Ecstatic movement has been a critical part of my healing. Ecstatic dance practiced with intent is movement meditation. Below is compilation from my favorite “wave” ever. You don’t need to read anything about it…just start moving to the music. downloadable audio file here: allison-watson dj’d this collection If you want to learn more about ecstatic dance… Continue Reading →
Organic trauma therapy: Ecstatic dance as profound mindfulness practice A few months ago someone at the end of one of our dances said, *Everyone here is a freak, just like me.* The room broke up in laughter because, indeed, we’re all freaks just like him and we get to come together and celebrate that fact in… Continue Reading →
That’s right the line between psychosis and spiritual emergence does not exist. There is no line, there is only spectrum of manifestation and none of it is better or worse. It simply is what is arising in that individual at the moment they are met and unfortunately diagnosed. It can change any time too. These mental/spiritual states are not stagnant and often times they’re even responses to the ineptness of the so-called professional experts we find ourselves with. …
dancing madly this morning…the above is my garb — essentially barefoot in my pajamas with headphones attached to my head with a headband … I’m listening to the brilliant dj-ing of Robert Kochka Jr danced this first at an Asheville Movement Collective Wave more than a year ago– find his waves on soundcloud… was gonna share the one I… Continue Reading →
Dance and movement has been one of my most important tools for healing. Dancing is living well. We can do it seated or even laying down if we have to. Just move to the music and feel it.
Dancing is a practice and discipline. The ecstatic aspect can be light or dark. People might cry either in despair or in joy on the dance floor. Anything goes. You can curl up in the fetal position in a corner and cry or leap as high as you can while running in circles. I have spent time sitting cross-legged in meditation or laying on my back with my feet up the wall. Feeling the vibrations of dancing feet and loud music while lying flat on the floor is quite nice too. The practice involves letting the body do what it wants to do. …
As most of you know by now, I like mixing it up. Well, really, I NEED to mix it up. My body wants and needs something different everyday. I woke up a couple of days ago and wanted to dance but I also felt like I needed some yoga, so I did a search on youtube with yoga and dance in the search query. I got this lovely little short but intense workout…
The process of learning to find that dance involves listening to the body and watching how it interacts with the environment. Listening and then responding to the music and our surroundings. In time there is no thought, there is only emptiness as the body moves seamlessly in union with the music and the energy of the room filled with other dancers. In doing this practice one learns how to bring the dance off the floor. All life is a dance, we see. …
I find that when I tell people about how I love to go to ecstatic dancing in my community that some number of people are intimidated at the thought of letting loose among strangers. I have personally found it the most comfortable way I can be with people right now, but I understand that for many dancing is a somewhat scary thing. What I like about the groups I dance with here is that it’s as acceptable to sit against the wall and meditate as it is to dance. I often meditate or do yoga in corner when I’m not up to dancing the whole session. It’s truly a safe space for me and I love it. …
‘And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.’ — Friedrich Nietzsche
Yesterday I went for a walk in the wooded mountains near where I live. I had my iPod with me and I decided to listen to one of the Waves (a mix of dance music audio files) that one of my fellow 5 Rythyms dancers mixed and shared with me. Once I started listening to the music I couldn’t help but turn my walk in the woods into a dance in the woods. …
Everything Matters 