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I don’t teach steps. I don’t do choreography. But I am a dance teacher, an Ecstatic Awakening Dance teacher.   It’s been a life-changing experience. Training to become an Ecstatic Awakening Dance teacher made me realise that it isn’t really about learning to teach but rather learning to lead and inspire. In fact, the teacher training course was more like a life training course! It’s taught me a lot and had an undeniable impact on every aspect of my life. I learnt to make mistakes and be ok with it   Making mistakes is easy but embracing them is not. Becoming an Ecstatic Awakening Dance teacher...

Facing fear, to reveal your true power    What is your deepest fear? Is it that you won’t measure up to the expectations put on you by others? Perhaps it’s that you won’t achieve all you think you need or want? What if I asked you to look past all of that, to look even deeper within yourself? What would your deepest fear be then? You may be surprised to find that the answer is the same for you as it is for me, as it is for so many of us.  “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear...

Aligning your chakras to heal body and mind Chakras. The word alone is enough to conjure images of ancient Indian yogis sat in meditative repose. It speaks of the exotic, perhaps even the unfathomable. But chakras are far from this. They are very much a part of you, of all of us. They are centres of energy that reside within our physical bodies. Often neglected in our modern lives, there is great restorative power to be gained by aligning your chakras. It’s a transformative feeling that words cannot quite capture. It is a kundalini awakening.    Alignment brings awakening    There are 7 chakras that...

Reconnect to Mother Earth through dance   India is a land of ancient dances; dances that are as much a part of the culture today as they were thousands of years ago. Barefoot dancers still pound the earth in reverence with each meaningful step they take as part of their classical dance form, whether practising the art of Odissi originating in India’s eastern state of Orissa, Kathak from the north or Bharatanatyam in the south. Separated by hundreds of miles, these dancers are all united in Bhumi Pranam, a salutation carried out before they begin to dance in earnest to honour...

Give into the shake   Sat around the flickering flames, the women clap and sing, filling the air with melodic clicks. Then the men begin to dance, rhythmically circling the fire, rattles around their ankles shaking with every step. This is the healing dance of the San people. A dance that has played out across thousands of years. The San have been living at one with the land of southern Africa for at least 20,000 years, only discovered by Western eyes less than 400 years ago. Sadly their timeless way of life was far from revered by the colonists and the San...

How breathing better can heal your body and mind   Every minute you take almost 20 breaths, in and out, without a thought. Breathing is so innate, such an essential part of our existence that it is hardwired into our biology and starts the moment we are born. So surely by the time we reach adulthood, we’ve mastered the art of breathing and tapped into its power. Unfortunately, more often than not, no.   Laboured breathing   The fact is for many of us, our breaths are burdened by the stresses of life. Shallow, fast breaths hardly ever reach down into the depths of...

The tunes of Ecstatic Awakening Dance™   First you hear it but then you feel it. That’s when the true power of music takes hold. Music is entwined in the fabric of every culture across the globe. Long before mp3s, radio and record players, it was already an integral part of society, binding communities together. You can still see this today, from the drum beats of the healing ceremonies of Ghana’s Ashanti to celebratory songs of Morocco’s Gnauoa as they honour Nature’s gifts.   The music of Ecstatic Awakening Dance™   While many of the world’s tribes continue to live with music and dance at the heart...

A national movement to help combat mental health issues   “He traps me like a prisoner. Never lets me see the light. Never lets me go. He keeps me up at night.” The villain in this poem is not a person, not a creature, but depression. This is just one of many personal stories about battling mental health issues. Every year, one in four people in the UK experience a mental health issue. The chances are at some point in your life, you will too, if you haven’t already. The ever-stretched NHS is feeling the strain as much as its patients, with...

Tapping into your body’s natural rhythm through dance   She twirled and darted, skipped and leapt, legs and arms akimbo, a floppy, beautiful mess. Why? No reason. No-one judged her. No-one laughed. Quite the contrary, they smiled and cooed. After all, she was just doing what children do. This freedom of movement is something most of us find a joy to watch in children. Yet somewhere along the road from innocence to adulthood, we lose that freedom or it is taken from us. Our bodies stiffen, our movements increasingly learned and constrained by expectations. And not just when we sit behind a desk...