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Dunya/Dancemeditation Enews, January, 2004
Seminars, Announcements, Practices & Pleasures
http://www.dancemeditation.org
=================== In this Issue --->Quote of the Month
--->Course: MOVING in SENSATION * Cape Cod, MA * 1/17-5/15/2004
--->Seminar: PAINTING THE WIND: Mysticism in the Veil * Charlottesville, VA * 1/24
--->Practice of the Month
--->Real Fact of the Month
--->Reading Recommendations
--->Testimonial of the Month =================== Quote of the Month "In [Meister] Eckhart, mystical union occurs when the human soul gives up attachments and images, and when the deity gives up its properties and persons. At this point the deity and the soul revert to the state of nothingness, out of which and in which the mystical union occurs." Michael Sells, Mystical Alnguages of Unsaying =================== Course: MOVING IN SENSATION * Winter/Spring Series
CAPE COD, MA
1/17 * 2/21 * 3/20 * 4/24 * 5/15
11am - 2pm
Mary French Studio, Rte. 28A & County Rd., Cataumet, MA Spinal wave motion, breath, released stretching & explorational motion to increase sensation and enjoyment of your movement. Expanding into juicy dance!
What to bring:
Yoga mat. Wear whatever you love to move in. Make sure you have layers to be completely warm during resting periods.
Series: $100 by 1/10/2004
Single session: $25 by previous Monday; $30 after
By Credit Card: through website http://www.dancemeditation.org
By Check: made to: ‘Dervish Society of America’
& mail to: Jayne Bissonnette, PO Box 3006, Waquoit, MA 02536
INFO: Jayne, 508 540 6974
=================== Seminar: PAINTING THE WIND: Mysticism in the Veil
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
JANUARY 24th, 2003 1:30-5:3pm
UNION YOGA LOFT, The Glass Building, 313 2nd St. SE The veil has easily recognizable symbolism but in this workshop we will focus more on sensation of the fabric, its drape, its metamorphosis possibilities, how it triggers the world of the unconscious and how it can draw us into transformative trance. We will also work with breath and fluid yoga to open the body as well as hip work, spinal wave and hand mudras as access points to the universal mind. Bring a mat to exercise on and a veil. REGISTRATION
$35 before by 1/17; $45 at the door
By Credit Card: through website http://www.dancemeditation.org
By Check: made to: ‘Dervish Society of America’
and mailed to:
Megan Morris
PO Box 5322
Charlottesville, VA 22905
INFO: 434-466-9484 =================== Practice of the Month Driving Away Winter Sloth This sequence is inspired by being snowed in by the first winter blizzard after having just received Bare Necessities' beautiful new CD. The infectious music sends animation through the feet into the body. This is type of music that kept people sane in times before TV and road ploughs, when a good snowstorm really meant going nowhere for a while. You'd crack out the instruments and get down to dancing. I've designed a short sequence of foci to awaken feet and legs. It is locomotion study and therefor gently aerobic. Uplifting. It will clear your system of couch potato-ness and house-bound ennui. I made this for myself to help get my feet awake again after a protracted ankle sprain. I think my feet had forgotten how to do anything more than plod. They were afraid of being simian. They were tentative about being songbirds. So, though this is not the rigors of ballet, it did help me commune with my feet as I move and enjoy the flight that only moving around in space can give my heart. For those of you have been following the sequence of practices of in this enews, you may find this a welcome balance to the horizontal micromovement and interior focus of the Spinal Practices. Concerning 'Unwinding': Most of the practice instructions are directive suggestions, but periodically I indicate 'Unwinding'. By 'Unwinding' I do not mean movement that looks like or even feels like unwinding. I mean, rather it is time for you to follow your body's impulses with your attention. Let your body lead the movement where it wishes. You will have been leading your body. Now follow it. The exercise sequence is designed to go with "By Request", Bare Necessities, Volume #7. To purchase the music contact : The Boston Centre, 781-662-6710; www.cds-boston.org 1. Jaque Latin
Stretches. Loosen up. Keep this fluid. It is simply to get the blood moving. I suggest some on the floor, some standing. Get a feel for where all of you is at. Don't 'drill down' too intensely anywhere. As you go be aware of the lovely pulse in the music. The relaxed but lively sense of going somewhere. 2. Red and All Red
This time, lock onto the pulse. Begin by doing any movement that marks the beat. Feel that every downbeat has a movement either landing on it or pushed into it. Keep the range of motion moderate for your body. Activate all your limbs. After while shift level, getting up and down, not constantly but off and on. This lubricates your joints and lets the brain make multiple interfaces. 3. Gypsy Round
A haunting, beautiful tune. This we'll do all up on or feet. It is in 3/4 time so, if you familiar with waltz step, use it. Waltz step is a step on every beat, (down, up, up)(down: flat foot with knee bent; up: straight leg on your toe). The feet remain continuously on the rhythm for the entire song. So "down, up, up", a step on every beat. Glide gently, elegantly through space, feeling your feet and ankles. When you begin, relax your thighs and let your energy go into to the feet. Feel that you let your legs reach down or hag down from the navel, then from even higher up, under the diaphragm. After while, the step going constantly, add your right arm. Let it move on the surges of the waltz rhythm. Then put it down and let the left arm do the same thing. Then both arms together, surging with the waltz. Then let both arms rest again and just return to foot and leg focus. After a while let the right arm do a long smooth continuous movement alone. Then let the left arm do it. Then both arms together - long smooth movement while the feet mark the rhythm. Finally relax into an Unwinding, letting your body follow the movement and do what it wants. 4. Perpetual Motion
This is a charming loping rhythm. This is pure foot focus. Get into the walk pace. All flat foot at first. When you are settled in your regular walk. Look down and make sure your feet are headed in pure parallel. Walk in pure parallel. When that is settled, go to walking deliberately heel first - you'll be rolling fully through the whole foot. Then back to a regular walk. Next, walk toe first. This is odd. Do it to wake up to different aspects of your foot. Then back to your regular walk. Now, turn your legs out slightly and do the toe first walk, like a ballet dancer. Back to a regular walk. Next add little pivots into your locomoting. Then back to a regular walk. Finally add a double pulse into the walk. You can, if you're feeling fleet-footed, layer the pivot and double pulse into the walk as well. Just for fun. 5. The Collier's Daughter
Simply locomote through space with even stepping or double stepping. Stay right on the beat, feeling the pelvis moving constantly in space. Now you can cover more distance with each step. Open into a fuller, speedier travelling with you steps. Your body can find and enjoy its musical stride. After a while go into an Unwinding. Follow your body. 6. Ramsgate Assembly
Go back down to the floor. Finally. I am thinking here of the word 'splayed', that is, the legs spanning out. Let them be lose and stretched. Released, like a lose-hipped puppy. Use rolling and rocking motion but still keep the sense of pulse. You can gradually begin to slow down. 7. Mrs. Savage's Whim
Relax in any way that feels satisfying. You can recline in a passive stretch, or rest lying down on you belly rocking the pelvis so your thighs are massaged by the floor. After a while just let all movement go and let the music pour over you. © 2003 Dunya Dianne McPherson =================== Reading Recommendations Mystical Languages of Unsaying, Michael A. Sells brilliant study breaks new ground on a central problem in the history of mysticism -- the use of human language to convey knowledge of the divine that surpasses all descriptive and analytic capacities. =================== Real Fact of the Month "Spinal curves are reciprocal. The curve of the lumbar spine is reflected in the curve of the cervical spine. If the lumbar spine is curved too far forward, the cervical spine will also be curved too far forward. If the lumbar spine is too flat or straight, the cervical spine will be too flat or straight." The Endless Web: Fascial Anatomy and Physical Reality, R. Louis Schutlz, PhD, Rosemary Feitis, DO =================== Testimonials of the Month "Dear Dunya, I attended your [Ruby Spine] workshop in Cambridge and absolutely loved the micromovements of the spine. I shared that with my clients in Pilates classes and had interesting feedback. Is it okay to practice that in a supine or sitting position? Some people had more success with those positions. My own story with the micromovements is impressive. I tried it a few times since the workshop and had a discomfort-free, shorter period, one week earlier than expected. It was amazing. I usually have lower back issues prior to and the first few days of my period and it didn't happen this time. I really attribute it to the micromovements because that was the only change. Many thanks,
Annemarie McNeil,"
Boston, MA =================== And that is the end of our newsletter. Thank you very much! To UNSUBSCRIBE, please reply with 'Remove from List' in the subject line.
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