5 Rhythms

So, WOW!!!! I just experienced my first-ever 5 Rhythms class. This is a movement meditation practice developed by Gabrielle Roth in the 60s. It is so amazing! The class I went to was a 2-hour Wave class in which you flow from one of the 5 Rhythms to the next in a "wave" fashion. You begin with Flowing, then Staccato, then Chaos, then Lyrical and finally Stillness.

We spent the first 30 minutes in a warm-up where we just got ready to enter our bodies as much as possible. There was very little instruction from the teacher as we moved fluidly from warming up into Flowing. Flowing is circular in motion. The teacher allowed us to find our breath in the beat, the movement and our bodies and then she guided our meditation a bit by helping us to focus on a particular part of our bodies. Other body parts would then join the dance through the guided meditation and we spent a great deal of time "flowing" through ourselves.

Staccato is more percussive and linear in its form. Again, the teacher would guide us at first and sometimes ask us to find a flow to a partner. The aim is just to stay with the partner and experience the Wave together, in a rather empathetic way, not so much to follow their movements -- just to "be" together. That was difficult for me to do at first b/c I kept thinking too much about it. I also would stare at the chest of my partner instead of looking at their face and I kept thinking "This is just like when you play basketball and you're man-on-man: you can't look at their eyes b/c they can fake you out w/ them. Always watch their chest to sense where they will move next." Well, that was all fine and good until I partnered w/ a woman who was a little bohemian child. You know the kind: Buckwheat-in-a-headlock-NO-BRA-in-a-tank-top-BOOBS-JIGGLING-all-over-Tarnation kinda hippie chick. So I had to find another place to look. I think she thought I was staring at her boobs on purpose. I didn't even realize it at first, then after the 2nd or third time I did it I realized she kept looking directly at me. (Rather unusual in this type of dance situation.)

Chaos is where the "ART" happens. This is where the dancer just lets go completely and the soul expresses itself in whatever manner it deems necessary at the time. This is also the most aerobic of the 5 Rhythms. I really lost myself in this one. Time is so inconsequential here!!

Lyrical is neat because this is where the dancer really finds their own style of expression and being. I really liked this part of the Wave b/c I felt like I was really getting to the point, coming to a "realization" or a "self-discovery".

Stillness is just whatever is left at the end of the Wave. This for me was very revealing. I felt many emotions during Stillness. This like the "cool down" part of an exercise. For me, it differed in that emotions had taken on a different meaning. My self-view had become MORE, if that makes any sense, almost like I got a new prescription for my inner eyeglasses, if you will.

The 5 Rhythms is such an incredible experience and I thank my new friend Neda for the opportunity to experience it! She's been dancing the 5 Rhythms for 15 years and she says it really is something useful and inspiring. She almost tears up when she talks about it. Now I know why. I can't wait to have that much experience under my belt! And, YES, you dance the whole 2 hours!! It's really not bad at all! Not like you'd think! If you can find a teacher near you, I'd suggest going! It's really inexpensive!