River teaches meditation retreats and courses, offers mentoring for meditation practitioners, and leads creative writing workshops.

She is a certified Holden QiGong teacher and teaches QiGong classes online and in person. Please contact her to find out more.

River trained as a social worker, psychotherapist and carpenter, and taught creative writing in therapeutic, community and educational settings for 25 years. She was Derbyshire Poet Laureate 2007-9.

A deepening interest in the connections between psychology, embodiment, creativity, activism, and spiritual practice led her to an Insight Meditation retreat in 2000. Since then she has been a regular retreatant at Gaia House, Devon, and now teaches there and at other locations in the UK and Europe.

She is co-founder of Sheffield Insight Meditation, a Community Dharma Leader authorised by Gaia House Teacher Council, and has completed the Bodhi College Dharma Teacher Training Programme.

River has published five poetry collections, including Year (Smith/Doorstop 2022). Her latest non-fiction book is The Subtle Art of Caring: A Guide to Sustaining Compassion (Windhorse Publications 2023).