Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance - Part Four (Air)

"Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free." - Rumi (Sufi Poet)

Shiva had asked when we had lost our dance in our lives.  There have been plenty of times I've lost my dance or at least, forgot about it for a little while.  But, it has always come back, always pulsating back into my life.  Like yoga, it doesn't hold grudges when you've ignored or abandoned it.  It welcomes you back with open, vibrating, energetic arms.

Shiva asked who came for their "own joy" and who came to get teacher training.  Initially, I came purely just to experience trance dance in person.  However, once here, in this experience, it was all I could think about - teaching this kind of yoga.   This was the kind of yoga I wanted to teach. A fluid, flowing, dynamic yoga that calls women to let go, be at home in their bodies, connect with all of who they are, good and bad, pulsating and underlying - this is a powerful yoga indeed.  It just felt so natural, like it was coming into my life at the perfect time.

One of the complaints I've heard about Shiva's training is that you leave not really knowing what to teach because there's not a lot of structure.  The academic in me, who wants notes and detailed instructions understands this feeling, but I really believe Shiva does so much more for us as a teacher by giving us the experience of yoga.  She often says she doesn't "do" yoga, but "is" yoga.  It isn't something you do, it's something you are.  This weekend, by putting away the notebooks and workbooks and just dancing, just feeling, just moving, it connected me to so much about myself I had forgotten.  It connected me to emotions I had been pushing down deep inside (and boy, they erupted like a lovely, angry volcano).  More than anything, it connected me to a strength and empowerment I knew was underlying it all.

Trance Dance, as funny as it sounds, is more than meets the eye.  It's more than just yoga.  It's more than just dance.  It's energy work.  It's a mindset.  It's our daily groove.  It's a lifestyle.  It's our sadhana - our spiritual practice.

After our last morning's prana practice - a challenging, yet healing asana section in Shiva's distinctive vinyasa/prana style, I was absolutely exhausted.  I felt like a rag that had been rung out completely.  Physically, mentally, emotionally, I was just spent.  But, spiritually, I felt more energized and alive than I had ever felt.  I could barely put words together, I was so high on the way this weekend had transformed me.  Moreover, I was feeling more positive than ever about situations in my life that I had no control over, situations that had haunted me for a long time.  I had spent so much time feeling helpless, but now I was seeing it differently.

Hindus believe that chaos only exists in your perception of it, that everything is actually exactly as it's supposed to be, in order, in our divine world.  Everything else is just maya (illusion).  I can't control things in my life, others in my life, or their actions.  But, I can work each day to be the best person I can be and love unconditionally.  I can be mindful every single day to live my sadhana, to put out compassion, good works and love.  I'm not perfect and sometimes I may not be as good at this as others, but I will keep attempting it every single day.

Serendipitously, in reading some of Swami Kripalu's satsangs (talks), I came across the following gems:

"To love is to suffer.  One who cannot tolerate pain cannot travel the path of true love.  Love's practice is anything but sentimental."

"The first place to have compassion is not (on your yoga mat), but is with your family and loved ones."

"To remain open in love in difficult times is an experiment in love in and of itself."

"Spirituality is not merely within books or temples or churches, but is within our own homes."

"Those who want to plant the seed of love in their heart will have to nourish it with the water of patience.  Impatience can be the cause of the destruction of love.  If we are not patient with our loved ones, then how can they be patient with us?"

Thanks, yo. I am picking up what you're laying down, Swami Kripalu. You are one jive turkey. 

Shiva told us, "Don't ever lose your dance."  After this weekend, now, that it's a part of me again, I'm going to be mindful to keep dancing in all meanings of the word.  Every single day.

Question:  What does dance mean to you in your life?  What makes you dance?