My Story
Because You are Alive, Everything is Possible
- Thich Nhat Hanh
I lived through over two decades of undiagnosed chronic pain and four years of extreme illness. I tried everything – surgeries, medications, specialists – with few answers and no clear way forward. I was exhausted, isolated, and losing trust in my body.
At the worst of it, I could barely move, outside of daily seizures. I couldn't look at screens, read, make a cup of tea, or wash my own hair. I had no control, no agency, and felt that I had nothing to live for.
And without the ability to do anything, or even distract myself from the pain, I had no choice but to turn inward.
I stopped fighting. I stopped pushing. And I started to listen.
And finally, something shifted.
A quiet sense of presence. A glimmer of awareness. A moment of connection.
Life was still there for me, beckoning me home.
That was the beginning, not of fixing, but of finding my way back to myself, back to wholeness.
The process that followed didn’t just help me recover – it changed how I live.
I am now the healthiest, most grounded, and the most joyous I have ever been.
And that healing came not from pushing harder, but from learning how to relate to myself in an entirely new way — with clarity, with trust, and with choice.
The Kora was born from this path, as a method, a space, and an invitation:
To meet yourself in your darkest moment, and discover the spark that never went out.
To love it all back into bloom.
To descend, transform, and rise.
More about
Lauren
Get to Know Us
I am a movement practitioner, somatic educator, and feminist performance maker with over 25 years of experience in dance, Pilates, and trauma-informed movement practices. My teaching is deeply informed by both professional training and personal lived experience.
Across all my work – whether in performance, education, or somatic healing – I am committed to creating spaces where people can reconnect with themselves through mindful, compassionate, and liberating processes.
I trained at the Kane School in New York (2007) as a rehabilitative Pilates teacher and worked with diverse clients for many years, from elite athletes to people living with chronic pain, neurological conditions, and complex health challenges. I now involve many other movement and somatic practices into my work, including Feldenkrais, Authentic Movement, Somatic Experiencing, and more.
Alongside my somatic work, I direct The Wolf Den, an organization that teaches embodied consent, sex education, and self-care for girls and young women. I hold a PhD in Contemporary Feminism and Performance from Queen Mary University of London, and have regularly lectured at universities in the UK and Europe. I have presented my performances across the UK and Europe at venues such as The Barbican and Fierce Festival, and give regular talks at venues such as The Royal Academy of Art and Tate Britain.
My work in all disciplines has always been about agency and empowerment – guiding others to rediscover a sense of choice, voice, and power in their own being and body. The Kora is the space in which I am able to do this with those in need of healing, and I am honoured to be doing this work.