Summer Solstice Dance Ritual
You are warmly invited to join us for a captivating in-person gathering as we embrace and imbibe the radiant energies of the Summer Solstice, one of the power gates of the ancient Wheel of the Year.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are expanding into the brightening Summer Season. The Summer Solstice heralds the annual zenith of the Sun. We welcome the longest day of the year which holds the maximum peak of solar light that began to grow in luminosity after the Winter Solstice. This sacred solar festival marks the mid-summer threshold and celebrates the powerful presence of the masculine principle in harmony with nature.
We will join together in sacred space for an opportunity to celebrate our lives and give thanks for all the blessings that we have received so far. We will send a collective healing prayer and join our minds and hearts together to imagine a positive future outcome for all living beings.
Coming together in community to celebrate the auspicious solar and lunar cycles in the wheel of the years helps us create better coherence and connections which allow us to feel stronger and more confident about our lives and what we are doing here.
"Each time we move, we share information about who we are, where we have been and where we are going, like the body's version of accent or tone of voice. Each gesture, flex, slide or shape we make in response to music contains communication and history."
Emma Warren
When humans move to music together they perceive themselves as part of a larger community that allows them to experience joy - the distinction between self and other becomes blurred.
Over the last ten years, research into the health benefits of dancing have exploded..
THERE ARE SO MANY BENEFITS -
INCLUDING BUILDING GREATER STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY, CO-ORDINATION AND BALANCE AND ALSO HAVE AN EMOTIONAL IMPACT BOOSTING BOTH HAPPINESS AND RESILIENCE
DANCING IMPROVES OUR COGNITION - ENHANCES MEMORY, ORIENTATION AND CONCENTRATION
AS HUMANS START SYNCHRONISING TO RHYTHM TOGETHER OUR BRAINS RELEASE A COCKTAIL OF HAPPY CHEMICALS - OXYTOCIN, SEROTONIN, DOPAMINE AND MORE
WE FEEL MORE AWAKE AWARE ALIVE AND RESOURCEFUL - MORE ABLE TO PUSH THROUGH FEAR AS WELL AS TOLERATE PAIN MORE EASILY
You are invited into an exploration of authentic and creative expression through your body with music and sound. We will be creating an adult playground for transformation and healing through gentle stretching, breath work, voice activation, free dance and meditation.
Erika will be facilitating a slow, full body warm-up to release deep-seated tension and help bring you into mindful presence. She will guide a breathing journey to help peel away the layers of conditioning and identifications with the ego that block us from expressing our true nature and real selves.
We will be co-creating a safe and sacred space so we can move freely. You will be encouraged to listen to the wisdom and desire of your body as you feel into the rhythms of the music to allow yourself to be danced - or not. You are also welcome to rest and relax as much as you need and follow the guidance of your intuition.
We will close the practice with yoga nidra, a lying down meditation, to sow new seeds of intention and integration.
Erika has been teaching yoga and facilitating dance journeys for over twenty five years. She grew up dancing in discos and nightclubs and graduated to raves, five rhythms and full moon parties in exotic locations in her twenties. She has worked as a professional dancer and loves to share her passion for dance as often as she can. The liberation from material bondage to spiritual bliss is something that can be diligently cultivated through practice. From that place we connect to an unlimited source of creativity.