Dancing through Gateways | Opening body, heart and mind to states of trance

 “When we dance, we go beyond thought and beyond our individuality to become one in the divine ecstasy. This is the essence of the trance dance experience.”

-- GOA GIL

Our brains are hardwired for trance. Many of our ancestors have accessed states of trance as a way of asking for inspiration, guidance or healing. It can bring ecstatic awareness and experiences that extend beyond the physical senses and the cognitive mind. The gates to our inner knowing and intuitive mind can open. Deep healing can occur in altered states of consciousness.

In our culture today many of us are experiencing a lack of ecstasy that we might try to fill with other means. The dancing path is an on-going journey from inertia to ecstatic trance. To be in a state of ecstasy means to be fully alive.

In this workshop we will move within the 5Rhythms® maps to anchor into our bodies, so that we can then open our hearts and minds to moments of ecstatic trance. Breath practices, ritual and embodiment tools will support us on our journeys.

We will integrate our experiences through heart centred sharing and compassionate witnessing.

No previous experience is required. Every body is welcome.

Testimonial:

“There are so few opportunities, especially in an urban context, to move with freedom in a wordless, safe container, to be able to feel and sense this complete non-judgemental, supportive and connected community.

Music/rhythm provides the juice, the motivation and energy, and dance becomes a meditation of movement. It's this authenticity of self-expression that I simply can't find anywhere else.

I left the workshop with more openness after so much release, more alive, aligned and attuned with the universe, grounded, clear, lighter, and grateful!”

— Previous Workshop Participant 

Shadow, Dark, and Light

We all contain aspects, expressions, and energies that shine bright: parts that are welcome and rewarded during daylight hours. And we all contain aspects, expressions, and energies that are deeper and more mysterious: parts which are equally intelligent, vibrant, and necessary to our wholeness. We also have aspects and behaviours that we disown. Places we don't like to go. Parts that we feel we can't afford to acknowledge, within ourselves or in the world around us. These, we push into the shadows. In this weekend workshop, we will follow the maps of the 5Rhythms to explore and embody all of these realms, walking well-lit trails, exploring deeper parts of the forest, breathing life into forgotten places, and braiding the threads that make us whole.

Joanne teaches 5Rhythms with a deep respect for the transformational nature of this practice, for the insight that these maps can bring to our daily lives, and for the unique discovery process of each participant. Her teaching is rooted in a lifelong engagement with her own study and personal work. Since 2001, she has held a steady space for the growth and evolution of a robust dance community in Victoria BC, has supported students and colleagues with their own teaching path, and has shared her love of this practice with communities across North America.

"Shadow, Dark, and Light with Joanne was a journey unlike any other 5Rhythms Shadow/Light exploration I have been a part of. She held the workshop with such sensitivity, depth, humour, and spaciousness of invitation. Joanne led us through what is alive with mystery and possibility in the fertile dark, what shadows we turn away from in ourselves, and what inner gold is illuminated in the light. Her feet-on-ground strength of presence, rich soundscapes, and clear deep love of this work, provided us with such a solid and welcoming container for vulnerability and discovery. Joanne is a wise witness, a weaver of magic between the worlds, and a true artist of the deep."  ~ Layah Singer-Wilson, 5Rhythms Teacher