discomfort in our own experience or struggle to protect ourselves and maintain boundaries.

“For me, the goal of Buddhist practice is to get free; to disrupt the ways in which we create violence for ourselves and others; to illuminate deep ignorance with wisdom; to develop a basic relationship to our innermost goodness.”

Lama Owens will be guiding retreatants through practices that he has developed to work through barriers. He added: “It’s hard for people, especially marginalised people, to feel safe in a retreat container when they haven’t developed trust for one another. So, I will be offering a balance of silent and non-silent practices. For me, feeling safe in a container is fundamental to practising in a way that this good for me.

This is what I mean by community intimacy.”

Gaia House is a silent meditation retreat centre and registered charity near Newton Abbot. It offers meditation instruction and teachings, drawn from a variety of Buddhist traditions and led by experienced teachers from around the world. Developing Community Intimacy runs from 6-8 April. l For more information visit: www.gaiahouse.co.uk or call 01626 333613.

Book a series of ads this size and it will cost you just £41.85 a month - including free editorial. Regular advertiser Marc Blausten can vouch for the success of advertising. He said, “The advert and articles are generating enquires and bookings. So I’m very pleased with it .” You too could find customers through an advert in these pages, call Scott on 01392 346342.

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T

HE way we deal with grief in the West is often to hide it away, to suppress it or deny it. Rarely do we think of coming together with other people and dancing our socks off for what we love and have lost. But that is what Rosie Perks believes we ought to be doing.

Rosie teaches Movement Medicine in closed groups, workshops and one to one sessions.

From her years of teaching and her own experience of living with and learning from grief, she has come to realise how vital it is to let our grief be seen and to express it. She believes in grief as a key to life and is endlessly touched by the reclamation of soul she sees when people engage with the beauty and strength of their grief.

With fellow Movement Medicine teacher Ben Yeger, Rosie is currently exploring the resource in grief and conflict. She sees a clear link between the two. Rosie said: “When we deny our grief (as so often happens in our current culture), this creates a separation or conflict within us. Equally, when conflict arises and we do not allow it, the result is often destructive, creating grief for what has been damaged or lost. So in connecting them and reclaiming their vital life energy, grief and conflict can become trusted allies and gateways to more understanding of our humanity.”

She added: “There is no place I have yet met where my moving body cannot hold me. Trusting and allowing this I become more alive and clearer in who I am. I have seen this time and again on the dance floor in others.”

Rosie and Ben are leading a five-day Spirit of the Dancing Heart workshop in Dartington, 18 - 22 April. Visit dance-scapes.com for information on this and other events.

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Editorial: 01392 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk

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WELLBEING A perfect space in which to train

Somatic Movement Education in Body-mind Centering® Exploring the dynamic relationship between body and mind Individual Lessons, workshops and courses in Body-mind Centering® with Rosalyn Maynard MA BMCA. Rosalyn is certified by the School for Body-mind Centering®. She has been practising and teaching somatics for over twenty years.

www.tsoel.org.uk | rosalynjmaynard@gmail.com | 07966 403 574

Would you like to employ Sherlock Holmes on your health case?

Try the next best thing and consult an experienced homeopath with a sense of humour and 3000 remedies to find your perfect match.

Put us all in the same place at the same time and the results could be unimaginable!

Jacki Becker RSHom

jackibeckerhomeopath.co.uk (Totnes) t: 01803 867747 m: 07792 059 867

Try something different in 2018…

Education & Training in Mental Health & Wellbeing in Exeter

Part-time courses starting this February:  Certificate in Counselling: Our rewarding 12 day entry level course is Quality Checked by the NCS. Weekend and weekday study options available.  Diploma in Creative Arts Therapies: An inspiring 12 day post qualifying course for those in helping professions.  Diploma in Eating Disorders: Brain, Body & Mind: An informative 12 day post qualifying course. Ideal for a range of suitably qualified wellbeing professionals.

For further information or to apply: 01392 219200 / enquiries@ironmill.co.uk

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counselling training and our tutors provide a spiritual framework for a learning that is full of self discovery.”

Julie explained that mindfulness is fundamental to the humanistic training Lotus provides: “There is an emphasis on the development of open-heartedness, helping students to find an inner awareness of the self. Our students say they feel well supported in their training and experience a deeply rewarding journey in terms of personal development.”

For information and course start dates visit: www.lotustrainingco. co.uk or email juliejeffs1@gmail. co.uk.

Get less distracted or distressed

Whatever your health dilemma, give Homeopathy a whirl in 2017

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THE right setting is important when it comes to training, particularly training that requires us to engage the whole of ourselves with honesty and open-heartedness.

Lotus Training Counselling Course takes place at the Crownhill Fort in Plymouth. This historic relic of Plymouth’s Victorian naval defences provides a tranquil setting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The training rooms have been transformed into calm spaces that encourage the practice of mindfulness, which is central to all of Lotus Training’s learning.

Julie Jeffs, Founder of Lotus Training, said: “The awarding body that verifies our counselling courses recently described the rooms we use at the Crownhill Fort as creatively colourful open spaces that provide a sense of calm which enables the practice of mindfulness. They said we offer offers a unique experience in

Follow us:

I

F you’ve ever heard the expression “indigo children” or “crystal children” you may be familiar with the idea that some children arrive into our world with a different aura structure and energy frequency to the rest of us.

Consciousness leaders noticed that these children vibrate at a different frequency to many adults whose frequencies have changed over time and become imbalanced.

Sarah Jennings, inspirational energy healer and Aura Mediator says that the technique called AuraTransformation™ helps adults to match the energy structure and frequency of these children.

She said: “This energy is far simpler, more grounded, heartcentred, higher self embodied and not plugged in mentally to the collective consciousness of modern day society. Hence, it is wonderful for parents, families, and teachers, in addition to many other individuals from all walks of life.”

AuraTransformation was created by Anni Sennov, who has been steadily spreading its message and benefits across the globe over the last 21 years. Sarah said: “I am personally so passionate about it because it changed my life, and everyone’s life that I am close to. My relationship with my daughter became so connected that we’re still on cloud nine, five years down the line.”

She explained that AuraTransformation aligns and remaps our internal energy and aura structures as a way of achieving energetic harmony and resilience. It takes four hours over two sessions to complete the process.

She said: “The outcome is fantastic as you get far less distressed and distracted by the small things that niggle away at you, or the bigger issues which have a tendency to

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throw you off track. You also begin a process of embodying your higher self in every cell of your body, which we call crystallising.

The treatment itself is just the very beginning of the process and being grounded in this way means you can really enjoy your body and your senses and get stuff done!”

Sarah added: “It’s a wonderful practice for everybody, including people who work in close proximity to others, or directly with energy and the body. If you feel you are an empath and constantly absorbing other people’s energy then this may indicate that you have a damaged energy field. A huge proportion of the people who are attracted to AuraTransformation have little or no protection left. It’s amazing to feel the strong protective Crystal Aura around you after the process.”

For more information and access to videos visit: www.withsarahj.com or email: daretobe@withsarahj.com There are also opportunities to train as an Aura Mediator. Ask for more details.

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WELLBEING

Catherine Hale

exploring female sexual arousal and pleasure

DANCE SCAPES Movement Medicine with Rosie Perks IN DARTINGTON, DEVON

S

HROUDED in mystery and mis-education, female sexuality is an under talked about topic, according to Catherine Hale, a sexological body worker who specialises in working in female sexuality and trauma.

She says: “Historically, Western culture has shamed, discouraged and actively banned sexuality through ideas like original sin and equating erotic desire with evil.

“When it was discovered women didn’t need to orgasm to conceive a baby, the most well-known female arousal structure related to pleasure, the clitoris, was removed from anatomy books.”

Catherine believes the problem is compounded by the limited language we use to talk about our sexuality, with echoes of shame running through our euphemisms, ‘dirty’ words, baby talk and clinical language.

“Most well-educated people probably consider they have a good understanding of female sexual anatomy,” says Catherine, “however, our accepted cultural ideas and images of female sexual genitals are missing some really crucial information.

“Even now, most of the contemporary anatomy books and illustrations leave out most of the areas associated with female arousal and pleasure. This omission creates a gap in our mental maps of female genitals, often leaving women questioning whether they actually have these parts.”

In her work, Catherine often hears

women say they have no idea where their G-spot is, or how to touch it in a way that feels good. “Every woman deserves the right to be fully educated about her arousal and pleasure, and to be engaging sexually with someone who is equally educated about her arousal and pleasure,” says Catherine.

“With this education, entering into bliss, dropping into surrender, owning our wild, untamed sexual self becomes our sexual reality. As opposed to sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction.”

As a sexological body worker, Catherine says she is “passionate about offering people with vaginas and those who love people with vaginas, an up-to-date comprehensive education about sexual arousal and pleasure.”

She is running two events in February to share this information: February 1: A talk on The Female Anatomy of Arousal, Dartington (for everyone.)

February 4: A workshop on The Anatomy of Arousal: Her Hidden Pleasure, Dartington (women only) Booking is essential. For more information or to book visit: www. tantricawakening.org or email catherine@tantricawakening.org

closed groups one to one sessions one day & longer workshops

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THE JOY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE MOVING BODY

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Gwen Channer with many years life experience, Modern Psychology, Therapeutic Hypnosis, Success & Transformation Coaching, Quantum Touch energy healing and more.

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Transformational breathing BREATHING is something we all know how to do without thinking about it, right? Well, not exactly.

Transformational breathing practitioner, Les Elms explains that the majority of teenagers and adults let go of their natural ability to breathe fully. He said: “We are conditioned from an early age to control our feelings and emotions, and as a result our muscles tighten and our breathing patterns become restricted. The impact on our mental and physical wellbeing is huge.”

Les teaches that by learning how to consciously connect to our breath and encourage its natural rhythms, we can find more peace, feel more energised, gain emotional freedom and feel more empowered.

He is running several short workshops, lasting just two and a quarter hours, that will introduce participants to the principles and practice of transformational breathing. The

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workshops include a demonstration, followed by a group breathing session of around an hour.

The next workshop is at Changes Now in Dawlish on Tuesday 20 February from 6.45pm to 9pm. It costs £25 and is limited to six participants. The same workshop is running at The Studio Torquay on Saturday 24 March from 1.45pm to 4pm. Cost and available spaces are the same.

In April, Les is planning a combined breathing and sound day. It will take place in Torquay on Saturday 8 April.

Check the website for more details.

Les believes that transformational breathing has the power to change your life. Why not take a deep breath and find out more?

For information visit: www. breathsouthwest.com, call 07828566553 or email les@ breathsouthwest.com

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Riverstone, the home of Heart & Soul Funerals, is friendly and comfortable, situated on the banks of the River Dart near Austin’s Bridge at Buckfastleigh.

The hall provides sanctuary for vigils and a beautiful space for a funeral ceremony.

You are always welcome to visit us.

Traditional, individual & green funerals and plans Riverstone,18 Dart Mills, Buckfastleigh, TQ11 0NF

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01364 643522 (24 hour service 7 days a week)

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WELLBEING

exploring inner worlds with sandplay

Combining hypnotherapy and life coaching to make the changes that you want in your life, moving yourself to that next step. ..

☎ Lynda 07495 809223 www.heartandminddevon.co.uk

S

ANDPLAY Therapy has its roots in Jungian psychology and the transpersonal. It is also recognised as an important part of play therapy.

The Nautilus Rooms in Totnes is one of the foremost places in the South West to experience the therapeutic benefits of sandplay.

Ruth Baker, an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist who trained with the only UK-based training organisation dedicated to Integrative Sandplay and Therapeutic Art training, practices from here. She explained: “Sandplay is great therapy for all ages and versatile in many different settings. It enables clients to create a story or revisit an experience or simply express how they are feeling using a tray of sand as the context.

“We use a wide selection of objects from nature, real life, fantasy, mysticism and the spiritual realms as symbols. Here at Nautilus we probably have one of the largest collections of sandplay symbols in the South West. The sand can be used wet or dry, moved or left almost untouched. There are no rights, wrongs or judgements in this way of working.”

Ruth has over 20 years’ experience as a counsellor, psychotherapist, supervisor, teacher and consultant. She runs courses in sandplay, counselling and mindfulness and has worked with people of all ages in a wide range of settings, including mental health services, drug and alcohol services and the probation service. Ruth uses sandplay and art therapeutically with individuals, couples, groups and in supervision sessions. She is creative in her approach and brings this to her teaching as well as her work as a therapist.

She said: “Sandplay is a creative way of exploring our inner worlds: our relationship with self, others and our life experiences. It offers people of all ages the psychological safety to communicate what it is they need or what they are feeling. Blocked energies can be transformed, situations can be seen in a new and often expansive light. It creates greater understanding.

It operates at depth yet can also feel fun and creative. You do not need to be a ‘creative type’ to enjoy and benefit from this way of working. Any one of us, young or old, whether you are working with individuals, couples or groups, can benefit from the power of working in the sand. My youngest client was three and my oldest in their 80s.”

Ruth is running a series of two day Introduction Sandplay Courses, aimed at counsellors, psychotherapists, students, psychologists, youth workers, social workers, teachers etc. Ruth comments ‘many student counsellors experience half a day’s training in this form of therapy. If you would like to find out a bit more and experience the depth and power, this weekend is perfect for you’. The training is experiential and interactive, giving participants an opportunity to play in the sand, experience its power and gain an overview of the underlying theory. It covers the importance of mindfulness practice and the creative imagination in connecting with the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche and the significance of symbols.

It is accredited by the Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists.

Further advanced accredited courses in sandplay and therapeutic art are also available.

The course costs £150. Dates for this year are: March 17 and 18 April 28 and 29 June 2 and 3 September 15 and 16 November 24 and 25 For more information contact Ruth Baker by email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com.

l Also check www.nautilusrooms.uk for more information about our practitioners, courses and events.

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WELLBEING Find your essential ally to help you lead

H

AVE you ever wondered why many leaders have an executive coach? That’s the question posed by Matthew Rochford who works as a coach in Exeter. He believes that a coach is an essential ally for hard working leaders - someone who can provide balance and perspective.

Matthew explained: “Many leaders in the business and voluntary sector are visionaries. They have bright ideas, a plan to execute them and the personal qualities to get others on board. But, the statistics are sobering. The number of days lost are around 11.7 days for stress, depression and anxiety. Some leaders can find it hard to function and problems like stress and sleepless nights are common. Over time, some people burn out or leave their high flying jobs.”

Matthew, a qualified Coach, completed several trainings including “Leadership in Times of Chaos” facilitated by the American business leader Margaret Wheatley.

He recalls her saying that the leaders she worked with all had some kind of reflective or even spiritual discipline to help them survive the pressure, intimating that without it, they wouldn’t cope.

Matthew said: “After teaching many people in wellbeing techniques, and hearing their reasons for trying it, I completely agree with her. Leaders need psychological resources. This is

HEALING AND HOMEOPATHY

Barbara Brennan Healing Practitioner Registered Homeopath

one of the reasons they hire coaches - because it helps them reflect and bring order to the chaos. Problems then seem to solve themselves.

“Having an executive coach means having a powerful ally, someone who understands the role of the mind in dealing with the demands of modern life. They’re able to see things with a degree of detachment, clarity and strength that amplifies the leader’s own inner wisdom. Plus, they’re able to really listen, hold you to account (in a compassionate way), challenge and keep you focused on the goals that really matter to you. I believe this is why so many great leaders choose to work with an executive coach.”

The potent blend of Energy Healing with Homeopathy can be an effective way to heal from all types of conditions from traumatised emotional states, to serious chronic diseases.

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Healing and Teaching for 30 years For a free initial chat call 0333 433 0454 www.healingandhomeopathy.com

To arrange a free 2-hour session contact Matthew on 07717 172691 or visit matthewrochford.co.uk

PLYMOUTH - TOTNES - ONLINE

A springboard into the year AT this time of year, do you feel like Tigger – bouncy, energetic, full of fun and flexibility? Or, are you more akin to Eeyore – a bit down in the dumps and gloomy?

P

SYCHIC and Tarot reader, Bell Bartlett, reckons that a reading can be just the way to Tiggerise yourself so you can springboard into your plans and dreams for the year ahead.

As a self-employed person, she knows very well the time, energy and self belief it takes to keep putting ourselves out there with limitless positivity. And sometimes, particularly when it’s cold and rainy and dark, that positivity can flag a bit.

A reading from Bell can show you how to ask for and receive more support from others - and from Spirit - as a way of enabling more effortless ‘doing’.

Bell said: “I have noticed how many people find it easier to give than receive. I wonder, ‘what does the concept of receiving mean to you?’

For some, it feels uncomfortable, like weakness or dependence. But, learning to receive as well as give is a crucial aspect of balancing ourselves and becoming the calm,

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relaxed person that many of us aspire to be.”

Bell explains that receiving is about letting things or people into our lives, allowing ourselves to receive support, being open to help coming in unexpected ways – and allowing it in.

She added: “You may notice an emphasis on allowing. Yep, it’s up to us to notice when we are not asking for help or refusing it when it comes. We are so used to being independent we forget that receiving is an option! Yet allowing ourselves to receive takes less effort than ‘doing it all’. And as we breathe life into our dreams for the year ahead, it can be good to remember that!”

Bell Bartlett is a highly skilful, mature, psychic reader who can help you with your personal and professional questions. l Call 07796 900509 or visit: www.conscious-tarot.co.uk

NEW TO YOUR COMMUNITY Now at Arcturus Clinic 01803 868282 07483 112920 ranbir@yinpalmtaoartsuk.co.uk www.yinpalmtaoartsuk.co.uk Consider seeing Ranbir if you suffer from Frozen Shoulder, Shoulder Pain, Lower Back Pain, Tennis Elbow, Ankle and Knee Problems, Numbness in Arms, Hands, Feet and Legs, Neck Pain, Sciatica, Insomnia, Night Sweats This list is not exhaustive

Do you feel Stuck - Mentally, Emotionally and / or Spiritually?

Are you feeling fatigued?

Do you suffer from lack of energy / are you always feeling tired?

Are you suffering from constant pain?

TUI NA CAN ALSO HELP TO TREAT SOME CHRONIC AND ACUTE CONDITIONS TASTER SESSIONS AVAILABLE SOON Also please enquire about Taoist Breathing, Taoist Meditation, Qi Gong and Bagua First two treatments 25% off (valid until end of February 2018) Home visits available

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WELLBEING Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) (Stimulates the immune system to function optimally)

The Bowen Technique Arcturus Clinic, Totnes Home Visits For an appointment please call 07931 505 312

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Massage treatments through clothing.

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Treatments available in the Kingsbridge area.

Please contact Judy Talbot MRSS Dip.Tui Na on

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07855 332329

Receive a personalised treatment which combines Shiatsu, Deep Tissue Massage and Energy work.

Treatments are supportive and nurturing and will assist the body’s natural healing processes.

They will alleviate and help: • Depression & anxiety/moodrelated disorders • Hormonal problems • Insomnia/sleep disorders • Digestive problems • Boost immunity & energy levels • Arthritis/joint mobility

Creating a different kind of ritual

H

AVING been creating rituals, both for work and our personal lives for many years, sometimes we are asked to perform weddings. Sometimes we do them, though not without trepidation; weddings are notoriously tricksy compared with the solid unflinching certainty of a funeral, and the cliche of the capricious nervy bride is sometimes all too true, but when my friend Susan asked me to marry her to her love Paul, I couldn’t refuse.

Susan is a senior palliative care nurse in Camden, a literal angel of mercy, in whose arms people have been dying, in their own homes, sometimes at the rate of three a week, for years. She also helps run the charity The Natural Death Centre, and was one of my co-authors on the fifth edition of The Natural Death Handbook.

Her wedding ceremony was to be on the concourse of St Pancras station, the reception in a bar in Kings Cross, and the hotel that they generously put us all up in stood overlooking both these railway stations.

It is an extraordinary part of London, the epicentre of what William Blake thought the ‘Golden Quatrain’, the spiritual heart of London, indeed the prime node point of New Jerusalem itself, and there is a feeling of almost unthinkable ancientness about it that persists despite the gentrification of the old seedy place it was, and in some way still is.

We do our weddings like we do our funerals; without, if possible, letting the participants know what we will say. There is a level of trust bestowed by them matched by my

The Green Funeral Company’s Claire and Rupert Callender don’t just honour the dead, as Ru explains. level of anxiety just before I speak.

Susan and myself have been made friends and colleagues by death itself, so that it was to feature in our ceremony wouldn’t be a surprise.

Before they made their vows to each other, I bound their arms together with our old lowering straps that we had used for over 15 years.

The symbolism was clear; their commitment until death separated them, the debt of thanks owed to their ancestors for their very lives, a tribute from the thousands of people who had benefited from her calm and gentle manner as they died, and a reaching out to absent friends.

As they made their commitment to each other, underneath the high vaulted Victorian grandeur, and the giant statue of the lovers kissing reunited after the war, all around us people left by train for the continent, but the ancient heart of New Jerusalem beat under our feet.

The power of the unconscious THE unconscious mind is extraordinarily powerful. Scientific research has shown that the unconscious mind can process at least 500 000 times more information than the conscious mind.

Our unconscious processes millions of bits of information coming our way through our senses every minute of every day.

That is why practitioner Gwen Channer works directly with this part of our mind. She commented: “When we make decisions most of this happens unconsciously.

It is the unconscious that runs our programs, habits, reactions, feelings, etc. It decides what we are aware of most of the time. Yes, the unconscious is very powerful but it will listen to what we want consciously as long as we know how to communicate with it. We can change things by bringing them into consciousness and then requesting, adjusting or teaching the unconscious mind another way to go about whatever it is that is causing us issues.

“Most of the time our unconscious does an excellent job and it always has a positive

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Gwen Channer intention for whatever pattern plays out in our life. Even those reactions and habits that we experience as self-sabotage have deep down an intention that is meant to benefit us.

“What we are at our core is a being who is well and we can bring out our inherent well being by helping our unconscious to have new, improved and effective approaches with which to live our life. This is something I love helping my clients with.”

For more information visit inherentwellbeing.co.uk

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

WELLBEING

Take a deep

Exploring eating disorders at Iron Mill EATING disorders is the theme of the next one-day conference at Iron Mill College in Exeter and some of the leading experts in the field will be there to talk about their research and work.

‘Food for Thought... Eating Disorders: A weight on my mind’ takes place on Saturday 3 March, at the college, which specialises in mental health and wellbeing education.

Among the speakers attending will be Professor Julia Buckroyd, an author, broadcaster and therapist who specialises in eating behaviour. Vicky Burnard, Severe Eating Disorder Consultation and Assessment Service Lead at Livewell Southwest will also be

there, alongside representatives from eating disorders charity, BEAT.

BREATH...

Learn how to use your breath to overcome stress and re-energise your body. Improve your health and help clear emotional blockages. Workshops and 1:1 sessions available. Tues 20 February – 6.45pm – Intro workshop at Changes Now, Dawlish. £25 Sat 24 March - 1.45pm at The Studio, Torquay. £25 See website for details.

Dr Julie Waumsley, Course Lead for Iron Mill’s PostQualifying Diploma in Eating Disorders, said: “The conference offers a rare chance for those of us with a personal or professional interest in eating disorders to come together for a whole day of exploration and enlightenment. We will be aided and guided in this process not only by leading professional experts in the field but also, crucially, by people whose own lives have been affected by eating disorders.”

Transformational Breathing Les Elms • les@breathsouthwest.com www.breathsouthwest.com

07828 566553

For more information or to book visit: www.ironmill.co.uk or call 01392 219200.

Your mind. Your life. Your success.

Executive Coaching in Exeter with free introductory sessions.

Call 07717 172 691 or visit matthewrochford.co.uk

ROB SIDOLI

Leaving you sparkling with Qi CHINESE medicine believes that all disease is caused by imbalances or blockages in the flow of Qi – the energy that flows through the meridians, supplying all of the organs in the body, our tissue and our brain.

Whereas, in the West, we might visit an osteopath, chiropractor, physiotherapist or sports therapist if we were in pain, in China we would be more likely to visit a practitioner of Tui Na. Ranbir Virk, who practices Tui Na at Arcturus Clinic in Totnes said: “Tui Na is one of the most ancient healing arts of classical Chinese medicine. The name comes from Tui, meaning “push” and Na meaning “grasp”. It is so called because it is a vigorous, hands-on form of healing. I see people suffering from conditions like: frozen shoulder, shoulder pain, lower back pain, tennis elbow, ankle and knee problems, numbness in the arms, hands, feet and legs, neck pain, sciatica, insomnia, and night sweats.”

The treatment isn’t only suitable

www.reconnectonline.co.uk www.reconnectonline.co.uk

SPIRITUAL/ENERGY HEALER

for physical conditions, though.

Ranbir also sees people who feel ‘stuck”, either mentally, emotionally or spiritually, as well as people who are lacking energy or feeling constantly tired. He explained: “Tui Na applies pressure to the meridians and specific points along them. It affects the flow of Qi/energy so that it moves freely and evenly through the body. The distribution of Qi within the body has profound effects on all aspects of our wellbeing, emotional, spiritually and physically. When your Qi is balanced you feel relaxed, confident, full of energy and enthusiasm. You are more likely to be free from stiffness, aches and pains, full of vigour and sparkling with Qi.”

Accessing All Dimensions.

Tangible Blessings. Routing Undesirables Core Healing. Soul Body Alignment.

Love Grace Power Humour £ 50.00. Rattery /Totnes Or Home.

T: 07833 221118

For more information contact Ranbir on 01803 868282 / 07483 112920. Email: ranbir@ yinpalmtaoartsuk.co.uk Or visit: www.yinpalmtaoartsuk.co.uk

Editorial: 01392 01392 346342 346342 editor@reconnectonline.co.uk editor@reconnectonline.co.uk Editorial:

39 39

, The Barn retreat at Sharpham

WELLBEING

BACK/NECK | MIGRANE | SHOULDERS | SPORTS INJURIES

IN PAIN?!

TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE?

Call:-TERRY

TIUKAAN NERVE RELEASE THERAPIST ON:-

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Free initial consultation and £20 off 1st treatment with code: -LIVE01

Yoga with Natalie @ Birdwood House - Totnes

Massage Clinic Every Wednesday at Chapel House Studios Deep Tissue/ Therapeutic Massage/ Reflexology / Indian Head Massage / Top to Toe Prices start at £20. See website for full details.



07516 720 246 | natalie@loveyogatree.co.uk | www.loveyogatree.co.uk

C afe

C o pywriter

Content creation, writing advice, training and workshops for businesses and individuals.

The Cafe Copywriter Offering you specialist help with:

• • • • • • • • •

Blogs – individual or blog bundles Website copy Features Press releases Case studies Reports Editing Copy clinic – advice and recommendations Writing coaching

Fancy a chat over a cup of coffee?

Give me a call on 07970 107123 Email: kate@katephilbin.com www.cafecopywriter.com twitter.com/cafecopywriter

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Take time for a meditation retreat HAS the start of the year inspired you to want to build a more mindful, compassionate and environmentally sustainable world? Are you seeking ways to become more connected to the land, community, and in your relationships? Then a week at a local retreat like those offered by The Sharpham Trust is for you.

T

HE educational charity’s 550acre peaceful rural idyll beside the River Dart is internationally renowned and as regular readers know has become synonymous with nature connection and the practice of mindfulness, through a well-being programme of retreats, courses, outdoor learning and the arts.

For more than 30 years now, Sharpham has offered teacherled retreats at The Barn - their meditation retreat centre based on the Buddhist tradition.

Held throughout the year, these week-long retreats see 10 participants live in community for 6 tranquil nights connecting with the land and developing resilience to help save the planet and dharma practice.

Each themed retreat uses the same format with three 40-minute meditation sessions daily and with the chance to be alongside an experienced teacher and receive extra teaching.

Teacher-led retreats planned for 2018 include: l Meeting the Heavenly Messengers: Practising with Ageing, Illness and Death with Ajahn Metta (starting March 18) l Uncontrived Mindfulness: from Awareness to Wisdom with Vajradevi (starting April 1) l Starting from Scratch: a practical guide to navigating the Buddhist Path with Mark Ovland (starting April 29) l Moving Into the Heart of the World with Lindsay Alderton and Suvaco (starting June 17) l Earth in Mind: Dharma, Deep Ecology and the Land with Rupert Marques (starting July 8) l Turning Towards with Dene Donalds (starting August 19) There is also a variation on the standard 6-night Barn retreat, with extra periods of silence, as well as retreats for women-only and men-only.

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Participants connect with the land by working in the organic gardens there as part of their mindfulness practice, prepare vegetarian meals together, and have a singleoccupancy room and their own space in which to rejuvenate, with free time to deeply rest and reconnect with themselves

Kaira Jewel Lingo

Cultivating love

In March the Trust will host Kaira Jewel Lingo, an internationallyknown Dharma teacher leading a retreat at Sharpham House to cultivate true love in relationships.

Kaira Jewel was an ordained nun of 15 years in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing, and is now a lay Dharma teacher based in Washington DC leading retreats in America and internationally.

Retreat participants can stay in shared or single occupancy accommodation within the Grade 1-listed building. The retreat begins on March 9 and will focus on bringing mindfulness to relationships (whether with ourselves, a partner, within our family, with friends, in our workplace or community) through journalling, writing love letters and learning practices for reconciling conflict.

Kaira Jewel will share creative and nature connection practices that help towards the cultivation of true love, plus participants will experience mindful movement and walking meditation. There is a focus on mindful communication: deep listening and loving speech will accompany studying each of the four elements of true love: loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity/ inclusiveness, and participants will learn how to apply the elements to themselves and to others.

Retreats go into silence from 9pm to 9am each day, enabling peace and quietude. Physical sustenance will come from wild-food foraged from the Estate, and locally-sourced, freshly-cooked, vegetarian meals made by Sharpham House cooks. l More information on Sharpham’s website www.sharphamtrust.org or call 01803 732542 or email bookings@sharphamtrust.org

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

Beautiful Treatment Rooms

Taking action on suicide across Devon WHENEVER someone takes their own life it causes incalculable loss and suffering. The impact of each of the 5,700 lives lost each year in the UK is devastating for everyone involved. In Devon alone, between 2 and 3 people take their own lives every week and most of them are not known to their GPs, nor any health professional. £2 can make a difference Local not-for-profit Action To Prevent Suicide CIC is tackling this issue head-on by raising funds and raising awareness with their projects designed to reduce the suicide rate in Devon and beyond.

The evidence, they say, all proves that suicide is preventable and that simple training can dramatically reduce the likelihood of someone taking their own life.

Action to Prevent Suicide Director Chukumeka Maxwell said: “Network Rail recently trained all of their staff in suicide prevention and were able to reduce the incidents of suicide on their network from seven every day to only one. That’s an incredible achievement but it also proves that when you give people the confidence and understanding to intervene it can save lives.”

Chukumeka is a registered social worker and former NHS employee who set up the initiative after training to be a suicide prevention trainer himself.

“Back in 2015, seven Devon-based health professionals applied to become suicide prevention trainers through a local authority scheme. The training course itself was provided by LivingWorks trained facilitators.

LivingWorks are a Canadian based social-enterprise that run courses in suicide-prevention. Their courses are tried and tested and have gained an international reputation for being highly effective, as many studies have confirmed. It was life changing for me and led me to setting up this initiative to make Devon a leader in suicide prevention.”

Chukumeka and his colleagues believe that suicide is preventable and their crowdfunding campaign aims to train over 600 people in the county to be “Suicide First Aiders” “With this fundraising initiative we are looking to train people from their communities in suicide prevention so that, collectively, we can prevent this tragic loss of life. To do this we need the support of ordinary people and businesses. Even £2 can make a difference”.

The campaign video features players from Exeter City FC, local poet Matt Harvey, members of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and others whose lives have been affected by suicide. Making a donation is really easy and both the video and crowdfunding campaign can be accessed via www.suicide-safer-communities.org or you can call Chukumeka on 01803 226 227.

in Totnes

£25 for 1/2 day (5 hrs)

Arcturus Clinic Do Get in Touch! reception@arcturusclinic.co.uk 01803 868282

Care and Nursing at Home

Gathering the energy of activism in 2018 FUNeRAL celebrant and soul midwife Lilah McClean, who leads a peer-led support group for women approaching or going through the menopause in Ashburton, is feeling the energies of activism. She had this message for Reconnect...

T

here is definitely something new happening. Within the depth of the winter I can feel an energy unlike any that I have felt before. A calling to arms almost: An urgency to step forward. But not in anger and not in a way that will detract from one’s purpose through conflict of opinion. Infact I feel no opinion within this energy, just raw transmutable possibility and a nurturing of the seeds of spring that hold the potency of rebirth and potential.

A small band of women get together once a month under the loose heading of a menopause group, which is a peer led support meeting.

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

There is much to support at this point in a woman’s life and luckily the climate of change is swelling with numerous on-line groups offering excellent advice and nurturing (check out Mrs. Menopause on FB). And so our group thought, ‘we can support each other through this change but what can we actually do with this energy?’ And so we have decided to meet and garner the energy of activism for 2018 – to put the immense possibilities of menopausal energy to the good of our planet and all the species that inhabit it. For within the crisis that appears to be looming on every front there is such crystalline possibility. When the fear of change is acknowledged then the possibilities of the future shine through – and they are amazing.

2018 is going to be a great year. I wish you all a good one.

Lilah’s women’s group meets at Persephones in Ashburton. For more information, visit: www.lilahmclean. co.uk Or email: lilmae@hotmail. co.uk Tel: 07966 931416

Do you need a Helping Hand?

If you are looking for an alternative to residential care or extra support for those everyday tasks that are becoming difficult for you or a loved one – then we’re here to help in Exeter from 30 minutes per week to full-time Live-in Care.

Our care teams have been providing award-winning quality home care since 1989 and can help with: personal care, housekeeping, help getting around or even to provide a break to an existing family member or care-giver.

Looking for

care?

01392 339 347

For more information www.helpinghands.co.uk

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YOU NEXT? YOU could advertise here for just 90p a word - a minimum of 20 words.

And you can have a free picture too, while space allows. Call Scott on 01392 346342 for more details.

classifiedads - HAVE A BROWSE THROUGH THE RECONNECT SMALL ADS -

GRIEF SUPPORT

acupuncture

CLASSICAL ACUPUNCTURE Classical Acupuncture releasing blocked energy in the body, stimulating function & evoking the body’s natural healing response. £30 p/h Contact Jack Weaver on 07970084484 / info@theshantispace.com

HOLISTIC counsellor specialising in trauma/abuse, and for those feelings/ emotions difficult to put into words working with art, sand and outside amongst nature. Annie, www. natureswaycounselling. co.uk, 07760 439760.

WHOLISTIC (Gestalt) ‘Counselling’ focussing on body awareness and what arises in the moment. Low cost service Exeter/ Crediton. Matthew Hart MNCS Accred. www.mathart.co.uk 07376426039

COACHING

Parenting

GRIEVING? STRESSED? Counselling and/ or body-based TRE (tension/ trauma release) @ Bowden House, Totnes with Carmella B’Hahn. 01803 867005 carmella@ heartofrelating.com www.heartofrelating. com

MOVEMENT MEDICINE

COUNSELLING

CREATIVE counsellor.

Heartful, Supportive Counselling. Creative Exercises including Art, Sandplay etc. Adults and Young People.

Ruth Jenni Adv Dip Couns 07974097787 www.oakflower.co.uk Dartington, Newton Abbot and on Skype

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SOMATIC Therapy: mindfulness and bodybased, enables trauma release. Creativity Coaching and Personal Story work.

Agata Krajewska ATH 07795002816 www. yournaturalpresence.com

CONNECT Parenting Supportive, experiential Circle of Security courses available across Devon. See www. connectparenting.uk or 07543114535

PSYCHOTHERAPY

REFLEXOLOGY

TREE CARE

CLEANSE, relax, balance mind/body connection. £30 full-hour, discounts for initial treatment or course of 3, £75, book 07522344291, nicolasuzanne@ hotmail.co.uk based Totnes Natural Health Centre

TOMMY Hutchinson BSc (Hons) Forestry, ND Arboriculture, NPTC Qualified. Sensitive, professional tree care.

Free consultation. Call: 07837486388 Email: universaltreecare@ outlook.com and https:// universaltreecare. wordpress.com

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS shakti days FRACK FREE TOTNES wild “How would your life look Meetings are held at the Seven Stars The Plains Totnes at 7pm on last Sunday of the month.

EMERGENCE SYSTEMIC & EcoConscious Coaching (ICF) Supportive and in-depth coaching for life, work and change.

Speak to Audaye www.thebrighthorizon. org or 07543114535

FOR READERS... an at-a-glance guide to services and products - plus diary dates.

FOR ADVERTISERS... an affordable way to get your message across.

Boxes are £55 and £98 and the lineage ads cost just 90p a word, with a minimum of 20 words.

THE DEADLINE... for the April/March issue is March 1. Call Scott on 01392 346342 or email adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk.

A MOVEMENT MEDICINE open classes with Ailsa Lucas. Dance for awareness, healing, freedom, power, resources and transformation.

Monthly Saturday mornings. Dartington / Plymouth. movementmedicine association.org, ailsa. clare.lucas@gmail. com, 07999 486059 849039, 07999 486059.

£18.00 Small ads with BIG impact!

You can advertise in this classified section for as little

as £18 (therapists also get a free picture, while space allows - first come, first served). Call Scott now on 01392 346342 or email adverts@reconnectonline.co.uk.

DAVID OXLEY MA: Fully qualified Accredited BACP counsellor and psychotherapist.

Psychosynthesis and Core Process. Working with Relationship, Depth, Integrity and Soul. Central Exeter, Totnes and Plymouth. www. davidoxleycounselling. co.uk, 07876051093.

fooling workshops

March 10-11 at Bowacre Farm Hittislieigh. Contact Christie Animas 07980371335 or christiede@hotmail.com

like if you would resource yourself from your wild nature ?” Come and enliven yourself with other women for a Shakti dance and some wild times in the woods. Next one on the 17th of February - 10am to 5 pm. £35 per day ( £30 conc.) contact christiede@hotmail.com or tel 07980371335.

MINDFULNESS in PLYMOUTH DATES for your diary -week mindfulness course 8 5th Feb, 7pm-9pm

Book and pay on-line Morning of Mindfulness www.

Sat 24th Feb, 10 - 12.30 barefootmindfulness.co.uk

Opal Heart: Living with the loss of a child

JAY Ramsay MA: Oxon, UKCP. 20+ years experience with individuals and couples, Psychosynthesistrained, now working in Totnes: www. jayramsay.co.uk 07752-719331

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THOSE who have lost a child of any age will be welcomed at a monthly gathering in Brixham. These gentle gatherings will provide a caring space for anyone who is living with this most profound loss, as they will be with others who understand. Guests can paint, write or draw to help express their feelings, or simply choose a creative activity for relaxation.

These are non-profit gatherings, where £3.00 per person will cover the cost of materials and refreshments.

They will be held on the first Saturday of each month, from 1-3 pm.

Please contact Carrie - carrie@alephway.co.uk telephone 01803 431289, see www.alephway.co.uk

www.reconnectonline.co.uk

T HE N AUTILUS R OOMS

COURSES AND WORKSHOPS JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL January 14th Women’s Circle

Take time to ground your body in a wholesome nurturing space.

A safe and sacred space for women to come together, use their voices, be heard and be seen. Women throughout history have gathered in circles to empower each other and share wisdom.

We will connect to the feminine through storytelling, yin yoga, discussion of the feminine, guided meditation and dance. Through this we can all share our own experiences and learn from each other and more…

Contact: katy-potts@outlook.com Cost £15 (concessions available)

February 2018

Tuesday Evening group of Mindfulness, Sandplay and Art Ruth Baker • Email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com

February 3rd and 4th

“How to be grateful for the body I live in” We will learn to use ‘The Work of Byron Katie’- a simple, yet profound mindful self-inquiry process - to discover how our mind creates the image we hold of our body. Through inquiring into our negative thoughts and feelings we can develop a more friendly, peaceful and appreciative relationship with it as it is, with all it’s ‘imperfections’ and challenges.

Open to people new to this work, as well as those with experience

Times:10-5 • Cost: £120

New Group 18th February

The Work of Byron Katie with Sylvia Karathanos a supportive and small group to learn and practice the work of Byron Katie (Fortnightly on Sunday evenings 7-9.30pm)

Call: 01803 868379 email: skarathanos@phonecoop.coop Find out more at www.thework.com.

February 7th & 21st • 7.30pm – 9pm Sound Healing Journey Through the Chakras

Scott Grant Interdimensional Healing Transformational journey with 10 crystal singing bowl. Return to a state of happiness, peace and balance.

Fabulously located in the centre of Totnes, yet tucked away in a quiet alley, with easy access to short and long-term parking. Check out our amazing list of highly qualified therapists and interesting events. Leafl ets are available at the end of the alley way opposite The Mansion and next to Lloyds bank. If you are looking for a wonderful venue for a group, meeting or CPD event, do come and check out our lovely group room.

Tel: 07723313005 • www.interdimensionalhealing.co.uk Cost £10

February 18th Women’s Circle

Take time to ground your body in a wholesome nurturing space.

A safe and sacred space for women to come together, use their voices, be heard and be seen. Women throughout history have gathered in circles to empower each other and share wisdom.

We will connect to the feminine through storytelling, yin yoga, discussion of the feminine, guided meditation and dance. Through this we can all share our own experiences and learn from each other and more…

Contact: katy-potts@outlook.com Cost £15 (concessions available)

March 3rd

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Introduction to Therapeutic Art facilitated by Ruth Baker

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Scott Grant Interdimensional Healing Transformational journey with 10 crystal singing bowl. Return to a state of happiness, peace and balance.

Tel: 07723313005 • www.interdimensionalhealing.co.uk Cost £10

March 17th • 4PM – 6PM Women’s Circle

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Take time to ground your body in a wholesome nurturing space.

A safe and sacred space for women to come together, use their voices, be heard and be seen. Women throughout history have gathered in circles to empower each other and share wisdom.

We will connect to the feminine through storytelling, yin yoga, discussion of the feminine, guided meditation and dance. Through this we can all share our own experiences and learn from each other and more…

Contact: katy-potts@outlook.com Cost £15 (concessions available)

17th and 18th March

Introduction to Sandplay Therapy facilitated by Ruth Baker Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists accredited course.

Ruth Baker * Email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com

April 14th • 4PM – 6PM Women’s Circle

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Take time to ground your body in a wholesome nurturing space.

A safe and sacred space for women to come together, use their voices, be heard and be seen. Women throughout history have gathered in circles to empower each other and share wisdom.

We will connect to the feminine through storytelling, yin yoga, discussion of the feminine, guided meditation and dance. Through this we can all share our own experiences and learn from each other and more…

Contact: katy-potts@outlook.com Cost £15 (concessions available)

21st April

Mindfulness and Creativity A day of mindfulness and creativity for all.

Ruth Baker * Email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com

April 28th and 29th and other dates throughout the year.

Introduction to Sandplay Therapy facilitated by Ruth Baker Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists accredited course.

Ruth Baker • Email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com Please enquire for more information: Certificate in Integrative Sandplay Therapy facilitated

by John Daly – Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists accredited course.

The Nautilus Rooms • 35a Fore Street • Totnes • TQ9 5HN www.nautilusrooms.uk • info@nautilusrooms.uk Call Ruth on 07736 334454 or Peter on 07826 414404

Ruth Baker • Email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com Anna Karthauser - massage therapist

Offers individual and group tuition on request. To find out more contact Anna.

Call: 07912612462 • email: anna@karthauser.org or visit www.annakarthausermassage.co.uk