Following a text conversation with a friend, she sent me an email regarding a two hour long class taking place at The Purple Lotus - Debz Sladen's rapidly growing project based in Carlisle town centre which specialises in an array of holistic therapies and mind/body classes such as Nia dancing, Zumba, Tai chi, and various types of yoga - I scanned the email then let Elaine know I was up for giving the 5rhythms morning session a go (having attended various classes there I had no real reservations about going along).
Saturday arrived and I managed to drag my carcass out of the lovely bed pit, even having enough time to eat a little breakfast (something which is a bit of a novelty for a non morning type like me). I arrived at 9:45am, 15mins early as advised by a French lady named Marie who introduced herself to me at the Tai chi class on Thursday prior to the class. The idea of getting there early was to give you time to warm up however upon arriving, catching sight of two or three ladies out of the group already there dancing around on the beautiful shiny wooden floor, I began to feel a bit self conscious and stationed myself at the back of the room.
I noticed a slender lady wearing purple MC Hammer pants who was moving with astonishing grace and flow, unsurprisingly she turned out to be the teacher Rachel (I read about her afterwards on one the websites below and she originally trained in ballet). Rachel gathered the group together - I think there were between twelve and fourteen of us there in total all ladies with the age range being late twenties to mid sixties - Rachel spent about ten mins going through what would be happening in the next two hours using what seemed a dramatic combination of movement and words, here are some key points I remember:
- moving with flow
- letting go
- staccato
- lyrical
- chaos
- breathing into movements
- exploring the space
- using movement to show how we feel
- anger may come out via punching and kicking moves
- it is not unusual for some people to experience crying
- down on the ground - grounded people
- up in the air - the opposite
- dancing with partners (this worried me the most)
After the briefing Rachel then asked each of us in the circle to introduce ourselves and say a couple of words about how we were feeling at that moment, (this kind of thing always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable and I definitely had the fight or flight thing happening as I recalled the episode of Peep show with the 'rainbow dance' class). Most people seemed pretty open with one girl even admitting she felt 'on the verge of tears but it's a good thing', other words used were 'curious' 'tired' 'excited' I was honest and told the group that I was 'afraid of making a fool of myself.' I suspect I wasn't the only one.
So now was time to begin, Rachel had explained that she facilitates rather than teaches so she started us off exploring the room by walking around in time to the music, we were encouraged to be free with this - (as opposed to walking round the room in a circle) changing direction as and when we felt like it and walking backwards and sideways as well as forwards, then we were advised to focus on our feet - exploring different ways of moving them and using the different parts of them. The next thing was to move toward a partner/s and to focus on their feet and to observe and perhaps try out movements they were doing. Rachel guided us through dancing with our knees, hips, shoulders, spines and heads allowing these parts to lead the rest of our bodies in movement; there was time devoted to both dancing alone in the space and moving with partners. I don't know when or how it happened but I found myself feeling quite free and being drawn toward the floor with my movements (even though no one else had gone there yet). I looked around a few times and it seemed as though everyone was really letting go, losing themselves and enjoying the feeling of spontaneous dancing, I mentioned to my friend Elaine while grabbing a quick glass of water at the back, that it didn't look dissimilar to a rave (the difference being that no one was under the influence of disinhibiting chemicals such as MDMA). Rachel has explained at the beginning that it was similar to that kind of freeing high/trip but drug free and I have to admit I wholeheartedly agree with that. I slipped back into the dancing with ease and found myself punching and kicking the air for a while, it felt like some anger had risen to the surface and came out via movement. After this clarity of feeling I found myself overcome with the urge to cry so I moved to the floor again and sobbed for a few minutes. Not too long after I'd had a cry and got up and back into more what Rachel referred to as 'lyrical movement' we were asked to get into twos again (I can't remember what Rachel had guided us to do) but the lady who I was paired with and I were mirroring each other and we went from stamping and punching moves to jumping up and down clapping our hands in the air chanting 'yes', I actually felt as though my dancing partner had perceived my emotional state and led me into feeling stronger, more positive and in control. The rest of the session after this gradually slowed down with the music playing matching this, Rachel then asked us all to reach a still point (most of us were already on the floor by this point) and close out eyes while she guided us into relaxation for about five minute. After we had all come round and sat in a circle again we were asked as we were at the start to say our names and how we had found the class; everybody there was positive about the experience, some even thanking Rachel and/or the whole group for it. The girl who had said she was tearful said she felt 'a lot calmer' now, another girl said 'it was quite a journey', one lady explained that 'it was fine even for an introvert as she had thought 5rhythms would be more of an extrovert thing'. I expressed that I felt 'calmer too and surprised at the emotions such as the anger that had surfaced through the movement, it felt like psychotherapy through movement'.
I would definitely recommend 5rhythms, admittedly I felt self conscious to begin with but the release I felt throughout the session and afterwards made those few minutes of worry worthwhile, it was an excellent workout too. I have always enjoyed dancing in the kitchen when no one is watching and 5rhythms felt a bit like that to me.
'5Rhythms is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the 1960s. It draws from many indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy. It also draws from Gestalt, the human potential movement and transpersonal psychology.[1] Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms. Roth describes the practice as a soul journey, and says that by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential.
5Rhythms is a trademark owned by Gabrielle Roth, and the practice is only taught by certified teachers.' (taken from Wikipedia)
'5Rhythms is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the 1960s. It draws from many indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy. It also draws from Gestalt, the human potential movement and transpersonal psychology.[1] Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms. Roth describes the practice as a soul journey, and says that by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential.
5Rhythms is a trademark owned by Gabrielle Roth, and the practice is only taught by certified teachers.' (taken from Wikipedia)
A short video of 5rhythms with voice over by Gabrielle Roth the founder:
You can find out more about 5rhythms here:
and what other classes and therapies are available at The Purple Lotus here:
