5RHYTHM DANCE AND OUR FEMALE CYCLES
Women are governed by their female body cycles. When we learn to ‘ride the wave’ of our cycles, like dancing the 5Rhythm wave, rather than dance out of rhythm with the wave, we live in alignment with our natural energy flow, optimising each phase to support us and live abundant and healthily full lives.
5Rhythm dance is a movement ‘medicine’ founded by Gabrielle Roth in the 1970’s in New York. The dance is a free, intuitive and healing dance that involves riding a wave of 5 rhythms through music. The Rhythms begin with Flowing, moving into Staccato, reaching the peak of Chaos, then into Lyrical and finally resting in Stillness.
Imagine this wave undulating like the blips on a heart rate monitor, then you have a visual image of what the wave looks like.
Now visualise a point where the wave touches the deepest core of the Earth, when the wave is at its deepest and lowest point. Then visualise a point where it touches the sky, when the wave is at its highest point.
The point where it touches the Earth, is the deepest it can go and I liken that to a certain point during menstruation when we have the opportunity (which we don’t always notice or take), to reach into the real core and essence of who we are and find current truths, often raw, tender truths about our lives.
As the days pass, the wave begins to rise, bringing the energy from that fresh connection and soul immersion, to the surface. That energy and the knowledge that exists within it, slowly begins to emerge as your bleed ends, and what has been ‘retrieved’ from that immersion into the soul of who you are, is brought to light for you to see, to feel, to hear more clearly and to begin to act upon.
The wave continues to rise, as if you’re being birthed again from the womb of the Earth and adjusting your eyes to the brightness of daylight. The energy wave continues to rise through the follicular phase of the cycle, when your body is creating and preparing for the release of eggs which comes at the point of ovulation. This is when the wave touches the sky, it’s reached the highest peak – this is the outward ‘superwoman’ phase of the cycle when often women feel strong and powerful and able to achieve more and be far more sociable. In 5Rhythm dance, this high point is known as Chaos.
The wave moves through ovulation into the luteal phase. The luteal phase can often feel like Chaos and certainly not Lyrical, since for many women, it can be the most challenging phase of the cycle when, whatever has been lying dormant, under the surface during the rest of the month emotionally, energetically and physically, begins to come to the surface.
The luteal phase can feel messy and chaotic and yet, we can choose a lyrical dance with the shadows, the dark matter, the sticky, uncomfortable, delicate, emotions and thoughts that arise, that like to dance erotically in our faces, teasing us, sometimes driving us to volatility and even the edge of sanity.
The decent has begun.
And finally the bleed comes.
And stillness ensues.
In the deep darkness of rest, within the core of our being, we touch the womb of the Earth. We merge as one. Spent, undone, we release and cleanse all that is now used and useless. And we harvest the fruits of the month, the lessons learned, we gather the goods that can sustain us through the hibernation, the winter of menstruation and the stillness of the dance, we throw out the rotting fruit, the bitter seeds less they sprout bitter growth in the new phase.
The wave has reached its ebb and there it rests in stillness for some days as your essence merges with the Earth. As you disintegrate into her loving embrace, allowing your undone self to be. And in the dance of 5Rhythm, there you lie or stand, wild and ravished from riding the wave, sweat soaked and rosy, worked and tested, worn out and relieved and so, so ready for sacred stillness.
Time to breathe deeply.
Until it begins, the rejuvenation, the slow rise of the wave, gently calling us out again into the bright light of the sun. If we have rested in stillness, we have been fed by the good and ripe fruits of our previous harvest and with full-bellied wonder, clasping in our warm hands the knowledge harvested in our deep communion with our souls and Earths wisdom, we can step confidently ‘outward’ again.
We can bring the harvest of wisdom into our own lives and the lives of others, knowing how to shape it; encased in our joyful expression – in the art we create, the blue shoes that we make, the love that we share, the touches that we give, the words that tumble out – there we rise again, to the peak, to the sky, to Chaos, to ovulation.
And so the dance and the wave continues, from Menarche to Menopause, until…a new kind of rhythm begins.
Have you learnt how to begin dancing with the wave of your female cycles for optimum health, energy and emotional-physical-spiritual wellbeing? I offer mentoring sessions to support young women to understand and work with their cyclical nature instead of against it. Find out more about personal mentoring here: Mentorship.
Keep Creating & Connecting,
with love,
Photo credits > headshot image: Valeska von Muhldorfer, © 2015-2018.
All words and content is the copyright of Jane Cormack © 2018.