Dance is Dynamic Meditation
During the Festive Season, I attended a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat and was inspired to share insights into the profound connection I see between Dance and Meditation. Both offer paths to embodied presence and awareness.
Vipassana meditation is the Buddha's heritage to humanity. He sat under the Bodhi tree with a strong determination that he wouldn’t move until he was fully actualised. In the process, he witnessed the Movement of Sensations manifesting within his body, from a gross pain to a very subtle vibration. He realised that everything is rising and falling away - anicca (originates from the Pali language) - impermanence.
The first three days of meditation, we were told to place our attention on a small body part above the upper lip and observe the breath. The idea is to train the mind to focus and be sharp. Mind, being a “monkey” is not an easy task - strong determination was very much required. On the fourth day, we began with Vipassana, where we scan our body from the top of our head to our toes, and vice versa. When sensations arise, we just observe and keep focusing on scanning. This kind of approach is teaching us not to react to the unpleasant and not to cling to the pleasant, to be UNTOUCHED in duality “between what the Buddhists call aversion and clinging”. When we integrate the teaching into our lives, it can be the sweetest gift of peace and equanimity - Buddha says: "Equanimity is purity”.
While practising, I noticed that both Vipassana and Dance are powerful practices guiding us toward the same goal: embodied presence and mindful awareness. Dance, like Vipassana, serves as a form of Dynamic Meditation, unlocking embodiment through movement and attention.
Both approaches use the body as a doorway to awareness, and the breath serves as a key that unites Dance and Meditation as embodied practices.
Both require determination and focus to keep the attention inside our bodies. In meditation, we observe the sensations of the Body; in movement, we dance with it, explore, and express it. Dance has a beat, a rhythm to follow, perhaps making it more enjoyable. At the same time, it’s important to notice if we are authentically engaged with music. Oftentimes, I caught myself being busy thinking and having my body on “autopilot expressing”, missing the whole point of the practice. It is a practice of EMBODIMENT, exploring and nurturing the Soil of our Body. But how to be with the mind that can be such a persistent guest, you ask? My Spiritual Teacher Mooji is inviting us to detach from it, allow the stories and thought patterns to be there and witness - be a dispassionate observer.
At other times, when we are experiencing the shadow aspects of our being, the patterns that make us uncomfortable or limit our capacity to be present. We could practice allowing it first, then accepting. Acceptance will bring the Fire of Transformation, helping us to embrace the Part of us we rejected. This is the integration work I learned from Richard Rudd, the founder of Gene Keys.
As the Aries season begins, embodiment practices ground us in courage, clarity, and momentum.
Wishing you Strength and the Fresh Breath of Inspiration as you move forward into Deepening!