“Our bodies are the root of our true selves, the home of our soul. Our desire to constantly change and control our bodies indicates a deep distrust of our souls. But in denying our bodies’ natural processes we deny their earthy, sensual source of wisdom. Not the kind of wisdom you’ll find in the library, but a spontaneous, instinctive wisdom that illuminates the present moment.” Gabrielle Roth

Today while I was cycling I laughed at myself for being surprised by the power of spring every year. Also, at how I manage to forget about it in the wintertime. Nevertheless, thanks to this oblivion, the surprise was all the merrier, fuller, and greener.

I am pretty sensitive to the winter cold and it is the time of year when I rarely go out of the house, unless it’s to a restaurant, a bookshop, or a dance hall. I enjoy watching winter landscapes only in photos, on Facebook, or out of the moving car as we pass through Gorski Kotar (mountains) on our way to sunny Opatija (seaside) without stopping. So now that I go out cycling or walking in the woods, it is as if my soul is returning to my body, expanding, surrounded by nature that awakens all my senses. I am grateful, and moved. I start making plans, and promises. I want to absorb all the sunshine I can during this time of year, I want to be charged by movement, and breathe as much clean air as possible so that this time I can make it a little longer into the winter before I go into hibernation. I know very well that the only way to achieve this is to do it regularly, be persistent, find company whenever I don’t feel like doing something on my own, to respect the waves of my energy, to be creative when challenges come, to surrender when I want to quit.

I really like feeling how my body loves moving. How movement is completely natural to the body. When I enter the exploration zone, I feel like a child again and it is great to squat, my elbows are brilliant, it’s cool to spin so fast that I almost fall down on my bum. At the moment I am strongly feeling how my feet like to be in motion, and I can feel their power, and I want to explore how far they can take me. I enjoyed Module 1 of the Zagreb Trilogy, whose topic was loud and clear and powerful: BODY. After 16 years of teaching, going back to the most basic basics, the most grounded exercises – our only home, our nest, made to our measure, our magic bus which can take us to where we have never gone before – was priceless! I was thoroughly charged, reconnected, and I can feel my own body as a trusted teacher who is enormously patient with me. So I can’t wait the 1st module of the next Trilogy in Spain, with the topic: 5Rhythms! I believe strongly in building strong foundations and I know how far they can take us.

With love, Silvija

“It doesn’t matter where we come from or how we grew up or whether we can or can’t dance. Movement is medicine, and whether we feel clumsy or graceful, it heals us. Real learning happens when we show up and move because the body can’t lie. It lets us know right away if we’re feeling closed or open, fixed or fluid, tight or loose, off or on.” Gabrielle Roth

Dear all, I am just recovering from the big bad flu that for the past few weeks had crushed me to bed and it was a real reset. It was also a very close encounter with listening and following my own body because I really had no other choice. This has been a great test for how much I really trust my body, now when it was in the midst of illness. The opportunity to practice compassion for my total vulnerability (as my immune shield fell down, so did the one around my heart) and receiving help that is still so difficult to ask for when the child in me feels that I need to get it even without asking. While I was in so much pain even just lying in my bed, my body kept relentlessly asking for my attention. Asking if is it easier for me to lie on my side or on my back, whether is it better to fold or arch my spine …Pain that makes me wanna get out of the body and that is tensing and holding back my breathing, is now so strongly asking me to be “at home” and breathe more relaxed than usual . And so this very special friendship between my body and me, which is a mix of hiding and pushing and arguing, continues to grow. In sickness and in health, in a slow or fast pace, on the back or on the feet, alone or with a partner – I keep sensing how to move or how to be still – and both are essential parts of the dance. And in both of these states I want to be present, awake, connected with that which is the most essential.

Love, Silvija

“Breath is a promiscuous lover. The breath you just took was in someone else a moment ago, and when you let go, it’ll move on and become part of someone else. Breath keeps everything moving; without it, there can be no dance.” 
GABRIELLE ROTH

Dear ones,
With joy and some high adrenalin over tiredness I proudly present you our new website.
It was time to change the skin. There is some new content in this new beautiful visual. We hope they will inspired you and make it easy for you to find your way to the dance floor. This first newsletter is still work in progress, as we started working on it too late, but the most important is that it land in your lap.

Love, Silvija

“Best to surf the waves of energy-be they grief or joy, anxiety or ecstasy, confusion or clarity. The trick is to remain empty and not hold onto energy. If you hold on, you wipe out. If you let go, the energy can transport you to the still-point, a place of immeasurable emptiness, of infinite potential.” GABRIELLE ROTH

Having danced another year to the very end, I’m ready to receive the gift I’ve prepared for myself, which comes not a moment too soon if not at the very last minute – a vacation. I chose this winter month for my retreat because winter rarely calls me out. As I am writing these lines, beautiful soft snowflakes are falling outside. In this work that I love, which is my calling as well as my everyday job, I felt that I can get lost, I can get saturated, and it’s not the work, it’s me. No matter how much I love to disappear when I teach in front of the group, and disappear as the wisdom of this map is speaking through me, I feel that it is important to stand up for myself now, for my flesh and blood, for my heart and soul, to show up for myself and take care of all that was neglected, forgotten, lost, cold, and hungry. I will not be traveling anywhere this month. I am teaching one class in Zagreb and one class in Helsinki, but I will be doing it via Skype from home. This is a big and important step for me, taking so much time in one piece off to reset and restart. Some of you might be in the same or similar place while others might be at the opposite end – ready to take flight right now. I wish us all a good journey, whether inwards or outwards.

Love, Silvija

🙂

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