Dance Meditation is an opening into our hearts and souls.

Dance meditation is using dance and movement to relax and connect deep within your self. It is a very powerful practice. I have been working with this for as long as I have been dancing, since 1985.

How did You become interested in this?

I began when I saw belly dance for the first time in New York City. I was an art student who was given the assignment to go to a prominent Middle Eastern club (Fasil's on 8th Avenue near 42nd St.) and watch a particular dancer perform. Her name was Badia, and she would be modeling for our class. Her dance was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I knew right then that was what I was meant to do. She was a Sufi student of Sufi Master Adnan Sarhan, who travels all over the world and is originally from Baghdad. He is based in New Mexico.

I began taking her classes and realized right away that these were no ordinary dance classes. She taught the Sufi practices she had learned from Adnan through Middle Eastern Dance and Modern Dance. Her classes were very powerful, but strange to me at the time. I had no previous experience with Spiritual or Meditative work. We followed here movements, and she gave little verbal explanations, no corrections, and often we rested in cross legged posture after a difficult movement sequence. Much of the work was slow, subtle, and required intense concentration. Other times we would dance vigorously, and sometimes in a circle, when she would call different participants to lead. My favorite part was when she told us to close our eyes and dance our own dance. I felt like I had been set free. All my frustrations evaporated into ecstasy. All of the past years of attempting various Western Dance classes and not being able to pick up choreographies as fast as everyone else, of always being on the wrong foot, evaporated into the ecstasy of being free to flow with the music and my soul as I felt it.

It was two things that got me into this dance. One was the fact that the movements of belly dance fit the way my body moves in a way that no other dance form did, and the other was the way it was taught through the Sufi students of Adnan Sarhan. There was never a right way or a wrong way per say. We just moved and flowed following the lead in the best way we could, and then were set free to express ourselves in our own way.

A few years later, as I became more enamored with the dance, and determined to do it well, I found within myself the discipline to take conventional classes in belly dance technique. I believe I may have never gotten to that point if I had not started with the Sufis. In a way you could say that I learned the art of dance backwards - expression first, technique later. Most people spend years on technique before they begin to really express themselves. I feel that technique is the vocabulary that we use to express ourselves in our art. It is crucial, but without the passion of the heart and the soul, it is empty.

 

What do you do in a Dance Meditation Class?

We focus on movement and breath, breathing with the movements and moving with the breath. We usually begin with simple stretches, and moving stretches. We also incorporate yoga poses and moving yoga. Sometimes we begin with belly dance, with the instructor leading basic moves. Sometimes it can be very vigorous and playful, other times more somber and intense. One of my favorite exercises is continuous flow. This means that the movement continues to flow from one part of the body to the next without stops or pauses, and it is usually fairly slow and involves moving from floor to standing, and back again - changing levels. It takes intense concentration and is difficult to maintain for long periods of time, which is exactly what we try to do when given this exercise. We have many such exercises in Dance Meditation Classes.

There is a profound connection that happens when participants work together in a room with an instructor for long periods of time. This can mean a few hours, a few days, or many days. Some of our retreats are as long as 10 or more days. The connection happens even though the participants do not intentionally interact.

However, many of the exercises do involve conscious interactions, such as witness dancing. This means that one person watches while another dances or moves. The dancer usually keeps the eyes closed, not with the intent of performing for the watcher, but with the intent of moving from his or her own space. Later on participants may write or talk about what they experienced while watching and dancing.

Dance Meditation also involves whirling, chanting, being still for longs periods of time, and writing. Retreats are best done on a pure vegetarian diet avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and cigarettes. When in retreat we also avoid stressful contact with the outside world, such as telephones, computers, and excessive talk. We have periods of silence in the mornings which is beneficial to all, but especially those who experience stressful lives and jobs.

What does Dance Meditation Look like?

Dance Meditation is remarkably beautiful to watch. It is not a performance, however. Those who are deeply involved are communicating within themselves, and are not reacting to an audience. It is often difficult to achieve this space, especially if one is conscious of others who might be watching. But when it is achieved, it is powerful. A viewer must be in tune with subtleties in order to appreciate a witness of dance meditation. Sometimes it may appear that the participant is doing nothing at all, just standing or sitting with eyes closed. Perhaps one can see only a small vibration in the hips or torso.

Some of us who are strong in our practice are able to perform dance meditation.

Another thing I have noticed is the interactions that happen between participants who are moving in close proximity but are not consciously aware of what each other is doing. It can be truly awesome, beautiful, and inspiring to watch.

Dance Meditation with Dunya

I have now completed a 4 year Teacher Training program with Dunya. Most of the things I have talked about on this page are based on my work with her. There is a link to her site in my links section. If you are drawn to this work, you may want to look at this site, which is filled with information and writings by her students. You may want to do one of her workshops or retreats.