SOMATIC CPD TRAININGs, uk
DATES 2026
Elemental Body, Somatic CPD Training
25th - 29th June 2026 at Leusdon Memorial Hall, Dartmoor, UK
24th - 28th September 2026 at Leus Memorial Hall, Dartmoor, UK
This Elemental Body Somatic CPD is a multi-faceted CPD of embodied practices that foreground the connection to and the expression of the inner body in movement and its relation to nature and the elements.
This CPD is an empirically based somatic, therapeutic approach to movement that utilises a creative and expressive approach informed by nature to engage the body, mind, and spirit in order to transform stress and suffering and trauma.
The CPD develops the moving, sensate body as a regenerative field of contemplation, emotional intelligence and creative process that can connect us to empathy, compassion and inter-connectedness. A recognisable safe foundation of yoga and meditative practice allow for a more experimental exploration of the body in movement where its inner felt landscape can be expressed and flower into its own authentic dance and where its relationship to the elements provides a deepening well of resource, support and creativity.
At its heart, the Elemental Body CPD fosters feeling, care, empathy, and soul. It is work that cultivates ways of seeing, being, and moving that supports us to directly experience the inter-connected nature of existence. From this perspective Elemental Body could be defined as an eco-somatic, eco-feminist process. Embodying the elements can become a source of ancestral wisdom that we can experience together.
Experiencing the inter-connected nature of existence as an embodied state is fundamentally important right now, it can provide us with a space from which to respond to and tend to the multiple social and ecological crises we face in contemporary culture which can otherwise be overwhelming and plunge us into paralysis and helplessness.
The opening and expression of the inner body through improvised dance / movement is supported by coherent somatic therapeutic principles and techniques from Buddhist Meditation (Insight and Zen), Japanese Butoh Dance, Body Orientated Trauma Therapy (Somatic Experiencing), and Somatic Movement.
Due to my background in Somatic Experiencing therapy (body orientated trauma resolution), I have evolved Elemental Body CPD to specifically work with the physiology, cultivating nervous system regulation, inner and outer resources, internal stability, expanding nervous system capacity and resilience, agency and empowerment and unlocking creative energy.
NB. These processes are long term practices and require continuing commitment.
At Leusdon Memorial Hall on Dartmoor
Dartmoor is “a rugged and captivating region in the Southwest of England, offering a remarkably diverse and utterly magical outdoor experience. Covering 954 square kilometres, this ancient landscape is characterised by rolling hills, vast granite tors, gorgeous green valleys, and pristine rivers”. Dartmoor is a place where the elements, history, and nature converge to facilitate tangible experiences of connection to ancient lands. Embodying the elements on Dartmoor can be a deeply transformational experience that can re-invigorate, re-animate and re-wild our connection to self, nature and other. Elemental Body was born out of my own practice on Dartmoor and it now feels appropriate that students/participants can experience the site specificity of this work.
Leusdon Memorial Hall on Widdecombe on the Moor will provide us with a beautiful simple indoor space with kitchen and tea making facilities where morning practice will take place. In the afternoons, weather permitting, we will explore working outside by the river and up at one of the Tors as we develop our Elemental Body practice with nature where there is an abundance of the elements (rushing rivers, beautiful woods, huge granite boulders, spacious skies and expanses of moorland), returning to the Hall for final process and closing in the early evenings.
Daily Schedule: Morning Session 10am - 1pm, Lunch 1 - 2.30pm, Afternoon Session 2.30 - 5.30pm.
Cost: 475 / 575 GBP (sliding scale)
Accommodation: This is a non-residential training.
Please choose from a range of local Air B n B’s in Ashburton or Summerhill Campsite which is nearby http://summerhillfarmcampsite.co.uk
http://www.cockingfordcampsite.com
Food: Please bring a packed lunch, tea, coffee and biscuits are provided
Teaching Faculty
Gemma Mallol is a Dance and Movement Researcher (Master’s) at The University of Plymouth, currently researching Butoh Dance and Somatics. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (body orientated trauma therapy) and a Senior Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Trainer (23 years teaching). She now works with diverse groups integrating Somatics, Butoh dance and creative processes with nature as an eco somatic response to the current multiple social and ecological crises that we collectively face. She sees her work as as a form of regenerative activism and aims to cultivate feminist, creative and embodied community spaces and networks. She identifies as queer, neuro-diverse and mixed race.
Inclusivity and a Non-Hierarchical Approach
The 5-day CPD’s are offered to small groups (maximum 12 participants) to cultivate a personal, safe and well-held experience for all involved.
The CPD is a space of open enquiry, dialogue and creative process, the material is explored within community using an experiential pedagogy. I specifically facilitate a non-hierarchical way of exploring together, which involves invitations and suggestions of movement to deconstruct power dynamics.
These spaces are queer spaces meaning that they are open and inclusive to people who may find themselves somehow different, marginalised or underrepresented on the grounds of sexuality, age, gender, colour, race, neurodiversity or disability. They are both safe and inclusive.
Certification
The Somatic CPD Trainings are 30 hours and on satisfactory completion of the hours (certified by Balens Insurers), you will be issued with a CPD certificate from Still Flowing Yoga Teacher Training with my senior yoga teacher stamp on it from the UK Yoga Alliance.
Bookings & Info
To book your space, please pay 50% of cost deposit to either the bank details or PayPal below. Once paid, please email confirmation of payment to Gemma on stillflowing@hotmail.co.uk. The balance must be paid in full a minimum of 1 month before start date.
Please email Gemma on stillflowing@hotmail.co.uk or Whats App 00 44 7745300237
Places are limited to 12 so please book in advance to ensure your access to accommodation
Payment Details:
Gemma Mallol, Nat West PLC, Sort Code: 521003, Acc No: 68665598
PayPal:
gemmamallol@hotmail.com
Cancellation Policy:
If you cancel 90 – 60 days before start date you lose a cancellation fee of 100 GBP
If you cancel 60 – 30 days before start dates you lose 50% (your deposit)
If you cancel 30 days or less you lose 100% of the total cost of the training
For cancellations as a result of Covid-19, please get in touch with Gemma on stillflowing@hotmail.co.uk
Once the programme has started NO refunds for intensives, trainings or retreats will be issued.
In the case of unexpected illness, participants must recourse to their medical insurers for refunds for the cost of retreat, workshop, training and/or flights.
In the case of compassionate grounds, if there is adequate space, participants may transfer to another programme, however this will be at the discretion of the Director Gemma Mallol.
Any one of the teaching / organisational team (it will be a team consensus) reserve the right to ask any participant to leave the retreats, intensive or training without refund at any time should they be causing themselves or the group, harm, harassment, or disturbance, not following the code of conduct or in a fragile or unsafe state of body/mind (in which case they will be adequately supported to leave and get home safely)