A Weekend Intensive
A weekend intensive exploring the neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, and embodied skill of touch, for anyone who works with bodies and wants to do it better…
Touch is one of the oldest languages we possess. Before we had words, we had skin, and the world arrived through it.
This weekend is an invitation to slow down and meet touch with the full intelligence it deserves, weaving embryological understanding, neuroscience, and somatic wisdom into a practice that is both rigorously informed and deeply felt.
We begin at the very beginning, in the embryo, exploring how skin and nervous system arise from the same tissue, how we are, from our first moments, beings built for contact.
From here, we trace what actually unfolds when one body meets another, the neurophysiological cascade of touch, what fires, what quiets, what reorganises.
You will develop a nuanced understanding of the nervous system’s relationship to tension, pain, and stretch, learning to read the body not as a problem to be fixed, but as a living system constantly seeking coherence. Alongside this, we hold space for the full complexity of touch as a relational act, exploring trauma-informed principles and consent frameworks that honour the intelligence and autonomy of every body in the room.
Across the weekend, you will build a practical repertoire of touch modalities, from light touch and grounding contact to oscillation and rhythmic input, each with its own neurological logic and therapeutic application. We close with dynamic assisting, bringing ‘PNF’ (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation’ type stretching and applied neurology into your hands-on teaching toolkit to support genuine, lasting change in range of motion.
This is for yoga teachers, movement educators, bodyworkers, and anyone who uses touch as part of their practice and wants to understand it more deeply.
Come ready to learn, to be moved, and to understand the deeply transformative aspects of Grounding, relational, nervous system intelligent touch.
Program
Friday Night | 19:00 - 21:00
Awakening Skin Intelligence: An Embodied Practice
Your skin is not a boundary where you end. It is the place where you begin to listen.
Covering every surface of your body, this continuous, sensing fabric is always awake, always receiving, translating the outer world into the language of your inner one. Before thought, before language, skin knows.
This opening practice invites you into a slow, strong, explorative sensory journey into your outermost layer, not as something to be stretched or strengthened, but as an intelligent, responsive organ with its own wisdom. Through guided somatic movement & yoga we will begin to awaken the conversation between skin and nervous system, softening the noise of doing so we can start to feel what is already, endlessly, being received.
Saturday Workshop | 15:00 - 20:00
The Science & Soul of Embodied Touch
This day is dedicated to understanding touch from the inside out, bringing together the neuroscience, the relational complexity, and the lived, embodied experience of what it means to offer your hands with skill and intention.
We open with science, exploring the neurophysiological cascade that unfolds the moment skin meets skin. What receptors are activated, what signals travel, what shifts in the nervous system, and why touch, when offered well, can be one of the most powerful regulatory tools we have. We will look at the growing body of research into touch and pain, and what the evidence tells us about its capacity to genuinely change how a body feels.
From science, we move into relationship; understanding trauma in the context of touch is not optional for anyone working with bodies. We will explore how the nervous system holds history, what that means for how we approach contact, and how to build consent practices that are clear, embodied, and genuinely liberating rather than merely procedural.
We will explore what it means to be fully present in your hands, to offer grounding and regulating contact not as a technique but as a quality of attention. And then we practice, bringing everything into the room, into real bodies, in real time.
We will explore the role of breath as a neurological tool, how conscious respiratory patterns can shift tone, modulate the nervous system, and prepare the body for deeper, safer movement. Alongside this, we introduce self-touch practices, empowering students and clients to resource themselves, build body awareness, and participate actively in their own process of change.
You will leave with both a deeper understanding and a more confident, conscious touch.
Sunday Workshop | 14:00 - 17:00
Dynamic Touch
Building on the foundations of Saturday, Sunday is a dynamic, hands-on day dedicated to the art of skilled, intelligent assisting. We move into more active territory, exploring how to use your hands not just to ground and regulate, but to genuinely support a body in expanding what it is capable of.
We will work with PNF-based stretching techniques, understanding the neurology behind why they work, and how to apply this knowledge safely and responsively in a yoga or movement context. This is not about pushing people deeper. It is about working with the nervous system’s own intelligence to create change that lasts.
From here we move into applied neurology, learning how specific inputs through touch, position, and assisted range of motion techniques can unlock new movement potential.
Precise, curious, and grounded in current movement science.
For any questions on the training or program reach out to Calli at calliyoga@gmail.com
Tickets (3-day retreat): €210 (Early Bird) / €250 (Regular)
Early Bird Sale ends October 1st