We will gather again to dance as a community amidst the wonders of the Marsh House on Whidbey Island. This is the ninth year we are returning to dance at Aldermarsh which is a sanctuary for us all, as we settle into 4 days together. On this spiraling 5Rhythms path, all our dancing with our vulnerable bodies and hearts will help us become, as Gabrielle Roth says, "begging bowls for spirit". This is a time of celebration, togetherness and gratitude, as we dance our deepest prayers and move over and over again in the calmness of the eye of the storm.

"Everything flows from your own heart."
Fa-Yen

In this 5Rhythms workshop we will explore the wilderness of the heart. As we move we will be tracking what we are feeling right here, right now. Can we express that feeling and let it move through us freely?

Our feelings are states of being and they call out to us to know and befriend them. Often we are distracted, in denial or too scared to let an emotion arise completely and be our teacher. In this map of the heart, we will move through the landscape of our own hearts as we explore the many emotions of our everyday lives, including fear, anger and grief. By fluidly moving our emotions, we can track their messages to us. This leads to vulnerability and freedom and finally to compassion, the emptiest and clearest expression of love.

In Cycles we use our movement practice to study the most essential relationships of our lives. Who are the people and events that have shaped who we are? What challenges and gifts did they leave us? How do we honor our unique history without being ruled by it? How
do we see our fixed patterns of relating to the world and then free ourselves from rigidity and habit?

Each life cycle holds an essential sacred task that begs to be embodied in order for us to live in a full-hearted way. How do we surrender to the natural movement from birth to childhood, through puberty into maturity, to be ready for our eventual death?

This yearlong group is a place to transform our wounds into art, our lifelong patterns into perspective. This then frees us to relax into the strength and beauty of our distinctive contribution to this world.

Part 1: Grounding
In the cauldron of becoming who we are, the particular circumstances of our birth, childhood and parenting are the most catalytic ingredients. We will look at where the ground we were given still wobbles today, and where it has taught us to stand in strength.

Part 2: Centering
Moving into puberty, we try on personas like styles of clothes: rejecting, imitating, rebelling, conforming. To the extent that we live this task fully, we start to make our most potent, unique contribution to the world – the cornerstone of our maturity.

Part 3: Expanding
As death appears on the horizon, we learn to use its presence to release all but that which is most precious to us. This reckoning frees us from what has held us here and expands us into what is truly essential.

Click to download flyer (pdf)