The more I've tangibly healed, the more I've understood that accepting myself isn't just a personal journey.

It changes how we love. How we speak. How we listen, relate and stand in the world.

I'm learning to live with less of the protective patterns that once ran the show, and more connection to the deeper part of me, the part that knows who I am and what I stand for.

Kia ora, I'm Cindy Aikman.

I grew up in Tokoroa and Putāruru in the South Waikato of Aotearoa New Zealand, with Maungatautari mountain standing strong in the sky/landscape.

I danced.

A lot.

At 17 I began traveling, fell in love with Mexico, lived in New York City for 12 years and Los Angeles for 7.

In those years I trained, studied, worked, laughed, cried, got things wrong, learned things, healed things and started again.

Somewhere along the way, I realised that dance was never just dance.

It was one of the ways I came home to myself and heard myself.

Eventually, I began weaving dance together with yoga, breathwork, meditation, coaching, reflexology and other healing practices. What began as a life in the performing arts became a life in the healing arts.

I've carried a dream since I was a child to manifest unique creative healing spaces where individuals and communities can come to rest, restore and reconnect.

Imagine a place where families can slow down, enough to hear each other. Children who have experienced trauma can feel safe. Healing transformations happen through nature, horses, movement, breath, conversation, rongoā (traditional Māori healing), creativity and connection. There are edible forests, orchards, animals, art, music, dance, clay, good food, laughter and space.

Revealing that beneath all our protective personalities, we are not so different. We all want to be:

• Seen.
• Heard.
• Loved.
• Safe enough to be ourselves.

The work I do now is making this dream come true, as I continue my dance of allowing…