MOST people can relate to that sense of living in their heads, of having to be highly mentally charged and focused throughout our day to meet the demands and expectations imposed upon us.

These stresses can be multiplied during the winter months with fewer daylight hours and less opportunities for exercise.

Lara Fiedler's dance classes - TranscendAnce: Moving-Into-Being and DancingCreativity, held at the All Saints' Centre, Uplands, Stroud - are intended as an antidote to this highly stressful and cerebral state that, to varying degrees, we all find ourselves in.

The group is open to anyone regardless of age, gender, dance/art experience and physical fitness and mobility; they are run on the simple principal of enjoyment.

Lara trained as a dance teacher and also with Gabrielle Roth, the originator of 5Rhythms, and is now herself a 5Rhythms dance teacher; she also teaches art and is a professional artist of over 20 years.

However, Lara draws on diverse media, combining creative expression with dance, also using her own dance and art practice to inform and inspire her teaching.

Each week takes a slightly different theme and music is chosen to support but not dictate the dance and movement. Lara offers gentle guidance whilst encouraging full individual autonomy and creativity.

"We all move, we all breath" said Lara, "and the dance is a way of celebrating these essential aspects of life."

'DancingCreativity' runs on Wednesday mornings from 10am to 12 noon and 'TranscendAnce: Moving-Into-Being' runs on Thursday evenings from 7.45pm - 10pm. The classes will run weekly from Wednesday, January 4. For more information contact Lara on 01453 758141.