Occasionally, when I ask a client to ask a part of her body to speak, she'll either look at me as if I'm bonkers, fidget uncomfortably or maybe protest, before even having tried it, that she doesn't know what I'm talking about. Or she'll try it and then apologise for the fact, that she can't "hear" anything.
I get it.
When I took my Nia White Belt training in January 2001 (6 weeks pregnant with my son, Liam) and the material included listening to the "voice" of body parts on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level, I felt waaaay out of my depth.
When I was asked to dialogue with my knee, I didn't hear a bloody thing, Or else, I thought I did, but then immediately dismissed the voice as a mind-game.
Many of my fellow trainees were already well up on this holistic approach to embodiment. It was totally new to me.
And yet the beauty, power and depth of this expressive, integrative dance-movement form had captured my heart, so I dove in and went for it, progressing rapidly through the teaching ranks, taking further levels of intensive training, teaching 6 classes a week and developing an adapted undergraduate level course for the local University.
Integrating as it did, the science of western physiology and anatomy with eastern concepts of energy cultivation and mindful movement, as well as the exhilarating synthesis of expressive dance forms, yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique and the martial arts, I learned so very much about conscious embodiment, music and space-holding.
On my return to the UK in 2006, I furthered my awareness through training in holistic, deep tissue and Thai Yoga massage, Kundalini Yoga & Meditation, as well as Sexual Awakening for Women and Tantra.
Over the course of the next 14 years, I witnessed on a deeper level still, the profound inter-connectedness between the body and all other parts of a human being and the need for this to be acknowledged, addressed and experienced for lasting healing and empowerment to occur.
I saw how conscious relating and rapturous love-making are simply not possible for those disconnected from their bodies and split off into their ego mind.
For women, who have been the main focus of my work, this expanded further still into an awareness both of the particular wounding and armouring, as well as the particular wisdom inherent in her body and Sacred Yoni.
From feeling confronted by the invitation to dialogue with my body, sitting in circle with women channeling Womb-Sourced Wisdom became my new normal. Just as much as the gift of somatic presence-ing, as opposed to endless analytical dialogue, presented itself as a far more effective healing modality.
YES, your Yoni speaks. Every part of you does. And there's nothing affected or hocus pocus about it.
It's simply that the society we live in has privileged mind over body for so long that there's been a forgetting and a splitting so prevalent we think it's normal. And, imho, it's a forgetting that isn't healthy for us - either individually, collectively or globally.
With my tantra-yoga lenses on, the BODY IS THE FEMININE, whether you're woman or man. And PLANET EARTH IS OUR COLLECTIVE BODY.
Just as aches and illness can beset your physical body as a symptom of particular beliefs, energies and emotion. So, too, can the natural world and its expressions, be regarded as Feminine Energy - or the Goddess - dancing Her dance.
We and the world are being called into balance right now - the Feminine with the Masculine, the body with the mind, energy with consciousness. And this asks us ALL to do the work to come back home to our bodies, inhabit and love her, integrating physical, emotional, spiritual and mental energies as ONE.
For those of us who identify as women, this journey is central to our sexual awakening and authentic empowerment. And that's why, in my Dancing the Goddess practice, EMBODIMENT is the very first pillar we work with, and why in my Awakening Shakti online course we spend a whole month learning to love and fully inhabit our bodies.
Whether you'd like a taste of this or already know it, come celebrate your EMBODIMENT with us at my next Dancing the Goddess workshop on Imbolc - Sunday, February 2nd, 2020, 2-5pm (please arrive by 1.45pm) at the Siobhan Davies Dance Studios.
And if you're called to join my 9-month Awakening Shakti online programme, take a look at the web-page and be in touch.
I do also have some openings now for a few new one-to-one clients. You can book a discovery call with me via my website or message me to set this up.
Yours passionately, Shakti x