art by Liz Collier

Chaos and Connection

by Julie DoBias, Richmond, Virginia, USA

During the break at a recent workshop, as I lay face down on the floor after what was probably an hour and a half of dancing the rhythm of Chaos, I realized I was in a place I had never been before. I was in an open space, dancers going about their own business around me, and yet I was completely present in myself. I could hear the noise of the people around me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care what I looked like, I didn’t care that I was emotional, and I didn’t care that I was vulnerable. It was an utterly unfamiliar feeling, but at the same time I felt a longing to have this feeling all of the time.

This is what the rhythm of Chaos is for me. It allows me to empty out and yet feel so much that I don’t typically allow in my life: the feeling of “nothing”, along with being completely at peace with it. Tribal beats allow me to tap into past energies, drawing me into places I’m not yet able to face in my life. Swirling and twirling around when the energy takes me, often faster than I can stand, I fight to stop it, only to give in when the music transports me where I need to go. It surprises me, amazes me, and gives me what I need at that very moment…READ MORE

A Gift Returned 

by Ben Deutsch, UK

by Hege M Sandvik Eikeland, Norway

Everything inside was stirred up by The Dance.

I realize that nothing is left up to chance.

I learned the art of embracing, Never more hesitation.

To move whenever you feel this soft breeze, It will take you further into your inner peace.

My heart tinkled like a shining star, While the dance brought me very far.

I opened my eyes and could really see,

It is good enough to be me.

Nothing I need to own or possess, Actually I’m happier with less.

Speak with love, sing, laugh and dance, Don’t miss a single chance

To spread this vibrant energy, It moves around like a melody

Inside, outside, it’s all the same, It’s part of the universal game.

We all play our own part, 

It’s up to you to choose from the heart.

The Rhythms of Birth

by Brenda Cohen Sabban, Argentina

I didn’t have an easy birth and my labour was 25 hours long. Most of that time, I was in my house with my husband, a midwife and a doctor.

When the contractions began, I knew I was in Flow. I took lots of baths and felt soft and calm. I wasn’t thinking to myself, “This is starting now” – that came later. Contractions themselves are like waves: they start slowly, then become stronger and more intense, and then they calm down again. My 5Rhythms practice had taught me that everything starts and everything comes to an end. So it helped me to know: “This is coming, this is strong but it will have an ending”.

After the “Flow” phase, I started to feel more regular contractions in a pattern: Staccato. The pain came on strong, and after about 10 hours,I  moved into Chaos. In that moment, though, I wasn’t able to be aware of the phase I was in. It wasn’t as if I could just tell myself, “OK, now relax, you are in Chaos.” I couldn’t let go to the Chaos, and after about 15 hours of labour, the doctor actually told me to surrender. I was fighting with the pain, and when I had not surrendered my pain, my cervix could not open properly because of the tension.

While in the Chaos part of my labour wave, I found that I couldn’t think: I had no perspective on what was happening. I was angry and in tension. And in the difficult part of the Chaos – the shadow side – I felt that I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t give birth. I had not eaten for 25 hours, I was weak, I was in a trance state, and I felt I didn’t have the strength to do it.

This feeling is something I have had a lot of times in my life, including as a teacher. I have thought that I am not enough, that I can’t be a teacher. From the outside, everyone sees me as a strong woman doing lots of things, but in my soul, I don’t believe it: sometimes, I do not believe in me. And now, I thought, “I’m not enough to do this miracle”.

It was a big teaching for me, to learn to surrender to the chaos… READ MORE 

Liz Collier Art, United Kingdom

“Dance connects me to myself Lets me know what is going on. Dance and art make my inner worlds visible Make me vulnerable Give me strength in heart, body and mind.”    SEE MORE

Heart, Leadership and Vision: Applying 5Rhythms in Business 

by Cass Donnelly, Australia

VIDEO

Since I began dancing 16 years ago, I have had a vision to bring 5Rhythms into the hairdressing industry where I work.  I have been putting the pieces of the puzzle in place ever since. 

IN-HOME PRACTICE TRACK LIVE DRUMMING with Sanga of the Valley & Robert Ansell 

Medicine Dance, Garrison Institute, NY

“Reunion with Sanga was heaven and hell for me.

Heaven – getting the chance to play with the masterful Sanga again.  

Hell – no Gabrielle buns to watch.” 

~ Robert Ansell

DOWNLOAD THE 5RHYTHMS MOBILE APP

TO BEGIN YOUR IN HOME PRACTICE 

Community is the next Buddha

– Thich Nhat Hahn