🎃 Halloween at York St John University 🎭

I had the absolute pleasure of spending Halloween at York St John University with Dr. Morag Galloway and her incredible Musical Theatre undergraduate students. Together, we explored intuition, embodiment, and energy medicine practices — supporting students in developing mastery over performance anxiety and deepening their connection to presence.

I facilitated practices to help them:
✨ Connect to the “I” and the “We” simultaneously
✨ Hold and share personal power within creative spaces
✨ Stay tuned in to their unique bodyminds, inner guidance and wisdom
✨ Understand and work with their nervous systems
...and so much more!

It was such a powerful and inspiring day — being in an educational environment that truly values creativity, wellbeing, and holistic learning. I’m deeply impressed by York St. John University & its commitment to being a progressive and inclusive space. 

Obviously, I can't share photos of the students so this post includes a picture of the the venue. We worked predominantly with our most essential instruments — body, mind, energy, and voice — allowing the practice to stay individually relevant, deeply embodied and authentic.

​If you're someone who goes first --

Who questions.

Who imagines alternatives.

Who refuses to settle.



Remember: the stages of how others respond to new ideas often sound like this:

1. This is worthless nonsense.

2. This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view.

3. This is true, but quite unimportant.

4. I always said so.

(John Haldane)



Keep going.



#IfeelthereforeIam

#educateevolveembody #bodymind #diversity #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #thinksystemically

Somatic Shamanism

“Where our minds are vexed by modernity, with even our wilder hopes limited by reason and logic, our creaturely bodies house and animate our strangest imaginations. We live all possibilities out loud through our bodies. We speak through our skin. We wield the intelligence of the flesh, our “fleshy knowings” as Kay Louise Aldred describes them. Move through this workbook like a prayer; it’s a beautiful and timely achievement.”

-Danielle Dulsky, Founder of The Hag School



I feel like the content of this workbook, which I authored and published (via @girlgodbooks, which is available from their website or online stores) in June 2023, is finally coming of age.

Grateful for this beautiful endorsement that the book received: 'we speak through our skin ... we wield the intelligence of our flesh"

#IfeelthereforeIam

#educateevolveembody #bodymind #diversity #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #thinksystemically



CLICK HERE

Neurodiverse Voices Podcast with Andreia Costa

Season 4 Episode 3



CLICK HERE





Can you believe that it’s almost November? Still trying to understand what happened this year!



The great news is that it’s almost time for a new episode of the NDV Podcast, with the amazing and very special @kaylouisealdred ! 🤗





From Diagnosis to Self-Compassion: Kay’s Story of Healing and Embodiment



Diagnosed as autistic at 47, @kaylouisealdred shares her powerful journey of late diagnosis, healing, and self-acceptance. 💜



I connected with Kay last Autumn, as I joined the Neurodivergent Wellbeing Approach training that she leads at @ndconnectionuk. I’ve learnt so much from Kay during the training and she has become an inspiration since then.



We had a wonderful and insightful conversation with a focus on the importance of the connection between the mind and body, which we so often miss.

We talked about late diagnoses, menopause and neurodivergence, parenting and a lot more!



Thank you so much for being a guest on the NDV Podcast, Kay! It’s been an immense pleasure to interview, and I can’t wait for Saturday, 1st November to share your story! 🩵

Don’t miss it!



CLICK HERE

Why self-awareness matters

My latest NDC blog extracts 👇

Whether you're Neurodivergent yourself or working with those who are, self-awareness is foundational. It means learning to notice our nervous system, values, triggers, and stories. It’s about becoming more aware of how we show up in spaces, and how our internal state affects our presence and interactions.

For professionals, this reflective work allows us to move beyond ‘doing to’ and toward ‘being with’. For Neurodivergent individuals, cultivating self-awareness helps reclaim agency and self-trust in a world that often misunderstands difference.

This training endeavours to create space for both groupings to come together in this exploration.



👁️

Reflective responding over reaction

Neurodivergent people often face environments that ask for immediate answers, constant productivity and quick emotional recovery. The Neurodivergent Wellbeing Approach recognises that reflection is not a luxury, it’s a requirement for sustainable wellbeing.



Reflection means:

Noticing how systems shape our responses

Identifying internalised expectations of compliance or performance

Exploring what wellbeing looks and feels like for us

This kind of self-inquiry isn't about pathology or self-improvement. It’s about remembering our own needs, rhythms and knowing.







👁️

Honouring spiritual and existential needs

Wellbeing isn't just physical or emotional. Many Neurodivergent people have deep spiritual needs, rich inner landscapes and existential questions that deserve space. Whether expressed through connection to nature, creativity, meaning-making, or rituals of rest and solitude, spiritual wellbeing is often sidelined in clinical or educational settings.



The Neurodivergent Wellbeing Approach course recognises spiritual and existential needs as valid, non-pathological aspects of human life. It gives language and permission for people to honour the deeper parts of themselves, without needing to explain or justify their experience.



Read the full blog 👇

https://ndconnection.co.uk/blog/ndwa-go-deeper



The latest NDWA training began on Oct 14th.  

The next round of training will be in spring 2026.

During our week in Glastonbury through the end of September into October, I read some great books, but this one was transformative: Care Work. Dreaming Disability Justice ~Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarashina.



Here are some of the key extracts which resonated deeply, and my journalling in relation to them.



"If collective access is revolutionary love without charity, how do we learn to love each other?"



“Most folks I know come to activist spaces longing to heal, but our movements are often filled with more ableism and burnout than they are healing. We work and work from a place of crisis.

Healing is dismissed as irrelevant, reserved for folks with money, an individual responsibility, something you do on your own time.

Our movements are so burn-out paced, with little to no room for grief, anger, trauma, spirituality, disability, aging, parenting, or sickness, that many people leave them ..."



#thinksystemically :

Our movements, communities, and activism are perpetuating colonisation and extraction.



How can we centre interconnectedness and interdependence and create something new?



This book is giving words to everything I'm grappling with internally at the moment.



"It's not about self-care - it's about collective care.

Too often self-care in our organisational cultures gets translated to our individual responsibility to leave work early, go home - alone - and go take a bath, go to the gym, eat some food and go to sleep.

So we do all of that 'self-care' to return to organisational cultures where we reproduce the systems we are trying to break"



#thinksystemically :

#selfcare - a whole capitalist industry profiting from our burnout cycles



"When we do disability justice work, it becomes impossible to look at disability and not examine how colonialism created it.

It becomes a priority to look at Indigenous ways of perceiving and understanding disability ...

(and) ... a vision of liberation that understands that the state was built on racist, colonialist ableism and will not save us, because it was created to kill us.

... we move together, with no body left behind (@sinsinvalid)"



#thinksystemically :

Diagnose systems & cultures, attitudes & norms



Image above: Chalice Well, and image below: Star Child mandala.  

Both locations are in Glastonbury.

October Newsletter. It's out now!

Read, subscribe, share 👇
https://mailchi.mp/091a76512104/october-newsletter?e=f36f469e0c

#educateevolveembody #bodymind #diversity #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #thinksystemically

Call for Participants: Join the Neurodivergent Creative Research Community (NCRC), Exploring Regulation through Creative Practice & from a Neurodivergent Perspective


Are you a Neurodivergent adult who enjoys creative practices like art, writing, storytelling, or embodied movement? Are you interested in regulation, dysregulation, and how creativity can support wellbeing?


We’re inviting you to take part in a unique, paid research opportunity that values your lived experience and creative passions.


About the Project
Title: Building Neurodivergent-Affirming Cultures of Regulation: A Neurodivergent Perspective
Led by Dr Amy Skinner (York St John University, Institute for Social Justice) and Kay Louise Aldred (Neurodiverse Connection), this project will explore how regulation is experienced by Neurodivergent people, using creative and collaborative methods.
You'll be part of a co-researcher community, helping to shape a creative, co-produced output and published research.


Who Can Take Part?
We’re looking for Neurodivergent adults who:
Use or are curious about creativity to explore emotions, experiences, well-being and regulation
Are open to sharing ideas about how they experience regulation and dysregulation, and what regulated spaces look and feel like for them, and how they can be facilitated, in a supportive, collaborative environment


Identify as Neurodivergent (no formal diagnosis is needed to apply)


What's Involved?
Attend monthly creative sessions (online or hybrid options)
Sessions run from December 2025 to July 2026, on the second Thursday of each month (up to 2.5 hours each, with breaks)
Engage in creative workshops, short, recorded conversations, and photo sharing of your creative work
Take part in a supportive, imaginative, and respectful space
Participants will be paid £250 for their time and contributions.


How to Apply
We have an online information Teams meeting on Thursday, 9th October 2025, at 6 pm, which you can attend via this link: Join the meeting now, Meeting ID: 379 297 777 957 8, Passcode: sY6nQ7ts. To find out more about the project, or you can email us at [email protected] and ask any questions you have.


Send an email to [email protected] telling us why you're interested by 5 pm on Monday, 20th October 2025. Details of what to include in the email below.


We’ll select participants based on interest and creative fit – we aim for a mix of styles and perspectives


If selected, you'll be invited to an online information meeting on Teams on Thursday, 6th November at 6 pm, before confirming your place.


Your Wellbeing
Your well-being during the research process is important to us.
Share only what feels right for you
You can pause or skip activities at any time
We'll begin with creative work; body-based (somatic) practices will be introduced gently later
Full consent info will be provided before you join


Your Data and Privacy
Your personal data will be stored securely and used only for this project. You’ll be able to review and approve anything with your name or creative work before it's made public or archived.


Interested? Have Questions?
To apply or find out more, email us at [email protected] by 5 pm on Monday, 20th October 2025.


In the email, let us know:
About yourself – eg your location and experience
Why you're interested in being part of the project
Any creative practices you enjoy or want to explore


Let’s build something better spaces for regulation and creativity together by, with, and for the Neurodivergent community.

Another important collaboration with @respect_uk RESPECT & a piece of partnership work I'm leading on as Neurodiverse Connection @ndconnectionuk Development Lead.


Building on partnership, co-production, research, & the toolkit & development of a neurodiversity practitioner guide for more inclusive domestic abuse perpetrator Interventions, work led by Dr Nicole Renehan at Durham University Neurodiverse Connection has partnered with RESPECT @respect_uk & their Make a Change Programme led by Rebecca Vagi to make their model more inclusive & responsive to Neurodivergent survivors & perpetrators.


Honoured to be able to support this development & I'm feeling the responsibility of this work.


More to follow.

Bravo 👏👏👏 Dr Lorna Hamilton @drlornaham Dr Stephanie Petty & Jamie Williams & @yorkstjohn York St John University


I was delighted & proud to have played a small role in this project as part of the participatory action (coproduction) group.


A participatory action research project to advance neurodiversity affirming practice in university campuses and workplaces.


The project involves the co-design of flexible, accessible research methods with Neurodivergent students and employees (recognising autism, ADHD, and other Neurodivergences).


The findings informed a dynamic, inclusive model of belonging, emphasising priority actions for adjustments, universal design and representation.
Find out more by clicking here