awakening - Chakradance

AWAKENING
INTRODUCTORY
AWAKENING
INTRODUCTION
1.5 hours
MATERIALS
Chimes, candles, salt lamps, electric tealights, shawls, cushions,
Chakradance Balance oil, paper and crayons, Intro Week Hand-Outs,
sound system, music, First Aid kit, merchandise, space clearing spray and
eye masks.
PREPARATION
Set-up sacred space:
• Turn on oil burner and burn Chakradance Balance essential oil
• Set up your stereo and music
• Layout cushions in a circle with shawls if required; place candle in the
centre
• Place tealights/salt lamps around outer edge of room
• Prepare for mandala art creation
• Setup merchandise material
• Prepare yourself by grounding, centring and attuning
• Energetically clear space or use a space clearing spray
• Chime the outer edge of room and then chime each cushion in the
circle, place chimes in front of cushion that you sit on in preparation for
opening meditation
Put on Arrival music.
Go to the door to welcome and attune to participants.
Invite participants to take off their shoes and join the circle in the sacred
space.
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OPENING MEDITATION
Say:
Welcome to Chakradance.
We will begin with a short meditation.
Softly close your eyes.
Have the intention of letting go of the day and arriving into this sacred
space.
Do:
Ring the chimes 3 x times at the beginning of opening meditation.
PLAY TRACK 1 – OPENING MEDITATION
Say at end:
Now bring your awareness back into the room.
INTRODUCTIONS
Do:
Introduce yourself first. Then invite participants to introduce themselves and
ask them to share what has drawn them to today’s workshop. Thank them
for sharing.
INTRODUCTORY TALK AND STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP
Say:
We describe CHAKRADANCE as a dance practice for the soul. It is about
reconnecting back to our true essence or true self.
Our intention with Chakradance is to honour the work of the soul. To tap into
that deeper part of us and hear what it has to say.
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So many of us suffer from uncomfortable symptoms in our lives – depression,
anxiety, addictions, compulsive behaviors etc. In traditional shamanic
cultures, it is believed that these symptoms arise from loss of connection to
the soul. Basically there is conflict between our inner and outer lives.
Fortunately, the soul has a natural instinct to heal. It is constantly
communicating with us and telling us what it needs through our bodies, our
feelings, our relationships, our dreams, our art and our dance. Once we
attune ourselves to our soul’s language, deep healing can begin to take
place.
Chakradance workshops are a journey inwards. We use spontaneous
dance, specific music, guided imagery and mandala art to journey through
the chakra system. Chakradance will begin to activate inner experiences –
it is almost like entering into a waking dream. Some of you may see images
in your mind’s eye while you are dancing, or recall memories or gain insights.
You may experience feelings, emotions or physical sensations. It’s an
organic unfolding of what’s inside each chakra.
If a chakra is imbalanced you will get indicators. You may find that the
music doesn’t resonate with you, or your dance is stilted, or you become
distracted. In Chakradance we ask you to be mindful of your experiences,
to observe them, witness them.
It is important to be gentle with yourself, take it at your own pace. It is about
going within and seeing what is, being with what is. It is about listening to our
souls, moving towards healing.
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO NOW
Say:
We will begin with a warm up and then journey through each of the seven
chakras, starting at the base and travelling up to the crown. I will then guide
you into creating your own mandala artwork. We will then have feedback
and a closing mediation.
So I invite you to find a place in the room where you feel comfortable.
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PLAY TRACK 2 – WARM-UP
Say:
Shake your body............loosen up
Gently close your eyes, or lower your gaze – focus inwards
Focus on your breath ...... in......... out ...... breathing more deeply than you
usually do
Scan down your body – starting at the top of your head, down to your toes
Notice any areas of tightness, notice if you are holding any tension in your
body, any aches, pains
Breathe into these areas – allowing them to soften
Notice how you are feeling
(Say all of this slowly until you hear the voice in the track say ‘ACQUA’)
BODY PARTS (awareness to body parts, take your time)
Say:
Bring your awareness to your head … relax your scalp … stretch your face
by yawning
Relax your eyes … relax your jaw … and maybe yawning again
Gently move your head from left to right … tilt it up and down
Rotate your shoulders – releasing any tightness/tension
Bring movement into your arms – use these movements to expand your
chest … Bring movement into your fingers
Release your spine and hang like a rag doll … now slowly come up one
vertebra at a time
Rotate your hips – release any tightness in your pelvis … then change
direction
Bring movement into your legs … shaking them out
Bring your awareness to your feet … rotate them in circles one foot at a time
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Just find your own movements now – connecting your movement to your
breath … use the movement to release any tension or tightness you may still
be holding in your body.
PLAY TRACK 3 – ALL 7 CHAKRADANCE (extended version)
Our journey begins at the base chakra ... located at the base of your spine
... Feel this energy centre begin to pulse a vibrant red. Feel your feet firmly
on the ground; and connect with Mother Earth. This chakra is your anchor …
your instincts reside here. Feel the energy moving up through your feet into
your base chakra … connect with the primal, animal-like energy. As you
move into the dance, imagine a warm campfire and see yourself dancing
around it … this is a dance of the legs and feet.
[4.13] Now, your own gentle movements are starting to loosen up your hips
and pelvis. Feel the energy centre in your lower belly begin to glow orange.
This is your sacral chakra.
[4.54] A beautiful stream appears before you. You walk into the stream and
the water begins to flow through you. There’s a feeling that you are
cleansing and releasing any stress being held in your body. This is a feminine
dance, a dance of the belly that creates pleasure and sweetness from this
chakra.
[7.51] The solar plexus is just above the navel. Focus there and imagine a
stream of pure yellow light emanating from it. You have begun the
masculine dance – the dance of the hero warrior. The fire has been ignited
from within. It builds power, and provides energy throughout your whole
body.
[11.35] With your eyes remaining closed, take a slow breath, and move your
awareness to your heart chakra, at the centre of your chest. Breathe in the
natural, green light.
Expand your chest ... open your arms ... let your hands become soft.
You now have wings. Feel the flow of the air around you. Dance and feel
the lightness, open to the love of the heart.
[15.28] Move to your throat chakra and enjoy the sky-blue light that brings
harmony throughout your body. Now you are dancing to the eternal
rhythm. Create the movements that best express your unique vibration. You
may wish to hum or chant with the music.
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[19.14] Keeping your eyes closed, begin the dance of the third eye by
rubbing your hands together to create heat. Now cup your eyes and
picture your third eye, between your brows, gently opening. It’s an indigo
hue, the colour of the night sky. Relax your arms, let your body sway and
allow your imagination to roam free. This is the dance of the inner vision.
[22.52] We are now at the gateway to the spirit, whose entrance is at the
crown chakra. Look up and see a luminous violet cord that stretches to the
ends of the Universe, emanating from your crown chakra. You are one with
the Universe. Feel the rhythm of your soul.
PAUSE CD and ask participants to take 3 long slow deep breaths.
CREATIVE EXERCISE
Do:
Invite everyone to find a place on the floor where they feel comfortable for
the creative exercise.
Do:
Hand out tea lights, paper and crayons.
PLAY TRACK 5 – MANDALA MUSIC
Say:
We are now going to do a creative exercise based on a mandala so that
we can reflect on and express our experiences today.
‘Mandala’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘magic circle’. To create a
mandala we draw our experience within a circle. The circle both contains
our experience and holds a healing power.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw – it’s what your mandala represents
that is important. The images can be literal or symbolic. You may have
seen actual images in your mind’s eye, or perhaps you might want to give
a colour or an image to represent a feeling you had.
Creating a mandala is an intuitive and spontaneous process. Just let it
unfold.
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Sit quietly with your paper and circle in front of you.
Place one hand inside the circle and have your drawing materials in the
other hand. Take 3 deep breaths.
Go within and allow whatever needs to come through to express your
experiences of this chakra. Try not to analyse what is happening, but allow
the process to unfold in its own spontaneous way.
FEEDBACK
Do:
Get participants to share their experiences by inviting them back into the
circle.
Say:
If you are going to be with us throughout the full Awakening cycle, I urge
you to keep the mandalas that you will be creating each week, as we will
be reflecting on all of these in the final Integration class.
Now it is time for feedback, I don’t interpret or analyse your material as the
therapeutic aspect is in the dance itself. Vocalising even by saying one key
word or a short sentence to capture the essence of your mandala helps to
integrate your experiences even further.
Do:
Listen/reflect to range of experiences.
Say:
Thank you for sharing.(Give meta statement if appropriate).
Encourage ways of working with the chakras. eg. Affirmations, Energy
exercises, Visualizations etc...you'll find some ideas in the hand-outs.
Support
I’d just like to remind you to think of your support network. If you do feel you
need extra support, please stay behind at the end of the class so that I may
be able to recommend someone to you.
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Additional Comments you may like to make
Each of the 7 chakras governs the health of specific body parts and organs
and each influences a different aspect of our lives (instincts, sexuality,
intuition etc.). Together, they encompass the whole of human experience.
When we explore our chakras through CHAKRADANCE™ we explore every
facet of our being. It is like shining a spotlight on to each part of us. This is
amazing, but also can be very confronting.
In our lives, we all get stuck in patterns/routines and can begin to operate
predominantly through 2/3/4 chakras. Parts of us become dominant and
other parts are weak, dormant or buried. Over time, this throws our
systems/lives/relationships out of balance.
By bringing energy/light into each of our chakras through CHAKRADANCE™
we can slowly become more balanced, more whole, and able to live our
lives more consciously.
The whole of the CHAKRADANCE™ experience is also embedded in the
philosophy of Jungian Psychology. CHAKRADANCE™ is held in a sacred
space. The primary aim of Jungian Psychology is to form an ongoing
relationship between our unconscious and consciousness so that we can
find wholeness/reach our fullest potential. This too is the aim of
CHAKRADANCE™ , to be the most that we can be as human beings.
CLOSING: INTEGRATION MEDITATION
Say:
We will now close the evening with our Integration meditation. Having your
eyes softly closed, focus on your breathing and have the intention of
integrating anything that may have come up for you tonight.
PLAY TRACK 6 – CLOSING MEDITATION
Ring chimes 3 x times at the beginning of meditation.
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DEPARTURE
See participants out. Ensure they are grounded.
Make no personal reflections or interpretations.
Give out Hand-Outs.
Release energies.
Detach after the session.
Record feedback in an objective way.
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