Introduction to Fool Expression in Bristol

3rd & 4th May 25 

WELCOME TO THE FOOL EXPRESSION SUMMER CAMP

A unique immersion into the art of inner and relational play, connection, and self-discovery.

⭐️ Are you longing for more play in your life?

⭐️ Curious to meet the many aspects of yourself in a safe, vibrant container?

⭐️ Excited to create a Village of depth, joy, and transformation with others?

Come join us in the outstanding beauty of nature: under the stars, by the campfire, and within a magnificent geodome. With wild swimming, time on the land, and rich shared meals, this summer camp is not just a workshop—it’s a vibrant Village.

WHAT IS FOOL EXPRESSION?

Fool Expression is a deeply embodied and transformational practice that draws from the archetype of the Fool to access, express, and integrate the many parts within us—our Inner Village.

It is not about being funny or acting foolish, though laughter may come. It is about being willing to step into the unknown, to embody parts of us (masks, selves, subpersonalities) with authenticity, curiosity, and presence.

The Fool travels between these aspects with lightness and depth—exploring, expressing, and then stepping out—welcoming what’s next to emerge. The practice allows you to:

 Access unknown or hidden parts of yourself

 Journey somatically through emotions, patterns, and insigh  Alchemise discomfort through expression

Discover vitality, peace, and creativity within

We work solo, in pairs, and as a group—engaging in relational play, witnessing, ritual, and movement, supported by the safety of community and nature. Read more about Fool Expression.

 THE POWER OF THE VILLAGE

This camp goes beyond personal development—it is about co-creating a Village.

You’ll explore:

  • How your parts play out in group dynamics

  • The power of being seen and seeing others

  • Trust and transformation through collective presence

  • The magic of mirroring, triggers, empathy, and shared truth

As participants, you’ll find that your Fool journeys illuminate others’ paths—and theirs, yours. This relational magic creates a sense of belonging, resonance, and communal wisdom.

We return to a deeper way of gathering: where theatre, play, and soul meet around the fire and within the heart of the Village.

 WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

  • How to access, express and integrate different parts of yourself

  • Tools to ground, regulate and feel safe in expression

  • How to step in and out of ‘masks’ with awareness

  • How to use relational triggers for growth and insight

  • How to embody and express what’s alive in the moment

  • How to co-regulate in group play and build trust

This work is rooted in:

  • Fooling practice (Franki Anderson lineage)

  • Voice Dialogue & the Psychology of Selves

  • Trauma-informed somatic tools

  • Aspects of Authentic Movement, IFS, Focusing, Psychodrama

 YOUR FACILITATORS

CHRISTIE ANIMAS
A playful human researcher and community builder, Christie is the founder of Fool Expression. Her work is rooted in Voice Dialogue, Fooling, Body-Informed Leadership, and parts work. She is devoted to decolonising bodies and building regenerative culture through embodied expression. Christie offers group and 1:1 sessions in the UK and Europe, and collaborates with the Deep Play Institute (USA).
Website: www.christieanimas.com

BETH FRIEDEBERG
Beth is a Core Process Psychotherapist with a background in trauma-informed facilitation and transformational group work. Her passion for play, embodiment, and relational healing fuels her work. She brings clarity, compassion, and presence to the space. She will be assisiting Christie.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Whether you’re a new or returning Fool, this Summer Camp offers a rich, layered experience—personal, relational, communal. Come create, witness, unravel and play in the magic of the Inner Village.

 PRACTICALS

  • Dates: 17–22 June 2025

  • Location: Devon (exact location upon booking)

  • Accommodation: Camping on site

  • Facilities: Large geodome, kitchen, wild swimming spots, campfire

  • Open to: All levels, including newcomers to Fool Expression

  • Food: Each player will bring ingredient for a meal for 15 people. More info on booking
  • Prices: Tier 1 : £500 – Tier 2: £450 – Tier 3: £400

 

Come as you are. Leave more you than ever.

Contact Christie here if you have any question.

REVIEW:

“A week that changed how I relate to myself, others, and the world.”

My time at the Fool Expression Summer Camp was nothing short of transformative. I arrived not knowing quite what to expect—just a flicker of curiosity and a longing for something real. What unfolded was a deep journey into myself, held gently by Christie and her team in the most supportive, wild, and welcoming container I’ve ever experienced.

Each day we explored the parts within us—the loud ones, the quiet ones, the ones we didn’t even know were there. Through Christie’s unique blend of Fool Expression, Voice Dialogue, somatic inquiry, and ritual, we were invited to embody and give voice to the full spectrum of our inner world. It was raw, playful, and profoundly liberating.

But the magic wasn’t just in the inner work—it was in the village we created together. We cooked meals, swam in lily-filled waters, circled under stars, and met each other in our vulnerability and brilliance. I experienced, perhaps for the first time, what it feels like to belong—not by fitting in, but by being utterly myself.

The transformation was subtle yet powerful. I left with new tools for life, more compassion for all the parts in me, and a deep trust in the power of authentic human connection. If you’re curious, if you’re longing for play and depth and community—go. Your inner village will thank you.

— John S., IT Architect

 

BOOKING: 

Normal Price: £250

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Abundant: £300

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Early bird: £200

(until 23rd April 25)

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Deposit* £130

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✨Are you curious about the different aspects in you?

✨Do you feel the call for more expression in your life?

✨Would you like to navigate more playfully within yourself?

Welcome !

Fool Expression is calling us as humans to learn to access all the masks or parts in ourselves. Some known, some not known yet. This way we connect to more aliveness, creativity, inner peace, connection with others and with ourselves

It is a deeply transformative and embodied process allowing us to dive deeper into ourselves through somatic practices and through a safe connection with others. In this benevolent container, our human nature is called to open, express and bring transformation. 

In this practice the Fool archetype is the part in us that can journey from one aspect of ourselves to another, embodying and exploring authentically each of them fully. It is not at all about being funny or foolish, although this could also happen. But it is about being open, curious and willing to explore known and unknown parts of our psyche. It is about receiving the vast amount of life force available in each part in us and it is also about feeling safe and free within

The Fool archetype honours, embodies and expresses authentically the uniqueness of each aspect in us and then effortlessly steps out of them. Thus offering space to whatever else that is ready to be explored and expressed in us. The Fool archetype feels also at home in the ‘empty space’, in the the rich unknown within us. They navigate freely these spaces where anything can effortlessly emerge and then be explored…

This practice excitingly allows also for the different parts of us to interact together and so reveal more of themselves as well as the dynamic between them that are usually a mirror of what is happening is our lives.  As participants we ‘play’ this way to find more about ourselves and we realise soon also that our exploration is serving other participants’s personal journeys in a meaningful way. In a similar way, other participant’s play offers us a huge source of insights and transformation for ourselves.  We realise how the authentic expression of parts and patterns in us forges a deep sense of trust, learning, understanding, connection and belonging in the group.

Fool Expression brings conscious gathering and the magic of theatre back into the centre of the community. A place to explore, feel connected, and most important to just be who we are. It allows us to experience in an embodied way the mystery that links us all together as humans and the potency of transformation we can create together

In this Introduction Weekend, I will teach the participants how to find a safe and regulated connection with themselves, how to access and express the different masks/ personalities in an embodied and enabling way, how to feel comfortable and supported by an audience, how to spot and alchemise any discomforts arising, how to find more ease and pleasure in the explorative play.

This work comes from the lineage of the Fool’s work of Franki Anderson. It is also based on the Voice Dialogue Model of Consciousness and the Psychology of Selves and is Trauma Informed. It involves aspects of focusing, authentic movement, shadow work, Internal Family System, parts work and theatre.

Note: to preserve the integrity of the group, I reserve the right to continue working with those I feel comfortable with, and capable of holding within the group setting. If you are not able to afford the different prices proposed, do get in touch as there are a few bursaries option available.

TASTER EVENING on the Friday 4th October 7pm. See Calendar page for booking.

AFTER THE WEEKEND YOU WILL HAVE:

 – an embodied sense of a home base within you
– practical tools to come closer to yourself in your daily life
– a better understanding of parts of yourself and a new relationship with them
– new parts in you that have shown up and are now available
– an access to who you are beyond all these parts in you
– you will feel nourished and inspired by your inner player
– a supportive and safe connection with the other
– lots of energy and excitement
– the desire to play more

 

WHO IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR? You might be:

– interested in personal development and spirituality, you want to experience an embodied and fun way to touch the mystery inside of yourself and come out of restrictive patterns
– a therapist and you want to explore new embodied approach to feed your practice
– an artist and you want to enhance your creative expression and find new resources to express yourself from
– you are a parent and you want to have space for the different experiences in you and find new ways to be playful with your child(ren)
– an activist and you want to learn to harness the energy of all the aspects in you to enhance your action with energy and resilience
– you are a seeker, maybe in a transition time, and want to find out more about yourself and what is wanting to come next in your life

Welcome to fulfilling journey !

“I just wanted to say thanks again for facilitating this work for us over this last weekend. I did find it challenging, but every time I met with the unknown I was surprised, delighted and had a great sense of relief. For me the unknown has always been a frightening dark abyss, yet just with this taster intro weekend and stepping in to the unknown a few times, my perspective has greatly shifted. It’s still scary yes, but instead of a dark, frightening, all-consuming abyss that must feel horrible and lets just not go there kind of place… I see below me, looking off the ‘cliff of knowing’, or at least what my ego thinks I know, a vast colourful spectrum. Yes there is black, and also white, but there’s are so many different shades and hues you can reach, grasp and easily move in to. Going through this process has been like a mirror for my life, and I’ve stopped myself so many times for fear of the unknown. And now is only the beginning, thank you for revealing and sharing this path. Louise Littera – Home educator

 

PRACTICALITIES:

Time: from 10 am to 6.00 pm Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th May 25

Bring: food for your lunch, loose clothes, a blanket to lie on and a notepad

Place: Dance Hall St Werbughs Primary School, Bristol

TASTER EVENING on the Friday. See Calendar page for booking.

 

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More reviews:

“The Fool Expression introduction was transformative. I am transformed by the introduction to the masks. Wearing my doctor, scientist, human-interest mask : I can see how play bypasses the barriers and walls we have created in our fear-based reaction to life. Making contact with people through their ‘masks’ seemed to be the essence of consultation – moments of authentic expression and the silence that often naturally follows. Christie has a unique ability to create a very safe and nurturing space…really – the strongest, gentlest, warmest I’ve experienced: she is an exceptional facilitator.  The experience was transformative to gently be introduced to my own illusions, the illusions I create in the wearing of my masks. This was an invitation to dance with life. Ongoing to med school at age 19, I had one question, ‘What makes us unwell and what makes us well again?” I believe Fool Expression must be one of the most effective ways to explore that question.”
Annabel Smart ~ GP

“What a great leader Christie is. Not much has come up for me except a huge amount of positive emotional shifts. Feel like I’ve had a massive soul work out. And Christie’s person direct reflection was worth its weight in gold just as a healing session let alone the rest of all the fantastic knowledge. My mental health problems didn’t come up too badly so it all went really well. Handsome really positive shifts that are really helping me work my life out.”Adam Moore ~ Writer and theoretician of community creativity

“The Fool Expression weekend turned out to be a magical and heart-opening experience. Christie held the space beautifully, with a light touch, allowing me to relax and explore my masks in a safe space. The four ‘acts’ took me on an unexpected journey in which I discovered selves that have been hidden for longer than I can remember. I was touched so many times witnessing one of the others reach a part of themselves that resonated deeply with me. I am full of gratitude and inspired to continue the journey, and am finding the fooling bringing honesty and spontaneity into my everyday life.” Alan Taylor ~ Guitar teacher

“After a play session with Christie I felt exhilarated and open, having experienced an acceptance for parts of myself which had never before been exposed, let alone so welcome. I felt fully received, and even appreciated in what I shared – and felt no pressure to be prepared, or perform well, or to be familiar with what I was doing or where it would unfold. Christie held us with a light touch, so we were able to drop-in at our own pace, and take all the space that we needed for integration. Overall the days were fun and enlightening and I would definitely recommend the experience, for an embodied and intuitive journey into self-awareness…” RH ~ Workshop facilitator

Once you have booked, you will receive a payment confirmation and some more practical information about the weekend closer to the time.

* The deposit is non refundable and the remaining of the payment needs to be paid by the 26th March 2025 to secure your place.

Terms & Conditions:   If you cancel over two weeks before the start of the workshop the amount over and above the deposit is transferable to another workshop within the next 5 months.