Embodied Earth: Strong Women, Shared Ground
18 September - 18 September
19 September - 19 September
25 September - 25 September
26 September - 26 September
Venue: Corrody Country Park, Derry-Londonderry, Derry, Derry, BT47 2DS
As part of the Waterside Together Shared Spaces Festival (13-19 September 2025), we invite women aged between 30-55 from Protestant, Catholic, and BAME communities across the Waterside to reclaim space, reconnect with strength, and reimagine the outdoors in this four-day workshop series.
As part of the Waterside Together Shared Spaces Festival (13-19 September 2025), we invite women aged between 30-55 from Protestant, Catholic, and BAME communities across the Waterside to reclaim space, reconnect with strength, and reimagine the outdoors in this four-day workshop series.
This workshop offers women aged 30–55 from both communities a safe, creative, and empowering space to explore physical movement, community connection, and nature-based strength practices. Through playful, adaptable physical activities rooted in ecosomatic movement. Ecosomatics emphasises health and movement in connection with nature and environmental conditions. Participants will reflect on how our bodies hold experience, and how reclaiming movement - adapting to unexpected situations in a safe way through shared green spaces - can be a source of both personal power and collective healing.
The workshop invites women to:
- Rediscover personal resilience through movement and creativity.
- Reimagine their relationship to outdoor public space, particularly Corrody Country Park, which has recently been marked by incidents of gender-based violence.
- Build new relationships across community lines through a shared, embodied experience.
- Lay the foundation for a future Empowered Women(+) Movement Network in the Waterside.
Why This Matters:
Corrody Country Park, at the Top of the Hill, is both a symbol of separation and potential transformation. By holding this workshop here, we reclaim the space for women – turning a site associated with fear into one of strength, joy, and belonging.
This initiative directly supports Waterside Together's mission of reanimating contested or underused spaces and will help shape a long-term movement of women-led empowerment in the region.
Details about what's entailed in the workshops:
On Thursday 18 September (11am-4pm), participants will be welcomed at Hillcrest Community Centre, where we will initiate the programme with introductions, group building, personal journaling, tea and space for reflection. In the afternoon, there will be a focus on breath work and posture - creating the basis for bone strength.
On Friday 19 September (9:30am-3pm), we will meet in the morning at the Shared Village and do some more movement practice and balance work. We will discuss safety, body awareness, and breathing. In the afternoon, we will move to Corrody Country Park, and do some natural movement practice outdoors.
On Thursday 25 September (9:30am-3pm), we will begin at the Shared Village, with some creative teamwork - making space to move and combining all of the skills that we have learned into a practice. In the afternoon, we will again move to Corrody Country Park, where participants will learn self-defense techniques taught by Wing Tsjun practitioner Karen Cassidy.
On the final day, Friday 26 September (10am-3pm), we will meet for the full day at Corrody Country Park (a marquee will be provided in case of rain), where we will continue with the work we have begun, focusing on balance, strength, and empowerment.
Each day will run for approximately 5-6 hours with an hour for lunch (provided complimentarily) and breaks.
Please note that while we have planned for the possibility of rain (i.e. holding much of the workshops indoors or having a marquee erected for the final day) these workshops do have an outdoor focus (the purpose of the workshops is to embrace our natural surroundings) and participants are encouraged to bring adequate rain gear and practical clothing and shoes. Unless there is particularly stormy weather we will plan to hold the designated sessions outdoors.
Find out more about Gail Mahon below:
Gail Mahon, founder of The Clay Gymnasium
Ecoartist I Somatic & Natural Movement Practitioner I Researcher
Gail Mahon is an interdisciplinary ecoartist, somatic movement practitioner, and researcher whose work explores the profound interconnections between body, environment, and material. Through her practice at studioMA_hon, she investigates how clay and ceramics, particularly the skeletal structure as a responsive, time-formed network, illuminates the role of movement, ecology, and embodied awareness in generating new languages of strength, resilience, and collective care through the commons of clay.
As the founder of The Clay Gymnasium, Gail creates immersive, participatory spaces where sculptural practice meets Natural Movement, CrossFit, gymnastics, and powerlifting (MOVNAT certified L2 trainer). Drawing on eco-somatic methods, ancestral health patterns, and embodied research on bone health at midlife, she reimagines public and overlooked spaces as arenas for expression, play, and empowerment, particularly for women and intergenerational communities.
Her current research at Ulster University examines socially engaged arts practices through The Clay Gymnasium, with a focus on RE//EARTHING RESILIENCE, reframing bone health as an environmental issue. This work encourages practical problem-solving, skilled movement, and creative expression within the context of ONE ecological health, envisioning futures where community resilience and ecological awareness are deeply interconnected.
Find out more about self-defense practitioner and instructor
Karen Cassidy below:
Karen Cassidy: Wing Tsjun Self Defence
Karen Cassidy brings over 25 years of martial arts experience, shaped by intercultural learning and deep respect for Asian movement traditions. She teaches Wing Tsjun Kung Fu, a self-defence system developed for women over 300 years ago, focusing on technique over force, alongside practices drawn from Thai boxing, Chi Gong, and Buddhist meditation. Karen trained in Thailand for nine years, integrating martial discipline with healing, breathwork, and cultural knowledge. Her teaching promotes strength, calm, and cross-cultural understanding through movement, offering an inclusive, holistic practice rooted in global traditions and shared wisdom.
Registration details:
Sign up today for this series of FREE workshops.
Number of spaces: 20
Note that: These workshops are aimed at women aged 30-55 and participants must be resident within the Waterside in Derry-Londonderry to apply. Participants who wish to register must complete the registration form. This can be done either online here or if you wish to register by phone you can do so by contacting Tansy Cowley, Project Coordinator, at 028 7134 2959, who will complete the form with you. You can also call to the office to complete a form in person. Participants must complete the registration form to secure their space. An email will be sent to you to acknowledge that your place is secured.