Blissdance Intensive
and Facilitators Training
5 – 15 November 2012
Bodhi Khaya, Stanford, South Africa
Intensive
Imagine
ten days of immersion in the dance of presence and intimacy, surrounded by
beautiful nature and the company of kindred souls. Imagine giving yourself
fully to the dance, sharing richly and deeply with other dancers, and between
dances - dropping into the stillness of the moment with a cup of tea on the
porch, enjoying delicious meals, or floating naked between the lilies. Ten days
of bliss awaits you. Come dance, beloveds!
Facilitators training
This
event will give you an insider’s experience of how I create BlissDance events
and give you the basic skills to facilitate BlissDance processes. The
facilitators training will introduce you to the dynamics that makes the dance
so blissful, and also to the unique therapeutic modalities that are built into
it. Dances
will be filmed and participants will be given feedback on their own dances.
Some themes we will cover
are:
Balancing and integrating the flow between the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous system through the dance
Dropping from the mind into the body
Working through associations held in movement
in touch
Breathing into movement
Working with weight and suspension
Exploring boundaries and intimacy,
space/closeness
Immersing totally in experience while
maintaining a witness
Releasing dysfunctional body armoring
Deepening access to feeling/emotions
Dancing shadow states
Practically,
the facilitators training aspect of the intensive will give you a good
introduction to
How to choose music for the dance
How to create a playlist
Facilitating key BlissDance dances
Guiding dances that can be done on their own
for therapeutic purposes
About BlissDance
Bliss
is the balance that happens
When we fully embrace
Both our shadow and our light
And come to rest
In love
When we drop
deep into the center of presence, every cell of our bodies gets infused with
the eros of life. We smell the ambrosia of being. When we open to the full
aliveness of our bodies, stillness arises of itself.
Blissdance
is an exploration of intimate presence with ourselves and with others, in
movement and in stillness, music and silence. We find the authentic expression
that comes from within. From the inside out, we let life dance us. We follow
the breath. We follow the heartbeat of the earth pulsing through us. We rest in
the amniotic fluid of being. We follow the spark of our bliss.
The
dance space cultivates non-dual presence in the movement of our daily lives. It
is an active meditation space. We learn to be present in anger as much as
peace, jealousy and rage as much as tender love and passionate creativity. We
dance our territory, and we dance into melting.
Blissdance
has been designed with therapeutic intent as well. The dance wordlessly
supports the unraveling and dismantling of patterns that keep us from being
deeply present in our bodies. Some examples are:
Body armoring: We hold our bodies rigid
in an attempt to protect ourselves from feeling too much - or feeling what we
have been suppressing. Sometimes what we resist feeling is intimacy - sometimes
it is sadness, fear or anger. All these states are welcome in the dance.
Associations: Over a lifetime of
suppressing what we feel, we have started to build up meaning through
associations. When someone touches you, what does it mean to you? When you
enjoy the touch, what fears come up? Do they relate to past experiences or
future projections? In BlissDance, these subconscious processes will become
conscious for you. In awareness lies the liberation.
Habits of movement: One of the keys of
BlissDance is that the dance moves you out of your habits and stuck ways. We
act out some of the dramas of everyday life - like having a couple's fight -
but do that in a conscious way, as a celebration of the body, and as an act of
freedom. In doing that, something gives way, more space gets created, and we
can celebrate our freedom more. Sometimes I use ancient shamanic techniques to
help shake up the nervous system so that you can slip into this moment with no
mind. Sometimes we dance wild and crazy with little structure and limitation,
to let that energy be expressed and accessed in the body. Eventually, as Rumi
says:
something opens up
I taste only sacredness
The
moment softens. We get to feel everything intimately. We welcome what is, no
longer resist, and in that we can meet the beloved, in the dance, in this
moment. In the first place, that beloved is my very own being. Then I can meet
him/her in the other, the group, my life, existence.
All
it takes is a little willingness. The music, the facilitation and the group
will carry you along into what you really want: A deep opening into this present
precious moment.
Blissdance
draws on the wisdom of Biodanza and various other dance, movement and
meditation traditions.
Who is the event for?
BlissDance is for those who are yearning for
presence, freedom and truth. It is for the brave spiritual warriors who are not
scared to dance their ridiculousness and to let their vulnerability be felt in
the dance as well. You are welcome to come just for the dance. For those who
wish to use BlissDance in their dance or play with others, this training will
give you a solid foundation to start using the magic of BlissDance for that
purpose.
The venue: Bodhi Khaya
Bodhi
Khaya (http://www.bodhi-khaya.co.za) outside Stanford, Western Cape,
South Africa, must be one of the most exquisite retreat centers in the
world. Nestled amongst mountains, covered in indigenous fynbos and close
to the ocean, Bodhi Khaya is a lush nature haven for those who want to
go deep within, and rest in the bliss of nature. The retreat center has a
beautiful wooden dance hall and accommodation is provided in a variety
of shapes and sizes, all in Cape Dutch architecture.
Cost and bookings
Bookings before 21 October: Cost including meals and excluding accommodation is R10 000 for the 10 days. After 22 October R11 000
Bookings and accommodation options with Ahrian: ahriangaia@gmail.com
posted by Shakti at
11:55 AM
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