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sun_salutationAround Christmas last year I was looking for Shiva Rea on You Tube and found this. It's from her Yoga Trance Dance DVD, which I immediately put on my Christmas list.
I have never really been a meditating kind of person. But I know the psychological and health benefits are high if I could learn how.
Yoga is often described as movement meditation, but for me, I think I am too vested in working on improving postures and breath placement. The yoga I do is strenuous, and I am still a beginner and in general it's more about exercise than meditation for me, though I do feel the calm of it – the mindfulness. I just can't really clear my mind because I'm too involved in thinking about what I am doing.
Trance dance, however, really works for me as a movement meditation. I haven't fully explored this DVD, partially because my time is always *so* constrained, and I want to maximize the exercise component of my workouts. In fact, part of the appeal of trance dance is that it is a "yoga" way to get some cardio into my day.
Since I'm using the DVD as a guide, there is some structure to the process. I use two of the preset practices, Trance Dance Only and Energize, and I'm actually very impressed at how Shiva actually has constructed a couple of good workouts, with warm ups, stretching and cool down, where you still feel like you are dancing the entire time.
For the purpose of just freeing my mind from my body, I particularly like three of the segments. My absolute favorite is the Twisting Kriya. She has you set your feet and your hips and begin twisting from the waist, first slowly with hands on your shoulders, then "as your fire ignites," faster twisting set at your own pace. I often don't realize how lost in the movement I've become until she prompts you to slow down again, and I feel like my body is kind of floating around me. Then she has you raise your arms over your head and clasp your hands. With your axis so tight, you can really twist fast, and I just go for it.
I also really like the Tandava Kriya, the segment I linked to at the beginning. This one will really get your heart pounding, and the dance is so simple, there's nothing to think about except to keep moving with the music. It's freeing. It is also hazardous to your living room furniture. :)
Then, of course, there is Damaru. The instruction is to imagine you are in Shiva's primordial playground – a garden of drums all around you. And you use every body part to play the drums that encircle you – drums above and drums in the earth. Playing drums with your hands and feet, elbows and hips, shoulders and knees. This is why *no one* will ever see me doing trance dance, as I suspect that I probably look about as graceful as a person have a massive seizure, but it feels so good!
I don't know if it is because of the things Shiva says, or just because my emotions are close to the surface after all the other dancing, but the Liberation Dance makes me cry. It is probably the least "guided" of the segments. She says, "Dance for change. Dance for freedom."
The Infinite Movement Meditation is an amazing way to finish a "workout." The main guidance here is to move slowly and gracefully in all the space around you. It is so soothing, but also challenging, as you bring your own resistance to your creative motion.
When I'm done, my mind is clear and I feel calm and relaxed. I usually do some yoga after this, to take advantage of my muscles being so warm, and my ujjayi, which often is not easy for me, is always strong, deep and smooth. I feel still inside, the way I imagine one feels after meditating.
I think ecstatic dance is definitely my breakthrough to achieving a meditative state.
Obviously, one does not need a DVD to achieve this. It makes me think about all my friends back when I was in school who used to love to go dancing. That was never the scene for me, but now I wonder if this feeling of inner calm after dance was any part of what made it so appealing?
I have never really been a meditating kind of person. But I know the psychological and health benefits are high if I could learn how.
Yoga is often described as movement meditation, but for me, I think I am too vested in working on improving postures and breath placement. The yoga I do is strenuous, and I am still a beginner and in general it's more about exercise than meditation for me, though I do feel the calm of it – the mindfulness. I just can't really clear my mind because I'm too involved in thinking about what I am doing.
Trance dance, however, really works for me as a movement meditation. I haven't fully explored this DVD, partially because my time is always *so* constrained, and I want to maximize the exercise component of my workouts. In fact, part of the appeal of trance dance is that it is a "yoga" way to get some cardio into my day.
Since I'm using the DVD as a guide, there is some structure to the process. I use two of the preset practices, Trance Dance Only and Energize, and I'm actually very impressed at how Shiva actually has constructed a couple of good workouts, with warm ups, stretching and cool down, where you still feel like you are dancing the entire time.
For the purpose of just freeing my mind from my body, I particularly like three of the segments. My absolute favorite is the Twisting Kriya. She has you set your feet and your hips and begin twisting from the waist, first slowly with hands on your shoulders, then "as your fire ignites," faster twisting set at your own pace. I often don't realize how lost in the movement I've become until she prompts you to slow down again, and I feel like my body is kind of floating around me. Then she has you raise your arms over your head and clasp your hands. With your axis so tight, you can really twist fast, and I just go for it.
I also really like the Tandava Kriya, the segment I linked to at the beginning. This one will really get your heart pounding, and the dance is so simple, there's nothing to think about except to keep moving with the music. It's freeing. It is also hazardous to your living room furniture. :)
Then, of course, there is Damaru. The instruction is to imagine you are in Shiva's primordial playground – a garden of drums all around you. And you use every body part to play the drums that encircle you – drums above and drums in the earth. Playing drums with your hands and feet, elbows and hips, shoulders and knees. This is why *no one* will ever see me doing trance dance, as I suspect that I probably look about as graceful as a person have a massive seizure, but it feels so good!
I don't know if it is because of the things Shiva says, or just because my emotions are close to the surface after all the other dancing, but the Liberation Dance makes me cry. It is probably the least "guided" of the segments. She says, "Dance for change. Dance for freedom."
The Infinite Movement Meditation is an amazing way to finish a "workout." The main guidance here is to move slowly and gracefully in all the space around you. It is so soothing, but also challenging, as you bring your own resistance to your creative motion.
When I'm done, my mind is clear and I feel calm and relaxed. I usually do some yoga after this, to take advantage of my muscles being so warm, and my ujjayi, which often is not easy for me, is always strong, deep and smooth. I feel still inside, the way I imagine one feels after meditating.
I think ecstatic dance is definitely my breakthrough to achieving a meditative state.
Obviously, one does not need a DVD to achieve this. It makes me think about all my friends back when I was in school who used to love to go dancing. That was never the scene for me, but now I wonder if this feeling of inner calm after dance was any part of what made it so appealing?