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About us

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Following a growing curiosity, I attended a design thinking facilitation training in Cape Town in 2017 and was immediately inspired by what I had discovered. I became excited by the realisation that the principles and mindsets espoused by design thinking were intuitive to the iterative nature of the theatre-making traditions in which I was educated. Before this introduction, I had pivoted from being a theatre director to working as an applied theatre practitioner and storytelling facilitator in organizational contexts. 

 

A week after that initial introduction to design thinking I had a bicycle accident and cracked four vertebrae in my back. Fortunately, the injury was not long-term debilitating, but I was still confined to six weeks of horizontal recovery. During this time, I read as much as I could about design thinking and soaked up the stories, perspectives, and insights of both the Kelly brothers and many more pioneering practitioners in the field. I came to understand that design thinking was often considered to be a ‘glue between disciplines’ and as a creative process, thrives on a diversity of inputs. In many ways, I felt that I had discovered a new creative ‘home’ in the design thinking methodology. As my back healed, my newfound fascination with design thinking grew. 

 

In the years that followed, I sought opportunities to grow my skills and working knowledge in design thinking as much as I could. I have since run numerous design thinking pieces of training (in-person and virtual) both in South Africa and on occasions abroad, including in Morocco, Amsterdam, and Namibia. 

 

I have also fed my creative curiosity, where possible and appropriate, by incorporating theatre-inspired methods, such as improvisation, storytelling, and enrolling, into the design thinking process. In doing so I have discovered many opportunities to effectively activate research data, insights, and concepts, enabling participants to elevate and deepen empathy and creative engagement. 

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your body knows.Through facilitating awareness of the connected intelligence of your body and mind, we aim to enhance the experience of life and work by training people in techniques and practices for application in the workplace.

 

Through increased embodied awareness you learn to cope better, manage stress, regulate emotions and expand your perceptions of the world. 

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By combining tailored physical activations and embodiment techniques that are informed by recent insights from neuroscience and embodied cognition, it becomes possible to gain a deeper clarity of perception, intention and action for more meaningful, imaginative, and impactful work.

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We offer training, facilitation and consulting in:

  • Strategic storytelling practices for enhanced communication and collaboration.

  • Mind-body awareness workshops and body-based wellbeing practices for effective application in the workplace. 

  • Design thinking facilitation and workshop design. We bring a unique perspective from applied theatre to enhance insights and solutions. 

  • Custom, interactive workshops to meet your specific needs. 

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You learn how to expand your intelligence. 

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While many innovation practitioners advocate a "learn-by-doing" approach, they often engage in creativity processes that lack a meaningful degree of movement or embodied activation. This typically involves activities such as sitting, standing, and talking, with little emphasis on more dynamic forms of engagement. Unfortunately, this overlooks the potential to tap into the valuable domains of our "embodied awareness" and the intelligence inherent in our bodies, ultimately constraining our perspectives, understandings, and insights.

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Embodied Design, however, recognizes the profound impact our physicality has on our perceptions, the quality of our thinking, and the choices we make in subsequent actions. The manner in which we navigate space, employ body language, employ metaphor to convey meaning, and even the depth of our reflections all play pivotal roles in shaping our intelligence, fostering collaboration, and facilitating effective communication.

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Design the body into your thinking. Through the incorporation of physicality and the utilization of techniques drawn from theater and embodiment practices, Embodied Design activates and enhances the design process. This deliberate approach not only cultivates deeper reflection and understanding but also fuels creativity and drives impactful innovation implementation.

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Our shared embodied nature transcends social, economic, and cultural differences, underscoring the fact that as humans, we all experience the world through the medium of a living body. This shared embodiment creates a profound sense of connection and empathy among us.

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By intentionally infusing physical intelligence into the design flow, we unlock the potential to elevate the quality of our collaborative and emerging future. These expanded perspectives serve to enrich design thinking and bolster human-centered approaches as we grapple with the complex challenges of today.

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My journey in the applied theatre arts was discovered through an intuitive pull towards facilitating creative journeys for individuals and teams in organisations.

 

 

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your body knows.

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Unless you make choices for your body, your body will make choices for you.

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Our response to a situation literally has the power to change the situation itself.

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Through facilitating awareness of the connected intelligence of your body and mind

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Using a hybrid mix of creative, complimentary methods, we draw on the latest findings in neuroscience with insights from the fields of embodied cognition, soma design and applied theatre. Through these approaches, new possibilities for more holistic and sustainable future outcomes emerge.

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Myriam HadnesMyriam Hadnes• 1st• 1stI help professionals who work with groups leverage the impact of their work || PhD in Behavioural EconomicsI help professionals who work with groups leverage the impact of their work || PhD in Behavioural Economics

14h • 14h • 

Many of you might have heard me saying that I won’t facilitate onsite anymore because I love my screen and my Zoom breakout rooms so much 😅

But, if a great opportunity comes along, one cannot say no! 

After years of online collaboration, countless hours together, on the podcast, designing workshops and supporting each other in our facilitation and business journeys, I finally met Thomas Lahnthaler for the first time ‘off-screen’ in 3D 🤩 

We didn't need words to know that we had to create something offline together. And so we will. 

It will be small and intimate. Not a #course or #training, but a #retreat

The word ‘retreat’ sounds comfortable and cozy. 
Those who know Thomas, know that he doesn’t do ‘comfortable’. 

Hence we will call it a #BootCamp

2 days in Amsterdam, from October 13-15, for a group of 8 people only. 

Watch out for more information soon!

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We aim to enhance the experience of life and work through facilitating awareness of the connected intelligence of your body and mind, by training people in techniques and practices for application in the workplace.

How an applied theatre practitioner discovered design thinking:

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Following a growing curiosity, I attended a design thinking facilitation training in Cape Town in 2017 and was immediately inspired by what I had discovered. I realised that the principles and mindsets espoused by design thinking were intuitive to the iterative nature of the theatre-making traditions in which I was educated. Before this introduction, I had pivoted from being a theatre director to innovating as an applied theatre practitioner and storytelling facilitator in organizational contexts. 

 

A week after that initial introduction to design thinking, I had a bicycle accident and cracked four vertebrae in my back. Fortunately, the injury was not long-term debilitating, but I was still confined to six weeks of horizontal recovery. During this time, I read as much as I could about design thinking and soaked up the stories, perspectives, and insights of both the Kelly brothers and many more pioneering practitioners in the field. I came to understand that design thinking was often considered to be a ‘glue between disciplines’ and as a creative process, thrives on a diversity of inputs. As my back healed, my newfound fascination with design thinking grew. 

 

In the years that followed, I sought opportunities to grow my skills and working knowledge in design thinking as much as I could. I have since run numerous design thinking pieces of training (in-person and virtual) both in South Africa and on occasions abroad, including in Morocco, Amsterdam, and Namibia. 

 

I have also fed my creative curiosity, where possible and appropriate, by incorporating theatre-inspired methods, such as improvisation, storytelling, and other animated techniques into the design thinking process. In doing so, I have discovered many opportunities to effectively activate research data, insights, and concepts, enabling participants to further elevate and deepen empathy with creative engagement. 

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Get In Touch.

  • LinkedIn

​​Colin Skelton

colin@moveyourthinking.co.za

Tel: +27 (0)766321973

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23 Thibault Street

Roosevelt Park

2095

Johannesburg

South Africa

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