Hi,
I'm Cara Falsterbaugh and I'm really excited that you're joining me today.
I'm offering a body of work called The Five Rhythms that was created by this dynamic detective of the heart.
Her name was Gabrielle Roth.
She created this body of work in the 1960s.
And now,
In 2020,
It's being offered in most parts of the world.
It is a moving meditation,
A dance-based meditation practice that is designed to promote both wellness and human liberation.
Human liberation because today you're not going to be learning a set choreography.
You're not even going to be following me,
Although I will be guiding you.
You will be dancing your own authentic dance in ways that feel good and right to you.
You will move in ways that feel good and ways that are celebratory,
That give full expression to whatever is true for you in this moment.
And so let's get started.
And we're just going to start with paying attention to our heads and necks.
So you could be shaking your head out,
Up and down,
Moving it around,
Just giving your head weight,
Paying attention to its weight.
And then moving into your shoulders.
And again,
Full dynamic choice.
So you could be moving your shoulders in unison.
You prefer to move them separately,
One and then the other.
Just noticing what's there.
If there's any tension,
Breathing into it.
Perhaps giving it a little tenderness.
Moving now to your elbows and wrists.
Creating a movement that connects the two.
Continuing to take deep,
Long,
Length breaths.
Now just feeling the length of your spine from the base of your skull down through your hips.
To your sit bones.
And just moving your spine,
Kind of exploring what the range of motion of your spine is today.
Not any kind of judgment.
Again,
Giving any tenderness to the body part where it's needed.
Breathing in and out.
Appreciate it.
It's so important to appreciate our bodies.
We give ourselves,
And our bodies in particular,
Since they change in their age,
Without our permission.
So we are sometimes really hard on our bodies.
So super loving to the body.
Super loving now as we move into the hips.
Feeling into the spaciousness of your hips.
Giving them their full permission.
Letting go of any judgment of the hips.
Your knees.
Now your feet.
Toes.
Get a little stretching.
And then we'll start to explore that first rhythm.
The very first of the five rhythms is called flowing.
And it's the idea of creating never-ending movements.
Movements that flow one right into the next.
Movements that are round,
Circular,
Curvaceous,
Fluid.
Turn this up a little bit.
And remember,
You are creating your own authentic movements.
Moving as fast,
As slow as feels right to you.
Relishing in the beauty of your own neck.
Letting you know what I'm doing.
My camera stopped filming five times,
So I'm just making sure that the filming is continuous.
And you are continuing to dance your flow.
Wow.
You're not following me.
And I'm not following you.
Through the wonder of technology,
We're dancing together.
Each of us flowing.
And waves that are right for us.
And this moment is not changing,
But this is my flow in this moment.
A tear-drive falls,
A new beginning is starting.
A change burns into a lonely heart.
The spirit knows the reason.
Change burns.
Change burns.
Change burns into a lonely heart.
I have permission to use all of the music I'm using today.
The first two songs are from an artist named Christian Hauptmann.
This song was called Open.
And this song is called Shame.
Shame.
Beautiful.
Again,
Deep appreciation for yourself,
For your body.
We move now to the second,
Second rhythm.
And that's the rhythm of staccato.
Staccato is specific,
Definite,
Clear beginning,
Clear ending.
Percussive.
Do you mind stop by just feeling the percussion in your hips?
Coming in close.
Moving back.
So notice where you feel like moving.
Right now,
I feel like moving my shoulders.
Maybe you feel like moving your wrists.
Maybe it's your neck.
Could be it's your spine.
Moving.
Moving meditation.
Giving yourself full permission.
Do not care what you look like.
Moving past any self-consciousness.
Letting yourself grapple.
This artist is called DeJet.
From a CD called Middle East Side.
Celebration of Middle Eastern culture on the Lower East Side of New York City.
The track is called Jimmy Hoffa.
Gathering energy and moving to the third rhythm.
The rhythm of unpredictability.
Letting go.
Shaking it all out.
Letting go.
Do not need to worry anymore.
Any thoughts,
Emotions that are ready to be released.
Put them in your sweat.
Give them to the floor.
Shake it out.
Now remember,
It can just be your wrist.
Just shake it out your wrist.
Coming in close.
And if you feel like it,
Coming up close to your laptop or your phone.
Giving me,
Giving yourself a little smile as we shake it out together.
Letting go.
Letting go.
Yeah,
That's right.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Shake it out.
Letting your dance beat a prayer.
Letting go that last little bit.
Moving into the fourth rhythm.
The rhythm of lyrical.
Letting go of letting go.
Letting your dance be a prayer.
Letting all effort out of your dance.
So what's coming to me is I'm really aware of all the unseen help that I have in my life.
And so this,
My prayer,
Is one of gravity,
Thinking.
Yours may be completely different.
Or you may not choose to create a dance of prayer.
Knowing that there's no right way and there's no wrong way.
This is about you.
About you.
About you.
Letting go.
Letting go of letting go.
Closing your eyes if it helps you to move past self consciousness.
Continuing to celebrate yourself,
Your body,
Your dance.
Freeing yourself of constraints.
Freeing yourself of constraints.
Freeing yourself of constraints.
Freeing yourself of constraints.
So now we're going to move into the fifth and final rhythm of the five rhythms.
And it is a rhythm called stillness.
And it's the idea.
The idea of your dance becoming just as much internal as it is external.
It is letting yourself through movement discover that still point within you.
You.
You.
You.
You.
You.
So we can create a beautiful ending.
Taking a deep breath.
You.
