Sunday, November 23, 2008

#61 The 5Rhythms: an Organic Map of Life - Dancing with Kathy Altman,part 3

We are continuing our series on the practice of 5Rhythms – a moving meditation, a dance without steps; a practice introduced in the early 1970s by Gabrielle Roth. We invite you for an insightful conversation with a long-time 5Rhythms practitioner, Kathy Altman.

As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy’s teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students “as on the dance floor, so in life”. She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends.

In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:

  • As in dance, so in life
    • We are all good at some rhythms, and not as good at others
    • We practice the whole wave to gain more balance
    • The first 3 rhythms are just gateways; lyrical and stillness are the reward
  • The Shadow side of the Rhythms
    • Flow – inertia, where we can’t get ourselves going
    • Staccato – tightness, rigidity of boundaries
    • Chaos – confusion
    • Lyrical – spacing out, instead of spacing in
    • Stillness – getting numb, instead of quieting
  • Rhythms in real life
    • Shadow sides are the extremes of the rhythms that define their true essense
    • You see this everywhere in life
    • Examples of famous people embodying various rhythms
  • Connections between people in dance
    • Connecting essence to essence, soul to soul. Very different from connecting on a personality level.
    • Ventilate your personality – that’s the practice
    • “Just like me”

[techtags: 5Rhythms, Kathy Altman, Gabrielle Roth]

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