Each of us has inherited a whole host of behaviours which are encoded in our DNA, says Nicola Smalley, some of which are helpful for us and others which are holding us back from achieving our dreams. In this workshop we begin to unravel what these are and through meditation and shamanic journeying, tap into the science of epigenetics to begin the process of re-coding our genes.

Nicola is a Shamanic Practitioner and co-founder of Space to Emerge.

For over two decades, she has supported people and communities in transitioning to a different way of being in the world.

Jason Smalley will lead this tribal time – an hour of pure drumming in the sacred Yew Tree Grove, allowing participants to drift into a trance state with the repetitive beat of the drum.

Jason is a connected nature photographer and shamanic worker of our land and is co-founder of Space to Emerge. 

This workshop with Jason Smalley will be working with the healing and insights of animal spirit medicine, drawing on the ancient knowledge of our ancestors and how that can be applied in the modern world.  In this session, the brand new and long awaited The Way of the Buzzard animal spirit card deck will be used, and there will be a guided shamanic journey to your chosen animal.  

Jason is a connected nature photographer and shamanic worker of our land and is co-founder of Space to Emerge.

This meditative walk through the labyrinth with Nicola Smalley will help participants to gently enter and leave our woodland retreat.  An ancient pattern drawn on the ground, the labyrinth has been used across the world for thousands of years and these sessions will enable a setting of  intentions and guidance for stepping into the weekend and back out again.

Nicola is a Shamanic Practitioner and co-founder of Space to Emerge.

For over two decades, she has supported people and communities in transitioning to a different way of being in the world.

One of the core principles of authentic shamanic practice is working towards a deep connection with nature. During this workshop, Jason Smalley will guide you on how to take time out to seek the wisdom and guidance that nature around us so freely offers if only we learn to listen. 

Jason is a connected nature photographer and shamanic worker of our land and is co-founder of Space to Emerge. 

Herbalist Edwina Hodkinson will lead a herb walk, identifying, learning about and exploring local medicinal plants and how to use them for healing. Plants will be harvested to make a herbal medicine. 

Edwina Hodkinson is a medical herbalist and full member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. She has been a health care practitioner for the last 35 years, being an ex ward sister, aromatherapist, clinical reflexologist and healer.

These workshops from dance teacher Anne Kingston will have a Middle Eastern vibe, exploring somatic movement and rhythm with the aim of finding your own inner dancer and understanding your body. This exploration of the senses, sharing and connecting will lead to empowerment, space and stillness.

Anne is a dance teacher with a life-long interest in holistic dance movement and Middle Eastern dance, which she has taught for over 20 years. She is also qualified as a Body Groove facilitator and has an MA in Dance and Somatic Wellbeing.

Expert crafter Jo Jukes will be guiding this workshop to make your own Space to Emerge nature notebooks using recycled paper and card, with covers created from leaf and flower prints sourced from Fellfoot wood.

Jo has over 20 years of experience of teaching crafts from enamelling, silver-smithing, printing, felting to design. The natural world is the inspiration for all her work.

Beautiful and meaningful botanical creations will be crafted in this session with Alex Murgatroyd, using local flowers and plants with healing properties. While creations take shape, the group will delve into the folklore and holistic meanings of individual plants and flowers, scents and colours.

Alex runs Wild Soul, facilitating nurturing seasonal nature creative sessions, encouraging a nourishing of the soul, and a reconnection with the seasons and nature.

Funeral guide and celebrant David Ledger will lead this café style workshop, allowing participants to talk openly about experiences and share stories of their loved ones, as well as pondering issues such as whether if a 'good death' can exist, and how we grieve.

David retired from a life working in local government in 2015, retraining as a celebrant with a focus on providing special ceremonies for families losing loved ones. He believes strongly in the importance of opportunities to talk about death.

As well as drop in sessions, there will be four women-only workshops with Kathy, Carole and Lynsey in the space of the beautiful Red Tent. The workshops will be on the themes of  liberating laughter, the bonds of women's friendship, honouring the first blood and reclaiming sacred space.

In this playful, grounding and often healing craft workshop led by Lydie Feltgen, participants will use clay and natural objects from the surrounding woodland to create models of their ‘safe place’.

Lydie is a body worker, trauma informed clay field practitioner and poet with 18 years experience with international groups, natural materials and nature connection.

In this workshop, Jacqui Crooks will focus on clearing the old ancestral stories that skewed our vision of ourselves and the limiting beliefs that society has given us, so we can then focus in on you and your true self,  the loving, loveable, wise, powerful you, that you forgot, or shut away to stay safe.

Jacqui is one of the pioneers in energy psychology, an international speaker and trainer, and an EFT founding master. She is author of  Tapping into Ancestral Healing and co-author EFT and Beyond. Her unique way of working  allows deep change quickly and easily without trauma.

This workshop, led by Liz and Chris Whittall-Hill will be an opportunity for a hands-on experience of an array of gongs, bowls, chimes and other healing instruments. It follows on from their ever-popular early morning gong bath sessions.   

Liz and Chris run theHarmony Hub Holistic Community Centre in Chorley and offer gongs baths as well as individual therapies.

This guided walk will be led by ecologist Sam Turner, who will take walkers on an exploration of the intricate ecosystem of this beautiful woodland. She will offer insight into the natural history of the place, the stories, the spiritual connections and a glimpse into the story of the land itself.

Sam has always loved the natural world and learning about wild plants and animals is a big part of her life, both working as an ecologist and in her spare time. She has a particular love of the Lake District which she has known most of her life

This workshop connecting with the power of stones will explore what draws us to particular stones, wondrous jewels that we catch sight of on a path and stop to pick up. Avril Banks will look at what lies beneath this selection and how we can use the geology and landscape around us to enrich our everyday lives.

Avril works with the elements using the healing power of sound vibrations. She is also a shamanic practitioner with a special interest in messages from the land and the elements.

This workshop with Linda Sever will bring healing practices discovered in ancient Northern European manuscripts into the present day to show you how to use Runes for  healing through chanting and drawing specific runes over parts of the body.

Linda is a documentary film-maker and senior lecturer in the School of Art and Media at the University of Central Lancashire, and author/editor of “Lancashire’s Sacred Landscape” (History Press). She has been a practising Norse pagan (Heathen), a practitioner of Seidr, Northern European shamanism and spirit communicator for nearly 20 years.

Amy Boud will be sharing original songs created in the wilds of Cumbria. Simple hearty songs from the streams and tarns, the mosses and mountain tops.  This workshop will also tune into the sounds of the woodland onsite.

Amy is an experienced environmental and creative facilitator, musician and songwriter. Through ‘Playful Nature’ she supports people to connect with their instinctive, playful selves, with each other, and the rest of the living world.

Create your own wildish accessories and adornments with materials and inspiration from Amy Boud. Feel free to bring your own foraged materials to get creative with - feathers, leaves etc... This will be a tea time drop-in session to get jazzed up in and in a celebratory mood for Saturday night.

Amy is an experienced environmental and creative facilitator, musician and songwriter. Through ‘Playful Nature’ she supports people to connect with their instinctive, playful selves, with each other, and the rest of the living world.

This workshop will collectively create a community flower mandala to serve as a doorway connecting the heart of the sky and the heart of the earth. Charlotte will guide this ‘arrival’ session which will create an alter where prayers, found objects and songs can be left.

Charlotte is an artist and earth-based spiritual practitioner and certified holistic life coach, who creates intentional earth flower portals for connection, healing and prayer work.

There will be the opportunity to start each day by drifting through the early morning energies to a beautiful sound bath. This is a powerful meditative experience and sessions can include gongs, drums and singing bowls. This is a perfect opportunity to get some personal space and set your intentions for the day.

They will be offered by Liz and Chris Whittall-Hill, who run the Harmony Hub Holistic Community Centre in Chorley and offer Gongs Baths as well as individual therapies.

This will be a morning welcome at the Earth Mother altar. Participants will sing in the new day with chants and are invited to offer their favourites. Drums and rattles are encouraged.  We will also have an Earth Songs session on the Friday afternoon to begin our weekend together.

This poetry-in-the-morning session is time to ignite your inner bard. Led by either Jason Smalley, Andy Jukes or Tina Burchill, this workshop will begin with a reading of some inspirational poems, before participants are sent on a creative journey to see what emerges from within.

Andy works primarily with the human body and voice, using poetry, song, stories, and movement to explore ways to live a more connected life. Tina has a passion for myth and story and how words can shape us. She is a former journalist and currently a homeopath and rites of passage guide.

This session will be a classic Hatha yoga class with breathing and meditation as well as a series of postures to promote flexibility and overall health and well-being.

Jan qualified as Hatha yoga instructor in 2017 and loves it for the peace and quiet it brings to her mind as well as the health benefits of keeping flexible and mobile. She keeps up a regular practice, which can be tricky at home as she lives in a boat.

Meditation teacher Jill Kirkham will lead these morning sessions to include inner exploration and energy healing, using guided meditation, breath work and energetic alignment to deepen into safety and intimacy with life and the Earth.

Jill has been a meditation teacher for 35 years, and an advanced energy worker and vortex healing practitioner for 20 years. She has been facilitating One Heart Groups for five years both in person and online.

A gentle laughter yoga work out, laughing, on purpose for no other reason than to connect and feel good.

Claire has been a laughter yoga leader for over 10 years, running a Community Interest Company  called feelgood communities aimed at bridging communities through laughter and creativity.

This year We Be Kids will be working with a collective of skilled professional educators setting up a special ‘Children’s Village’ at Space to Emerge. Together they will run a series of workshops for youngsters that spans the entire festival. Children will get their imagination unleashed in a whole series of activities, including nature arts and crafts, wild play, storytelling, textile creations, yoga, foraging, cooking and much more. The children’s village will provide you with the opportunity to enjoy the festival in the knowledge that your children are engaged, happy and finding their own ways of connecting with nature.

We Be Kids is a registered CIC Founded by Danny English and Annie Trevena. We Be Kids’ main aim is to help people improve their well-being by connecting with nature through the creative process.

Expressive Connection is run by Heather Joy an experienced Person Centered Experiential Expressive Arts & Wilderness therapist specialising in neurodivergence and individual/group work with children & young people.

Incredible Edible will be represented by Pete Fillery, who is a community gardener with Incredible Edible and has much knowledge on foraging, feasting and fun & he’s also a forest school advocate!

Stumberlina Vintage Run by Rachel Hardy creates sensory spaces for children using lost and found treasures and reclaimed textiles to help awaken stories from the past. Encouraging child-led play and discovery through dressing up to journey back in time.

There will be  fireside story sessions aimed at both children and adults, as well as dedicated evening events for youngsters with hot chocolate and marshmallow toasting, and a bedtime lantern procession.

There will also be an open mic night for would-be storytellers to  step up and have a go.