Tag Archives: Gabrielle Roth

Dancing All Of Me!

Posted on March 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

mother_earth with rainbowI am so looking forward to doing our dance journeys again, recently paused by Mother Earth as she made our venue inaccessible with a very large earth slide across the very long and steep driveway. I was so wanting to do the dance and starting to look at venues to try to get it up in a couple of weeks when my shoulder and neck went out. I was in a lot of pain and it was challenging to turn my head left.

body in space

I took it as a message to slow down, of course I would be continuing to facilitate dance journeys with my Beloved. I just needed to let go of a bit of frantic energy that was pushing me out of the flow. From that came the notion to have the next dance the weekend after Easter on the Sunday, plenty of time to sort out a venue and let everyone know.

letting-go

In fact I seem to be letting a few things go at the moment, in a variety of ways but moving energies in love-making is probably my personal favourite! That and dancing, need to do more dancing and spread the word to the faithful out in the world. Dance any way you like, on your own or with others, learning steps or free form, be yourself. Oh I can’t wait for the next big dance, “Songs for the Earth” which was, hilariously, our theme on that fateful afternoon. We will probably tweak it a bit but not too much, it’s a really awesome play list. Life is movement, life is fun, dancing as a spiritual practice, body based, yum.

Gabrielle Roth

“If you put the body in motion, you will change. You are meant to move: from flowing to staccato, through chaos into lyric and back into the stillness from which all movement comes………..The spirit in motion heals, expands, circles in and out of the body, moving us through the layers of consciousness from inertia to ecstasy. Open to the spirit, and you will be transformed.”

Maps to Ecstasy, Gabrielle Roth, Nataraj Publ., Novato, CA, 1989.

See amazing footage of Gabrielle Roth filmed by Michelle Mahrer in 2003: https://vimeo.com/57105745

Check out our dance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/malenydance/

or send us an email at malenydance@gmail.com

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Movement As A Meditation: The Journey Within.

Posted on June 22, 2014 | 4 comments
Hey this looks like an awesome place to dance! http://www.ecstaticdanceseattle.com/

Hey this looks like an awesome place to dance! http://www.ecstaticdanceseattle.com/

The dance was a journey that we all enjoyed, the small group of seasoned dancers all expressing their delight at the opportunity to let loose in any way they choose. It’s a kind of moving meditation where you are letting your body respond to the soundscape, moving through different scenes as the music takes you on a journey into the self. It isn’t so often that we get much space to move around when dancing out in the world, and there are usually people watching which changes the experience.

ecstaticdancerTo dance in a darkened space with very soft lighting, everyone is focused on their own flow of movement so each person is dancing as if nobody is watching. There is a sense of freedom in this process which carries the seeds of great joy as energy flows more freely through the systems of these organic moving figures. They have the chance to let go, to transform whatever it is in them that needs to move.

I am feeling enormous gratitude and a lot of excitement at the possibilities that are opening up for my shared future with my Beloved. We can work together and play together and generally have a good time while helping to birth the new age of humanity, who said that change couldn’t be fun!

And that my friends is all I have to say at the moment, there is much to think upon. I never get tired of this quote from Gabrielle Roth:

“If you put the body in motion, you will change. You are meant to move: from flowing to staccato, through chaos into lyric and back into the stillness from which all movement comes………..The spirit in motion heals, expands, circles in and out of the body, moving us through the layers of consciousness from inertia to ecstasy. Open to the spirit, and you will be transformed.”

Maps to Ecstasy, Gabrielle Roth, Nataraj Publ., Novato, CA, 1989.

 

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Open To Spirit And You Will Be Transformed.

Posted on June 1, 2014 | 2 comments

koala-lazing-aboutLiving in a bush sanctuary you get many opportunities to connect with the animal kingdom, horses, spiders, wallabies, birds with all kinds of wonderful plumage, parrots, ducks and owl. My Beloved spotted some movement over in the bush outside the garden as we sat on the back verandah above the water hole, it turned out to be a koala! It was quite big and moving much faster than one usually sees them going, not that one sees them very often in the wild, those that are managing to survive in the changing environment spend about 20 hours a day sleeping up in a tree. No wonder we don’t see them much!

http://www.shamanicjourney.com/article/6156/koala-power-animal-symbol-of-deep-relaxation-and-concentration

I looked up the meaning of koala and wasn’t quite sure how it might apply to my Beloved and I, seemed to me that we were pretty relaxed already and very focused on the things that truly matter to us. It took a few days and a medicine journey, and a day of celebration with my Beloved of our six month anniversary to understand the message that was coming through. It is a message of doing without doing, being in the world but not of it, of following the path of the heart and the body’s desire for bliss, the soul connection to everything that is.

And that happens when you find the still point within you, the dark womb of creation where a field of energy is rippling with potential. It is the ultimate paradox, both still and moving, filled with light and the dark, the polarity of the masculine and the feminine, Shiva and Shakti. There are many paths towards ecstasy but for me they all come through my body sense even if my physical self is not moving. So it is fitting that the first event my Beloved and I facilitate together should be an ecstatic dance night, the night before the shortest day of the year, leading us into the energies of the Winter Solstice.

Gabrielle Roth.

Gabrielle Roth.

Gabrielle Roth has this to say about moving the body:

“If you put the body in motion, you will change. You are meant to move: from flowing to staccato, through chaos into lyric and back into the stillness from which all movement comes………..The spirit in motion heals, expands, circles in and out of the body, moving us through the layers of consciousness from inertia to ecstasy. Open to the spirit, and you will be transformed.”

Maps to Ecstasy, Gabrielle Roth, Nataraj Publ., Novato, CA, 1989.

 

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Focusing The Positive.

Posted on November 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

Life is good, of that I have not the slightest doubt, in the very heart and soul of my being I know that the corner has been turned, that I am on the homeward lap and it isn’t actually possible to stray off the path, for where else could I possibly be! Yet my day has been a journey through many different emotional landscapes, when you are challenging the very bedrock of your foundations there tends to be a response from the aspects of self that are terrified of dying.

The_grim_reaper

The kind of environment you inhabit is very important at times like this, I connect as much as I can with others who have a positive outlook on life, and who I can truly be myself with. But that isn’t always possible, and I was reminded today in a meditation by my higher self that it is common sense to put in energetic protection in order to not be taking on other people’s stuff. Nellie Nobody is very keen to take on the slightest possible suggestion that another might not approve of the measures I am taking to change my life, and so brings up whatever insecurities that may still be lurking inside.

And I bless her for her anxiety, she is helping me to shed anything that might get in the way of my personal golden age unfolding with grand fanfare and ecstatic celebration. When that job is over for her she can be in charge of making sure I never lose my humility, I have encountered very few people who I would truly consider to be masters, but the one thing they have all had in common was the ability to be completely ordinary.

This is one of those people, Master Zhang Hao, an amazing teacher based in Sydney, Australia: http://www.chihealing.com.au/index.html

This is one of those people, Master Zhang Hao, an amazing teacher based in Sydney, Australia: http://www.chihealing.com.au/index.html

So don’t be too hard on the parts of you that are trying to hold you back from being fully in your power, its more about redirecting their gifts rather than shutting them down. When I can be consistent in my focused intention of creating my new life, Fay Fairytale’s wondrous imagination is probably my greatest ally, if she’s wasting time on unproductive fantasies I have only myself to blame!

It’s from Gabrielle Roth the incredible dance shaman that I have borrowed these particular terms for the different parts of myself, I have a feeling that I’ve shared this quote with you before but it sums up the theme of this post so nicely I’m going to share it again:

“Life is sacred. Life is art. Life is sacred art. The art of sacred living means being a holy actor, acting from the soul rather than the ego. The soul is out of space and time and hence always available, an ever-present potential of our being. It is up to each of us to celebrate and to actualize our being and to turn each meal, conversation, outfit, letter, and so on, into art. Every mundane activity is an opportunity for full authentic self-expression. The soul is our artistic self, our capacity for transforming every dimension of our lives into art and theater.”

Maps to Ecstasy, Gabrielle Roth, Nataraj Publ, Novato, CA, 1989.

So lets hear it for the ordinary and the everyday, may we swoon over the dishes and make love to the earth as we pull up the weeds!

Here is a very famous death scene from Monty Pythons’s Meaning of Life, enjoy!

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Sweating The Big Stuff.

Posted on September 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

The heat scours me clean, breath filling all of me as it spirals from the milky way down to the core of the earth, keeping me grounded with my head in the stars. Greeting the stone people as they come bearing the gift of fire, of purification, thank you Grandmother, thank you Grandfather. Calling upon Father Sky, Grandfather, father, the Pendragon, the masculine essence, feeling my masculine energy and coming into Divine Union within, the perfect balance between the polarities. Strong masculine energy supporting, protecting, healing, loving, caring…………….

The Dance Of Attraction.

The man danced around his love

she swayed from side to side

then turned and fell quite trusting

as he caught her in his arms

Kerry Laizans:copyright Sept 2013

I burn and it is good, stripping away all illusion, whatever remains in that space has the ring of truth to it, perhaps my answers to the Gods have already been answered. Do be careful what you ask for, in the sacred inipi your strong intention can become your reality, in that space anything is possible. Clearing away whatever does not support a vision of fullness, of fulfillment of the tasks of spirit, clearing the body, mind and soul, all levels of beingness.

Gabrielle Roth talks about sweating your prayers when you dance ecstatically, sweating in the lodge has a lot in common with the dance medicine, there are so many good medicines out there these days. I hope that you have found the ones that work for you, always be prepared to open to new possibilities, life is ever-changing and fluid. Try to swim in the ocean of love more than you are “in love” with any one person, if you find someone who can swim with you in that ocean then well and good. And never forget that the most important thing of all is to have fun!

I mean with all of it, spiritual development and evolution, all kinds of relationships and connections, life is meant to be playful and light, enlightened. Let us dance lightly upon the earth as we connect with each other and ourselves, ohm shanti, shanti, shanti…………..

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Moving Is The Medicine…….For Me.

Posted on August 26, 2013 | 2 comments

In the scheme of balancing out the inner journey, going deeply into exploration of self, there should probably be something about what is going on out in the broader community at this point in the flow of blog. I’m sorry but I can’t get my head out of my navel, is it ok with you if I keep it there for a while, such a lot of movement in me of energies that are full of celebration as I transmute in the golden glowing centre of my being. I am still very much in the flow of the Divine Mother, feeling the Goddess in myself and as I am truly in my receptive feminine, I feel a connection with the male polarity that is quite delicious.

ecstaticdance

A night in the ocean of love helping to create a coming together of good music, great connections, good dancing, and breath-taking generosity, when we do support each other we do it rather well in my town. And I feel that support and love wherever I go, as well as the stimulation of world-class acts like Linsey Pollak and the Unusual Suspects, what an afternoon was had swirling to those Balkan beats!

A space where each and every person is expressing their particular take on the world, some crazy, wacky styles………..and everybody is accepted for who they are, a relief to be able to totally relax into the joy of the moment. And to ride the ecstatic wave that is the journey that my body and the frequencies embark on together, dancing is an important part of my medicine, I shift energies in my body when I dance. And I have anchored the energies created by a large gathering over a couple of days, grounded the energy as I danced………….feeling the entire gathering glowing in the night, the day……the night.

“If you put the body in motion, you will change. You are meant to move: from flowing to staccato, through chaos into lyric and back into the stillness from which all movement comes. ”

Gabrielle Roth, Maps to Ecstasy, p 204.

When you dance ecstatically you are on a deep inner journey, where the stillness is as important as any movement you might make. The intention that you bring to the practice is also really integral to creating a flow that takes you into the next eddy of so-called time and space! Journey well my friends, whatever your medium.

Look for the woman with red hair and a flower in it, black and white top,  dancing at the very beginning of this clip, yes that’s me! The Unusual Suspects are an awesome band, we are so blissfully blessed in this town, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIy7F78ODMY

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Moving On Out.

Posted on June 14, 2013 | 3 comments

I did meditate after writing my last post, and it had the usual effect of bringing me into a more peaceful state of consciousness, it smoothed me into sleep and the acceptance of how things are. In yoga this morning we had a long savasana (corpse pose), and there were a few flies, and so our teacher put a blanket over my face between two blocks to keep them at bay. I immediately wanted to throw the blanket off, felt fear and intense claustrophobia, so I breathed long and deep and stepped back from those feelings. It helped the energy to move, but I kept losing focus and I didn’t get a full release, so I will have to try to find the time to process it later this afternoon.

So how should I do that? There are a number of options, I could meditate and allow my body to do whatever it feels necessary, usually it will make jerking movements with the pelvis and shake in order to release. I may have a sense of what I’m letting go of, in savasana I was getting a connection to a past life as a priestess, where I was part of a ritual that involved me taking a drug to simulate death, kind of like Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Or I may simply feel energy moving without any story, as long as it goes I don’t really mind.

priestessindeathtransparent-bodies-moving1

I could also put on some music and dance it out, in fact I have three Gabrielle Roth dvds, each is a thirty minute dance meditation journey, that’s what I’m leaning towards, but it does depend on the availability of space as I no longer have a house to myself. When I tune into my body it’s begging me to move, I can feel the desire in the cells, they clamour for healing movement so they can let go of the old, stale energy and make room for fresh new inspiration. I will honour my body and simply work with whatever space is available, movement doesn’t always have to be on a grand scale to do the job.

“If you put the body in motion, you will change. You are meant to move: from flowing to staccato, through chaos into lyric and back into the stillness from which all movement comes………..The spirit in motion heals, expands, circles in and out of the body, moving us through the layers of consciousness from inertia to ecstasy. Open to the spirit, and you will be transformed.”

Maps to Ecstasy, Gabrielle Roth, Nataraj Publ., Novato, CA, 1989.

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Nellie Needy Flies The Coop.

Posted on April 17, 2013 | 2 comments

“Life is sacred. Life is art. Life is sacred art. The art of sacred living means being a holy actor, acting from the soul rather than the ego. The soul is out of space and time and hence always available, an ever-present potential of our being.”

Maps to Ecstasy (Gabrielle Roth), Nataraj Publ 1989, p 147.

Letting go of the last parts of the loss and abandonment that I felt in my last contraction, I read these words at the perfect moment. Those feelings come from my ego self, the part of me that identifies itself with the current paradigm, that needs confirmation from the world around her to feel worthy and whole.  Gabrielle Roth identifies aspects of this smaller self with names that vividly convey a sense of the personality, the ones that I particularly identified with were, Judy Judge, Fay Fairytale, and Nellie Needy. I had a moment last week when I was feeling dread in the pit of my stomach about the dentist, when that neediness came up and wanted to translate into reaching out for comfort. I managed not to go there thank the Goddess!

To always come from the sacred part of myself, the soul, this is a vision worth pursuing, but it can be harder than it sounds, especially as the ego desperately trys to cling to its comfort zone. I mentioned before that I have been feeling an attraction to someone for the first time in a long time, that’s something that the ego keeps wanting to obsess over, while my larger self knows there is plenty of love around, no need to spend so much energy on just one possibility. When I am in the full flight of passion, when I am doing what I love and going into ecstatic spaces, I fly away from the ego and into that inspired place that is the birthright of all of us.

May I always come from my heart and soul, be inspired, loving, passionate and kind, may this be the energy that infuses everything I do no matter how ordinary, may I live my ordinary life in an extraordinary way! Love and blissings to you all, shanti, shanti, shanti………..peace, peace, peace………….

ecstaticdance

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The Inner Wave.

Posted on March 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

My last post was inspired by watching “The Inner Wave”, a short film that takes you through a meditative dance journey with the incredible Gabrielle Roth. I didn’t think I liked 5 rhythms but I take back anything negative I may have said about it, I am sure it depends very much on who is facilitating and Gabrielle Roth was a master. I wish that I’d had an opportunity to take a class with her but instead I went online and ordered all three of her dance journeys so I can have the next best thing.

What inspires me the most about her work is how it creates a sacred space in which your movement becomes the prayer, the journey is into the uncharted territories of the self, the soul, deep, deep within. If I have stuck energy in my body I can dance it out, in the dance solutions to problems may come to you, in the dance you are revealed and if there is a witness it becomes even more powerful.

I feel a sadness that in my last years in Sydney I didn’t get to my ecstatic dance classes much because of injury to both of my shoulders. At the time I thought I was taking care of myself, but since then I have come to understand that I was limiting myself unnecessarily, and that I was very much in my ego, my small self. I had been accustomed to impressing on the dance floor, even though I did dance for the love of moving my body there was also a part of me that liked to show off. I could have gone to class and worked within the limitations of my injuries, who knows what riches I would have found on that journey, now I will never know.

So now I must find a way to take that journey, there are no ecstatic dance classes here but I can play the dvds and dance in my own space. Perhaps I can find a place that has room for a few enthusiasts and we can dance together, creating the ocean of love that was always such a beautiful aspect of the classes I did get to in Sydney.

“The object of meditation,” teaches Gabrielle Roth, “is to still the mind – and the fastest way to do that is to move your body……………..The more deeply we enter our bodies and breath,” Gabrielle says, “the more deeply we know ourselves”.

Check out this excerpt from “The Inner Wave”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx6XBiE8NAM

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