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Spring 2007 --->Quote of the Season
--->On Re-parenting the Self: by Surya Jane Schmidt
--->Spring Practice: by Dunya Dianne McPherson
--->Spring Events Calendar
--->Reading Recommendation
--->Practitioner Experience: by Krys Statho
--->Testimonial of the Season
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Quote of the Month
You are the Truth
from foot to brow.
Now, what else would you like to know?
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (translation, Coleman Barks)
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Re-parenting the Self through Dancemeditation
by Surya Jane Schmidt
Dunya spoke last evening (during the Winter Movement Monastery) about how Dancemeditation allows us to learn and practice re-parenting of the self. I saw the truth of this today. As I move, I "make way" for the movements; for them to appear, and for them to unfold. As a trusting parent cultivating patience, I await their natural appearance, not offering any "my" words. As a patient parent I resist the urge to control, to jump in un-precipitously, in fear or whatever emotion may beg me to do so. I allow budding movements to unfold. No stepping in. No judging, prematurely or otherwise. No words of opinion, no messages of unworthiness. Staying on task, I don't let the voices in my head dissuade me. Here, in Dancemeditation, my practice is about the movements and her-the-mover; being her constant, her unwavering one. My job is to be "She who loves, She who protects, She who honors". In Dancemeditation I practice being "She who holds the ‘Beholded’. Such a shy, sweet one, such a delicate moment-to-moment worthy girl, she deserves all my love, all my attention, all my wisdom. To see her through: her birth, her unfolding, her release. Through trusting her, I trust myself. Through trusting myself, I trust her. And home she takes me, back home, where she so recently was and always is. And there, in the state of there-ness, of now-ness, she births me.
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Spring Practice: Mindfulness & Bodyfull-ness
by Dunya Dianne McPherson
I am drawn to pearl jasmine tea; Surya’s beautiful description depicting the process of honoring one’s unfolding reminds me of this. In a cup of boiled water, tiny round pellets of cool variegated greens unfurl to a languid tangle of delicate octopi-like petals, then sink to the bottom of the cup as the water turns to tea. I remember when I first noticed myself deeply curled inside myself. I was dancing in a workshop with my eyes closed and saw my essence, my core self, tight as a clutched bud floating deep in a vast moat of darkness. At the far periphery I'd constructed a crust of personality. Through the boiling water of repeated practice, my self unwound, the frozen loops of identity melting into a river of lived time.
In my Dancemeditation I’ve sipped many infusions of self; they grow successively weaker, sheerer, while the water of present-ness is clears. I watch my tea-ness, at least during meditation, become faint; some days the ‘I’ drops away and water boils into the sky.
In Dancemeditation, unfolding, integrating and dissolving the self rests on the development of sensation. Whenever we lack sensation we are disconnected from ourselves and from the present. Somatic mindful-ness, which is really body-full-ness, in a benevolent, calm manner brings us into the present. When working with the following simple practice come back gently again and again; the part of you that returns to the practice focus is the loving internal parent Surya writes about - the good parent, a steady force in you that doesn’t abandon or neglect.
Practice: Skin & Bones
Settle yourself in a room where you won’t be disrupted for 30 minutes. The room should be a comfortable temperature and have a clean, well-cushioned mat for resting, or perhaps sitting or lying down in motion. If you like music, choose something smooth, with a medium rhythm and no lyrics (or lyrics in a language you don’t understand – we don’t want to be caught up with ideas or emotions from a song.) Also, set a timer for 30 minutes and forget about the time once you start.
You can do this next sitting, standing or lying down. Close your eyes, note your breathing and bring you awareness to the feeling of your skin wherever it touches; inside your clothes, against the floor or rug or air. As your breathe and feel your skin surface, begin to move in any comfortable manner. Continue to move feeling skin contact. You may want to stay on your blanket for the sense of containment and safety; this allows you to deepen.
Now draw your attention to the movement of your bones inside your muscles. Feel them slide and shift. As you continue, the sensations will probably alter. Breath awareness is important. Don’t force you breathing; let it unfold out of the motion’s needs. As you continue you may feel yourself drop down into a deeper quietude and lose the practice focus. This is fine. However whenever your mind begins to think about anything other than what you are doing, return to the practice focus; it is there to help you; it is there for you to hold onto. Of course you may find that what you are doing is emotionally uncomfortable; you may feel bored, or irritated or frightened, or may suddenly need to get up and walk away. Resist the urge to do so. Resist the to urge to involve yourself with sharp impulses. Instead gently bring yourself back to your practice focus.
After moving for 20 minutes, lie down and rest. Let your body sink completely into the ground.
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Spring Events Calendar:
Seminar: Reconnecting to Rebuild: Dancemeditation in New Orleans
April 13 -16 * 225 229 3755
http://store.bayoushimmy.com/duretore.html
Seminar: Sensual Alchemy: Spiritual Bellydance at Kripalu
April 29 - May 5 * 866 200 5203
http://www.kripalu.org/program/type2/selfspirit/SASB71
NYC Study
Private & small group intensives in May
check the website
Retreat: Summer Movement Monastery
The Mill in Philmont, NY
June 17 - 23 * 212 226 2114
http://dancemeditation.org/index.php?option=com_calendar&task=details&id=16&Itemid=76
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Reading Recommendation
Bond, Mary. The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2007.
http://www.innertraditions.com/Contributor.jmdx?action=displayDetail&id=391
I highly recommend this rich resource of terrific process work. A real somatic meditation book!
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Practitioner Writing from Winter Movement Monastery
Navel rising up, abdominal cavity hollowed as a dome for some futuristic biosphere protecting the darkened city below. A cave carved into my body by an ancient ocean now a simply stream of deep blue. My body, smooth and curving as the walls of a canyon. I peel myself away from the supporting earth, fighting gravity to disconnect from the solid foundation below my flesh and bones. I fold back upon my heels, my hips closing like the mouth of a venus flytrap, only slower. The hinges of my hips and knees slide tightly closed, flesh folding in upon itself.
I move in silence, dancing along the rim of sleep, a lazy lover twirling a toe in waters of divinity. I have danced in the hands of the Beloved. How can this profane and physical world compare?
--Krys Statho, New Orleans
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Testimonial
“Something is still coming thru in my dancing and it's extremely uplifting! I'm still not analyzing it, and just going with it. I've said it before: I don't know what's going on but I love it! When I dance I sail up to the top of the universe. My hips let loose, my chest follows, and soon enough the rest of my body is following too.”
-- Grantley, after Winter Movement Monastery
And that is the end of our newsletter. Thank you very much!
©2007 Dervish Society of America
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