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Carers Dementia Mindfulness Movement Nature

BOOST!

Boost Your Movement, Mindfulness & Walking

With weekly drop-in sessions, Tuesdays 1.30-2.30pm

Kingsleigh Methodist Church, 73 King Street, Leigh, WN7 4LR

Free car park and accessible venue opposite Leigh bus station.

Cost: £6/£5 Conc & Free Tea, Coffee and Biscuits

&

New Evening Sessions in Spring, Free to Unpaid Carers

Free Walks in local natural areas

Free Trips with transport & refreshments

Weekly sessions, including restful meditations and gentle tension releasing movement began in 2019 and with a new award from the Sport England Movement Fund we can get the word out about how much of a boost they are to people who are over fifty, have long term health conditions, are unpaid carers and benefit from a mindful approach to health and wellbeing.

What participants are saying:

“The session is like a peaceful oasis in my week. While I’m here I feel safe, calm and comfortable”.

“Really enjoy the sessions, they have helped me with physical issues, always go home feeling like I’m walking on air!”

“The session is a real focus for the week, a complete rest and rejuvenate. Cath teaches us how to use mindfulness to help with tension, anxiety and pain in our day to day lives.”

“I always feel energised after the session and sleep really well that night. Being in the group helps me be more excepting of my physical difficulties.”

“Wonderful! So relaxing and rewarding, love it”.

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Carers Mindfulness Movement Nature

Great News!

Healthy Arts are so pleased to have been awarded £2,502 of National Lottery Funding through the Sport England Movement Fund to boost movement, mindfulness and walking session in Leigh. Thanks to everyone who plays the National Lottery games for your support.

This award will fund weekly afternoon and some evening sessions, new FREE easy going walks and wellbeing trips, some with transport and refreshments next year. Look out for a new leaflet soon to spread the word about how these sessions boost health and wellbeing. Can’t wait!

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Art Carers Dementia Mindfulness Movement Nature

Creative Mindfulness for Dementia

I am really excited to be offering this new course soon!

Are you living with a Dementia diagnosis?

Do you know or care for someone affected by Dementia? Would you like to live well with this disease, soothe your mind and body and have some fun?

Creative Mindfulness for Dementia is a new opportunity, based on the renowned Breathworks Mindfulness for Stress course. It will include learning skills to calm worry and anxiety, enjoyable creative activities and tea and cake in a small group. Taking place over eight weeks it is FREE to attend whether you are diagnosed with Dementia or a family member, Carer or friend.

“Hi, I’m Cath the course teacher. I’m Breathworks trained and offering this course as I wish my Dad and I could have done this in the first few years of his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.”

Contact Cath for a chat about the course on,

Mobile-0798 4123 445 or Email-cathhawkins@yahoo.co.uk

When-Wednesday, 1-3.30pm, 26th April-14th June

Where-Leigh Youth Hub, Sale Way, Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, WN7 4JY

Breathworks Accredited Teacher

Supported by the Breathworks Seed Fund, Dementia United Big Brain Health Fund and The Deal, Wigan.

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Art Mindfulness Movement Nature

Movement & Mindfulness 2022

Earlier this year I received Arts Council England, Homepage (artscouncil.org.uk)Developing Your Creative Practice funding to research combining my movement and mindfulness practice. I spent the summer returning to studio spaces in Liverpool and West Yorkshire and also worked in a new environment for me, up on the moors above Hebden Bridge.

I created four postcards to document, what was a precious time that feature images by Sarah Mason, Filmmaker and photographer for brands and families (sarahmasonphotography.co.uk)a photographer and film maker who I was so lucky to work with and whose amazing images I will begin to include on this website. The postcards include information about the project and also dip into the process I explored.

Here is the back of one postcard:

A summer spent combining practice in movement studios and the natural environment. Catherine Hawkins has worked in dance for nearly thirty years, in improvisation, environmental movement and art making. In 2021 she became an Accredited Breathworks Mindfulness teacher.

“This research harboured a powerful autobiographical undercurrent. High in the hills on the West Yorkshire moors I could reflect, hearing the roar of water flowing lower down in the valley. Mindfulness has offered new paths, un-paths even to help me find my way to wellbeing. To be with challenges of recent years and a strong, supportive feeling that something creative is gathering to further express this being human.”

Thank you to Helen Poynor and Padmadarshini Cole for your mentoring, Mary Prestidge at the Liverpool Improvisation Collective Studio, Bluecoat, Liverpool, Rob Hopper at Wainsgate Dance, West Yorkshire and photographer Sarah Mason for supporting this process-based research.

I’m really looking forward to what comes next after this valuable time to follow an ‘un-path’.

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Art Mindfulness Nature

Mindfulness Group, Getting Out More!

Thanks to funding from the Dementia United, Carers Groups Bounce Back Fund the Mindfulness Group can continue into the spring and summer, Carers and those affected by Dementia can enjoy FREE sessions and everyone can experience the benefits of a number of wellbeing trips. The Group recently enjoyed a relaxing visit to The Monastery, Manchester.

The trip to Gorton was beautiful, Catherine. Thank you for arranging it.

Over the coming months we will be continuing the Tuesday afternoon sessions in Leigh at Kingsleigh Methodist Church, taking another trip to The Wellbeing Program at RHS Bridgewater, taking part in the Healthy Arts ‘This Mine Is Yours’ project at Lancashire Mining Museum, Astley Green and enjoying getting outdoors practicing mindfulness. Get in contact if you would like to come along.

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Art Nature

‘Animated’ Article

It’s great to see my short reflection on participating in the People Dancing, Perspectives on Practice, Tree Time by Helen Poynor, included as an article in ‘Animated’, the People Dancing magazine.

Read and download the Spring/Summer 2022 digital edition of Animated magazine online in a flipbook. This is an 80 page bumper edition offering contributions from 30 diverse dancers, teaching artists, community practitioners, academics, researchers and leaders. Produced in collaboration with the Centre of Dance Research (C-DaRE) at Coventry University.

https://www.communitydance.org.uk/developing-practice/animated-magazine

Many thanks for including this People Dancing.

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Mindfulness Nature

1 Hour Stress Buster

Feel uplifted and restored this summer.

1 Hour Stress Buster-Walking, mindfulness, meditation, calming and enjoyable activities at the beautiful Pennington Flash Country Park in August, a morning and evening session.

Perfect for complete beginners or those who wish to refresh their meditation practice.