Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance - Part One (Earth)

"All the world's problems can be solved by dance." - James Brown

Talk about a transformative experience!  I've been doing Shiva Rea's DVDs for a couple of years now, first with her Shakti one, then Radiant Heart, then Flow, then Lunar, then Daily Energy, and then...well, a bunch more.  I came across a title, "Yoga Trance Dance."  Now this sounds interesting, I thought.  I ordered it, at first feeling a little silly dancing across my living room to a DVD of a group of dancing SoCal free spirits, but soon, the music and dance and Shiva herself just get you and you don't give a shit.  Like Shiva says in the video, her head moving with the rhythm and her beatific smile across her face, "Those who dance are seen to be crazy by those who do not hear the drums." 

I knew I had to experience this mixture of yoga and dance movement first hand and luckily, Shiva Rea offers a teacher training in this very style.  So, last weekend, I drove the 15 hours through traffic, construction and rainstorms to Kripalu, near Lenox, Massachusettes.  I arrived weary and exhausted in the middle of a downpour not unlike the first monsoon ten years ago when I arrived to the Integral Yoga Ashram in Virginia for my teacher training.  This time, luckily, I did not have to put up a tent in the rain, but I did have to traverse uphill winding mountain roads that were gushing with flood waters.  About 20 anxiety ridden minutes later and several turn arounds, I finally found Kripalu (my one suggestion to them - a bigger sign!).

I had expected Kripalu to be somewhat like the Ashram in Virginia, but upon walking in, I realized quickly this was a much larger operation.  Greeters, secretaries and yogis running about, pamphlets, sign ins, and  SO many people.  Crowds and crowds of people, many more than I expected.  I signed in, unpacked my car and settled into my tiny little room that reminded me of a monk's quarters (fitting since I found out later that Kripalu used to be a Jesuit monastary).

There was just enough time to attend one of Kripalu's many daily yoga classes before dinner.  I slipped into the Gentle Yoga class, feeling too exhausted after the travel for anything more demanding.  It was a great choice, housed in an enormous room with tall cathedral ceilings.  In fact, this used to be the Jesuit chapel.  Now it had stained glass "OM's" on the doors and the dancing Nataraj Shiva at the altar where Christ used to be, which as a Religion teacher, made me smile a bit.  There must have been over fifty people in this class and I barely had enough room to roll my mat out at the back.  Aside from Bikram yoga, it was the largest class I had ever attended.  Soon, my body released into the restorative poses and I noted the loose movement and instructional emphasis Kripalu classes had.  After many slow leg stretches, side stretches and child's poses, we ended with a surprisingly nice movement of planting our feet and hopping up and down as a cleansing.  I could feel all the stress, anxiety and exhaustion from travel just melting away through my feet and was so thankful that I arrived early enough for this transition to the weekend training. 

Expecting the usual Ashram vegetarian fare of tofu and rice, I was blown away by Kripalu's food offerings.  I walked in to a huge hall that had two buffets spread out.  Everything is grown organically and locally and so I piled my plate with salads, tomatoes, curry drizzled salmon, fruits and drank this organic, hormone free milk from Jersey that was indeed the best milk I have ever tasted in my life.  So good, I wanted to give a little Jersey fist pump right there for its splendid existence.

And now, transitioned and fed, it was time to do what we came here for.  Around 7:30, those of us in the training program gathered around the "OM" doors to wait for our first session.  The excitement and buzz was tangible. Several girls were covering themselves in glitter.  Oh boy...I wondered how many were going to be ga ga for Shiva Rea (she has quite the fan base and some fans are fantatic for her in a Guru/Grateful Dead sort of way).  I tried to stay detached and calm, but I had to admit after using her DVDs for so long, I was a little giddy to meet her too.  However, after my Rodney Yee experience, I tried not to get my expectations up too high.  It's far too easy for your idols to fall.

Then, I felt this pull to my left.  My eyes looked in that direction and coming towards me was a tall woman dressed in all white with a white, embroidered sash around her waist.  Her blonde, platinum hair was cut in bangs - very surfer girl - and she was pointing and talking with one of her assistants.  She turned and looked right into my eyes and I think she must have seen my bag (a local artist's creation - "Om land Security") because she looked down, then looked back at me and smiled, patting her heart with her left hand.  I wasn't sure what that meant or if it was even me she was looking at for sure, but damned if my neutrality went right out the window.  In that one moment, I immediately felt myself beam and become all googly eyed.  I was "Shiva-fied."  I immediately realized she was someone whose simple presence in a room makes heads turn and I couldn't wait to see what she had in store for us tonight. I had a feeling it would be intense, whatever it was and I was right.

To be continued...