“Dance is the most immediate way of expressing the body’s essential rhythms; dance is spontaneous, universal – watch how children respond to music, and remember that every human culture has its dance forms, embodying varying rhythms.” GABRIELLE ROTH When you feel like you have lost your ground, like you are not following your own destiny, practice finding your feet that will find their ground and let them take you back into your Flowing. In the kingdom of Flowing you might find your home. When you feel all that you are doing has lost its juice and the tension is wrapped around your heart, practice moving your hips together with your heart and let them take you straight into your Staccato. Riding the Staccato horse you might find your passion. When you feel the pain of wanting to be right all the time and the confusion because of all the questions in your head, practice letting go of your head by moving it slow and then fast, left and then right, up and then down, and let this dance take you deep into your Chaos. In the waves of Chaos you might find your freedom. When you feel disconnected from the beauty of this moment and like your soul is wandering alone without you, practice being curious about your arms, hands and fingers and the way they can hide from each other, disagree with each other, fall in love with each other and surprise each other and let them seduce you into your Lyrical. In the expansion of Lyrical you might find your space. When your breath is so shallow that you are not sure if you are still alive and your spirit has left the house, practice the connection between the movement and the breath again and again and let this draw you closer to your Stillness. In the center of Stillness you might find your peace. With love, Silvija |
March 2019
Many people would come to me after the workshop and thank me for holding a space with so much permission. It made me curious about why this is so important and healing and how it helps us with whatever we are learning. There is a part in me that feels dictated by some rigid beliefs about what I must or should do as well as about what I can’t or shouldn’t do. “I must always be strong” and “I should take care of others” or “I can’t break down” and “women shouldn’t make the first move”. These beliefs somehow formed an alliance with my fears and like to keep the status quo. I discovered that these parts of me are in need of permission and if I am not able to offer it to myself, I look to somebody outside of me. Permission has the power to offer me choice and possibilities where I feel limited. Permission counters these rigid commands and prohibitions. Permission creates space where I feel accepted as I am. Permission moves me and encourages me to expand myself and my life. I love bringing this theme into the movement practice, as so often I find myself stuck in my flow feeling that I should move a certain way or that I cannot move in some way. My flow reaches this limitation that probably came from outside of me but now lives deep inside of me, and it actually even physically stops me, limiting the freedom of my movement. In this respect I find the Rhythm of Flowing specially healing. It feels like Flowing is whispering to me “Yes, you can”, “It is OK to move this way”. It feels like Flowing is solid enough and fluid enough to hold me with all my blocks, limitations, frozen places. There is enough space to be who I am, and it embraces gently and with warmth the parts of me that are essentially organically fluid, alive and free as well as the parts of me that still believe the old beliefs that may have even been important for my survival as a child. As I bring the permission into my mind, heart and the body, I feel my own courage waking up and standing right next to me, hip to hip, hand in hand, and I start feeling my spine strengthening, my feet rooting, my chest beating, my eyes opening, I am ready to move, ready to grow, ready to live life I was meant to live. There were so many times when I felt something hadn’t been permitted, allowed, accepted and I found myself looking for somebody else to tell me that I was not crazy for feeling this way, that how I was feeling made sense. Heartbeat practice is showing me how to become the authority on my own heart. How when emotion comes to me, I have the authority and power to give myself permission to feel this way. I have permission to move how I feel, I have permission to express how I feel and I have all the permission to let it go. Permission starts teaming up with Courage surrounded by the continuous strong Flowing field and – wow – anything is possible. I no longer feel the need to apologize for who I am or to explain why I feel this way. I find the inner strength supporting me to stand up in my own truth and dance in my own beauty. And as I meet others, this permission becomes a vibration that spreads so contagious, inspiring and generous. I look forward to meet you in this field that we can create together With love, Silvija |
February 2019
“The rhythms take us back to that primordial soup, so that we can begin again, fresh and fertile, high on our own existence.” GABRIELLE ROTH
I find myself lately saying when I am teaching « this is why this is a practice… ».
And sometimes I would even hear myself saying it so it got me interested to dig a bit deeper into it.
What are we practicing when moving with these 5 Rhythms, when dancing body parts, when doing walking meditation, when dancing with a partner or when dancing unity circle?
For me the most general answer is that I am practicing being present.
Dancing Flowing I am practicing finding my ground which can be really helpful when I feel I don’t know who I am and where I am going. I practice following my feet into the empty space and being open for the doors that open for me and I find that very useful when I stop moving and get stuck hitting into the closed doors.
Dancing Staccato I am practicing the clarity that only my heart can offer and this is a good medicine when I get so separate from my emotions that the only thing I can feel is my tension. I practice moving from my center and that brings me back to the best place from which to make connection with people and world outside of me.
Dancing Chaos I am practicing dancing so wild, so free that I can break through the deadly safe habitual way of thinking, feeling, moving. I practice letting go of my head to my dancing feet so that my preoccupied mind can be released of its confusion.
Dancing Lyrical I am practicing being so deep in the effortless movement of my body so that I can wake up from this autopilot running my life. I practice lightening up from the hands to my feet to create a welcome for my soul into my dance that was waiting for somebody to finally come home.
Dancing Stillness I am practicing uniting my movement with my breath as so many times I am frozen and witnessing my life passing by and feeling dead inside. I practice putting all I have into the emptiness of this dance, letting the breath move me and finding hope again.
What do you need to practice?
With love
Silvija
January 2019
“Those times when we’re grounded in our body, pure in our heart, clear in our mind, rooted in our soul and suffused with the energy, the spirit of life, are our birthright.” GABRIELLE ROTH
I am writing this just after our 9th Tribal Dance, 5 days workshop from Old to New Year (you can have a look here in this short video).
It was truly a full on one so this letter from me will be short and simple and hopefully sweet.
I belong to my body.
My body belongs to the dance.
I commit to my heart.
My heart is committed to the love.
I am co-creating with my mind.
My mind is co-creating with the mystery.
I am connecting to the nature of my soul.
My soul is connected to the nature of all things
I breathe my spirit alive.
My spirit lives in my breath. My spirit dances with my breath.
May this New Year 2019 be full of dance, love, mystery, nature and breath aliveness.
With Love
Silvija
December 2018
“We need to quiet our demons by dancing them until they are set to rest. Or meditate until the bastards jump ship. Really be still or really move.
Whichever way you do, do it mindfully.” GABRIELLE ROTH
May we find any possible way to feel more at home in our bodies, any possible way to feel alive in our bodies. May we find ways to give our bodies fresh air, clear water, nourishing food, safe touch, healing sleep. Again and Again. Practice.
May we find the discipline to keep coming back to our center, no matter how many times we loose it. May we find honesty with ourselves in the times when we are lying to ourselves and others. Every time with more forgiveness and more responsability. Again and again. Practice.
May we find the strength in the moments when we are breaking down and in pain, when we feel we are the only ones feeling this way, to reach out for connection. Reach out to a friend, to a stranger, to a cat, to a tree, to a river… to ourself. Again and again, Practice.
May we find the way to be easy with ourselves when things are not going easy. May we find the comfort in the simple things that can be shared; like a smile, like a cup of tea, like a favorite song, like a story of our life, like a dream we just can’t forget about. Again and again. Practice.
May we find a way to rest, that guilt-free way of resting my mind on my breath for few minutes, that unapologetic way of resting my whole body down on the ground like a cat for few minutes, that carefree way of resting my heart on a sight of beautiful sunset for few minutes. Again and again. Practice.
With love,
Silvija