Ellen Watson, teacher of ecstatic dance, describes her background
as “eclectic.” Twenty years ago Ellen went to the Esalen
Institute, a holistic retreat center in California. Her experiences
there inspired her to begin looking at herself from an emotional,
spiritual and psychological perspective. Among other spiritual practices
that she discovered then, one has become the cornerstone of her offerings
to humankind. It is called ecstatic dance and “The Five Rhythms™,” and is based on the work of Gabrielle Roth, noted artist, philosopher
and healer. Practicing the Five Rhythms has given Ellen a sense of
hope, freedom of expression and a re-connection to Spirit.
Ellen explains that the roots of the Five Rhythms come from ecstatic
dance. The word 'ecstasy' is defined as “taking one to places
of healing.” According to Ellen, the Five Rhythms are patterns
of energy, a way for the body to catalyze emotions. Her website,
MovingVentures.com,
explains that each of the Five Rhythms is a practical tool of awakening
that will release us, allowing us to dance on the edge, to be outrageous,
to transform suffering into art, and art into awareness. Since the
beginning of time, ecstatic dance has been recognized by people of
every culture as a spiritual practice capable of taking us to a higher
state of being, including ecstasy. The ecstatic state can help us
to transform; it can free feelings, release negative patterns and
connect us to the divine.
And what are the Five Rhythms?
Flowing holds the
feminine mysteries.
Staccato explores the masculine
mysteries. In
chaos, we are challenged to integrate
these principles into the stream of personal energy.
Lyrical
is the rhythm of trance and self-realization. In
stillness,
the mother of all rhythms, we seek the emptiness within us and take
refuge in it. Meditation and certain yoga poses exemplify stillness,
meaning either no movement or movement that is so near motionlessness
that it embodies stillness.
“I've experienced deep
healing through the Five Rhythms,” says Ellen. “If I don't
feel good in the moment, I know that dancing for half an hour will
help me feel emotionally lighter and integrated with my feelings,
behaviors and thoughts. The dancing is part music, part movement and
part breath. All of these elements have equal partnership. I will
guarantee a change in myself when I combine all three elements.”
This cathartic form of ecstatic dance is a workout for the body and
soul, a moving meditation, a spiritual practice where we ‘sweat
our prayers.’ Rather than having steps to follow, in each rhythm
we find our own expression and choreography, thereby stretching our
imagination as well as our body. This practice is for elders and young
people, passionate dancers and reserved toe-tappers, people with bum
knees or broken hearts. The only goals are “moving until we
are moved, finding the still point within and becoming free spirits
once again,” says Ellen. “My job is to help people get
from ordinary thinking, walking and moving, to a non-ordinary state,
fueled by breath, powered by their heartbeat, with the music as the
catalyst. After that there is just the dance. You are being danced
by your breath.”
Ellen has taken the Five Rhythms a step further with SpiritDance™,
in which she has joined the deepest wisdom from the Five Rhythms with
Holotrophic Breathwork (a chakra-based breathwork). Ellen describes
SpiritDance as “a little bit of walking meditation and some
Qi Gong exercises with music to get people moving to the beat. The
beat begins as grounding and powerful, and then moves up, up, up to
a point where dancers are almost spinning like a whirling dervish,
then down again. By then, spirits are soaring!”
Ellen's philosophy? The banner on her website tells it all: “Your
body is a musical instrument. Keeping it tuned through focused breath,
movement and touch readies you for playing in God's Holy Band.”
Along with SpiritDance™, Ellen has developed and teaches
other physical and metaphysical workouts for body and soul, including
Dancing with Rumi™, Gabrielle Roth's Five Rhythms™, and
Awakening 101. For more information about Ellen or SpiritDance, you
may refer to her website at www.movingventures.com.
