Shakti Dance

In person Shakti Dance workshops in Glastonbury

current website plus…..

Shakti Dance is the dance of Yoga, a beautiful, flowing, transformational practice in which we offer the opportunity to “Merge with the Life Force and give expression to your Soul” 

!There are teachers being trained across the world but we are still relatively few and far between. I have found it to be a very potent practice for personal development and it has complimented and given a greater depth to my Hatha Yoga practice. I am very keen to share! So I am offering a one day workshop of Shakti Dance... 

Our UK Shakti Dance Teachers Association, describes the practice.... 

Shakti Dance is taught in 8 phases, and through those phases the development awakens different areas of our being. Physical, mental, emotional levels are all participating in the journey within Shakti Dance, and awareness of the meridians, nadis, chakras, elements and bandhas is fundamental within the practice of Shakti Dance. As the macrocosm is created out of elements which can be explained and comprehended through Yogic understanding, so can our movement and application of movement, mind, mantra, breath, intention and will power, and through different themes of understanding, the science of Yoga becomes embodied in a flowing and creative experience of Life Force and Gratitude. 

Kundalini Yoga is the foundational touchstone for Shakti Dance, though as a form Shakti Dance is eclectic in range, and incorporates elements from other streams of Yogic application as well as Eastern and Western dance styles. 

It is not necessary to have a background in Yoga to practice Shakti Dance, but Yogis often find it complementary to their practice, and the streams continue to nourish each other in the evolving creative flow which is Shakti Dance. Shakti Dance also provides an insight into Yoga at a physical level and also at a theoretical level. 

www.shaktidance.co.uk 

!I’d also like to add that you don’t have to be a dancer and the initial phases of the class bring us to a level of relaxation and increase in the prana that facilitates breaking through inhibitions we may have around dancing :-) 

Shakti Map as Table Yoga Practice meets Shamanic Practice - on desktop

from current website

What is Shakti Dance?

Shakti Dance combines the science of Kundalini Yoga with Eastern and Western Dance styles to experience and embody Shaki - the Sacred Feminine life force.

It's an extraordinarily powerful practice which  brings together (in a specific order) mantra, stretches, dance, relaxation and meditation with the intent to  "Merge with the Life Force and give expression to your Soul". 

The energy of each class is consciously channelled and shaped to meet the needs of the moment....it may be deeply relaxing, super energising, wild, cathartic, ecstatic.... and groups often find the shared experience deeply bonding.

Shakti Dance is a yogic approach to dance, based on the understandings of Kundalini Yoga.  Classes move through 8 phases, which are described in the table below. The structure of the class and the way we move enable us to connect deeply with our life force, our Shakti (Goddess nature), release that which no longer serves us and give expression to our true selves, our soul.

You do not have to be a dancer or an experienced yogini. Being flexible and uninhibited are not necessary either. Shakti Dance can help us to overcome any concerns we have about moving our bodies and to really enjoy doing so. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how you look or how "good" you are.

We bring the intention of yoga into dance with consciousness (or mindfulness), focus, awareness, breath, mantra and the way the phases of the class are structured. 

The movements through which I lead the group in phases 2 and 3 (see below) increase our capacity to embody Shakti, because they are inspired by the understanding of the nature of energy (Shakti, Prana and Kundalini) the movement of energy (Vayus), qualities of energy (Gunas) and currents and vortexes of energy within the body (Nadis and Chakras). 

Please scroll down past the table below for links to further information and videos of and about Shakti Dance. 

Shakti: Energy & the Sacred Feminine

Shakti is the Primal Goddess of the Vedic (ancient yogic wisdom) tradition, the Divine Feminine, Great Mother and life giver of all and the consort of Shiva and indeed all Vedic Gods. Where Shiva is unconditioned consciousness (absolute stillness or pure potential), Shakti is everything else: conditioned or manifest consciousness, consciousness in motion, the wave, the flow, energy. Literally, this Sanskrit word means energy.  Everything in the universe is powered by the wave-like, animating force of Shakti, just the frequency of the vibration of the energy differs. 

The 8 Phases of a Shakti Dance Class

Phase 1

Tuning In

The Adi Mantra is usually used, which is a prayer to the inner Guru , the innate wisdom in body, heart and soul - the inner source of inspiration and motivation which is the best teacher and guide.

Singing the mantra together invites the vibration of deep learning and transformation, both within each person and within the physical space.

It also connects teacher and students with the lineage of this teaching and of the teaching of Kundalini Yoga.  

Phase 2

Shakti Stretches

To release stuck energy, clearing and unblocking the Chakras, Nadis and Meridians, smoothing out the flow of Shakti and beginning to liberate the body, mind and soul.

Shakti begins to flow more freely; whatever is being held may be released, wherever there is contraction there may be expansion.

Phase 3

Shakti Standing Steps

To increase the flow of Shakti and to gather and unite the energy of the group through co-ordinated, coherent movement. 

Participants may have become very inwardly focussed during the Shakti Stretches and the more overtly unified energy of this phase can feel like a reconnection (or even a new connection) with the world outside of ourselves. 

Breath and rhythm are powerfully and immediately transformative so the teacher intuits what is needed.

Phase 4

Free Dance

Freedom to express the strong clear flow of Shakti - letting the Shakti move the body.

If necessary more contractions can be released, feelings expressed. 

Liberation of the wild, intuitive feminine consciousness.

Phase 5

Relaxation

To calm, rest and integrate in a state of expanded awareness.

Phase 6

Mantra

To align the individual and group energy with the vibration of a particular mantra.

Phase 7 

Stillness

To Be in stillness and expand into emptiness and connection with the Shiva principle of potential energy, the unmanifest, absolute potential (whereas Shakti is dynamic energy)

Phase 8

Closing

To define the end of the practice by chanting Sat Nam 3 times with a simple movement, creating a magnetic field around the body, charging and strengthening the aura, giving a feeling of completion and protection.

Shakti Dance Academy Home Page Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiDLmTmmrXo

Sara Avtar, founding creator of Shakti Dance, explains the origin, nature and intention of this discipline

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvSrVRF0mXM

One hour interview with Sara Avtar, Founder of Shakti Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85WH0bPTy9I

More information about Shakti Dance from the Shakti Dance UK Teachers Association

http://www.shaktidance.co.uk/shakti-dance/

More information about Shakti Dance from the Shakti Dance Academy (international)

http://shaktidanceacademy.com