Annie Rankin (Vajrasara)

Annie is the founder and main trainer at Live Connection. She has worked in communications for 25 years. An internationally certified trainer in Nonviolent Communication™, Annie leads workshops in effective communication, conflict resolution, team-building and stress reduction. She specialises in communication courses for both personal and professional development; she works as a mediator for those in dispute, as a coach, and a mentor.

She draws on a decade of experience as a journalist and writer on various UK national newspapers. And another decade working in cooperative teams within a spiritual community; this included being Director of Communications for an international charity, and editing its quarterly magazine.

Annie brings an experiential approach to her trainings. She has a passion for harmony and a respect for the power of words. Her work is influenced by her interests in mindfulness, meditation, Focusing, psychology, green issues, creating community and healing. She has been practising meditation and Buddhism for 20 years and is a member of the Western Buddhist Order. She lives in Somerset with her partner, where she also writes, edits, teaches meditation and leads residential courses and retreats.

Paul Filipiak (Nagamudra)

Paul has spent 30 years involved in theatre and movement work, as an actor and director. He originally trained with Jacques Lecoq in Paris, as a performer in physical theatre, including clown and masks. He became a founding member of the Moving Picture Mime Show, a successful troupe which toured the world for 15 years.

He is now a Dramatherapist, bringing together his skills and experience of the theatre with his interest in awareness, integration and communication. He trained at London’s Central School of Speech & Drama, in the Sesame/Jungian approach. He specialises in the healing power of story and myth, and works with a range of clients and age-groups – currently with psychiatric in-patients in Bristol. (He is registered with the Health Professionals Council.)

Paul has been studying meditation and Buddhism for 25 years and is a member of the Western Buddhist Order. He has also spent three decades exploring tai chi: firstly with John Kells (of the British Tai Chi Chuan Association) and subsequently with Wee Kee Jin (of the Taiji School of Central Equilibrium) – through which he is qualified to teach and is registered as an instructor with the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain. He runs workshops in storytelling, on masks, and on the theme of communication.  He teaches both meditation and tai chi classes in the South West, and leads workshops and retreats in various parts of the UK.

Contact –

Elizabeth English (Locana)

Elizabeth is a communication trainer, who founded Life at Work in 2003, when she became internationally certified with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC). She is now also qualified as a Practitioner of Focusing with the British Focusing Teachers’ Association. Her background in NVC gives her a special interest in communication, ranging from conflict resolution to team-building and stress reduction.

Drawing on the insights of Focusing and 25 years of Buddhist meditation practice, Elizabeth also works as a coach and mentor, and acts as a consultant for mediation and reconciliation issues.

She is active in both professional and personal contexts with leaders, managers and teams, and with individuals. Previously she worked as a university lecturer, researcher and author in the humanities. Elizabeth collaborates regularly with Annie and runs a wide range of trainings, see – www.lifeatwork.co.uk