5 Rhythms

Setting the theme/tone: 5 Rythms

Reading: “Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in cycles. A human is just this, energy, waves, patterns, cycles.” -Gabrielle Roth

The 5Rhythms practice is a moving meditation, an improvisational form of dance. It is a map of the energetic wave that we see in the patterns, rhythms, and cycles of life.

In tonights class we will be exploring the 5 rhythms through yoga & we will also have a little improvisational dance where you will have the chance to explore them on your own.

Asana:

Starting in original asana holding Lola Mudra (arms out and bent in like your holding an invisible ball) for going freely.  Pranayama moving arms with the breath; on inhale arms come out to Lola Mudra, on exhale arms come back to Anjali Mudra (hands at heart center).

Core

Sun A’s

Sun B’s focusing on flow: (x2 guided, x2 on their own) Eagle to flying eagle to cresent to WII to Dancing Warrior to Reverse Warrior to Half Moon to Chaprasana to Dancer’s Pose. Other side.  (x1) Half Pidgeon & Runner’s with dancing variations

Sun C to open quads & hamstrings, Hanumanasana

Flowing connects us to the feminine and its movements are fluid & continuous

Staccato connects us to the masculine and its movements are taken on the exhale & they are clear, active & precise, taking angles & straight lines, stopping & starting

Chaos integrates these two energies, is the rhythm of spontaneous eruptions, let an impulse move all the way through you.

Lyrical leads to transformation, is the rhythm of trance, joy, celebration & adventure expressed in repetitive movements. 

"To sweat is to pray, to make an offering of your innermost self.  Sweat is holy water, prayer beads, pearls of liquid that release your past.  Sweat is an ancient and universal form of self-healing, whether done in the gym, the sauna, or the sweat lodge. I do it on the dance floor.

The more you dance, the more you sweat.  The more you sweat, the more you pray.  The more you pray, the closer you come to ecstasy." - Gabrielle Roth

From this transformative space we are connected to Stillness & its movements are gentle

LOST
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying here
No trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
-David Wagoner

Meditation:

Start to slowly dissipate into your mat, melting all of you.  Loosen completely and just let yourself unfold.  Body & mind are connected; if the body is still, then so too is the mind & if the mind is so too is the body.  Welcome this image...Imagine you are underwater.  Relaxed & calm, become one with the water.  Let it move you like a dance partner.  Predict its movements knowing that you and it are on in the same.  Co-create a dance with the water while staying totally relaxed in the body & mind.