Sunday, April 26, 2009

Yoga and the 5 Rhythms

I've been collapsed at home today (Sunday) after quite an amazing afternoon/evening yesterday. Went to yoga class in the afternoon which was quite lovely. Not that anything wonderful in the way of breakthroughs or progress happened - probably the reverse as I still haven't sorted out a new practice schedule since changing jobs (and time available). But it just felt so good to be 'in the slot' of practice - doing the sun salutes and just following the series through. I had to leave early because I was supposed to be somewhere at 6pm, and the teacher had started talking to everyone about pranayama, or the basic beginners' pranayama that he teaches and we do at the end of asana practice. I had to get up and go in the middle of all of this which felt a bit awkward, but couldn't be helped.

So - where I had to be at 6pm was at a 5 Rhythms dance! I'd never heard of this before, but a friend (Ross) invited me to one being put on by his yoga teacher. Basically it's a dance 'practice' founded by someone called Gabrielle Roth, where you dance to 5 different rhythms - flowing, staccatto, chaos, lyrical and stillness. 20 minutes for each rhythm. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was wonderful! I would have thought I'd have been pretty tired having just done about 1.5 hours of yoga, but I didn't sit out any of it! Most of us did kind of treat the last one (stillness) as a sort of savasana, lying on the floor, but still I have to say I was quite amazed that I was able to keep dancing without any thought of sitting down for a while!

However, today is a different matter! I was quite tired, and when I got back from doing the shopping (and visiting the library) I was quite content to have a slow quiet afternoon! Mind you, I'll still fighting with uploading my CMS website to a test server - unsuccessful to date! Hoping to get some (more) help from the user community, who of course are mostly in Europe/USA and so in bed when I'm awake, and awake when I'm asleep!

4 comments:

Susan C said...

I've never heard of such a thing, but it sounds wonderful. I think I'd love dancing to 5 rhythms.

susiegb said...

Google it - you may well find it happens in your neighbourhood!

Ronni Gordon said...

The class and the dancing both sound wonderful, each in its own way. I agree, it's good to get to a class even if there are no "breakthroughs." It's a case where just "going through the motions" has a good connotation.

Unknown said...

Yoga is a way of life, a conscious act, not a set or series of learning principles. The dexterity, grace, and poise you cultivate, as a matter of course, is the natural outcome of regular practice. You require no major effort. In fact trying hard will turn your practices into a humdrum, painful, even injurious routine and will eventually slow down your progress. Subsequently, and interestingly, the therapeutic effect of Yoga is the direct result of involving the mind totally in inspiring (breathing) the body to awaken. Yoga is probably the only form of physical activity that massages each and every one of the body’s glands and organs. This includes the prostate, a gland that seldom, if ever, gets externally stimulated in one’s whole life.
www.coomararunodaya.com

 

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