The Power of Chakradance

I was lead to become a Chakradance Teacher after a series of very synchronistic, “fated” type events and messages entered my life that I couldn’t ignore. I became aware of Chakradance a few years ago when the gorgeous Bec Tapp from Aura Pop started attending my meditation classes. We clicked instantly and became friends. We shared a lot of common interests and loves and Bec would rave about the Chakradance classes that her cousin Natalie Southgate had created and strongly encouraged me to explore them, insisting that I would love them. I bookmarked the idea in my mind, but never got around to investigating further until late last year I had a distant healing session with Michelle McGrath from Sacred Self. In my report Michelle STRONGLY recommended I start dancing and said she saw me training in a dance technique that would combine meditation, music and spirituality, that I would then go on to teach.

I’ll admit when I read Michelle’s suggestion I scoffed a little. Me, a dance teacher? No fricken way.  However, trusting Michelle’s guidance the way I do, I sat with it further and Chakradance came back into my awareness. I went onto the website and discovered the next intake for teacher training was starting in a fortnight. Reading through everything that it covered, chakras, Jungian psychology & archetypes, music, mandalas, dancing, meditation… something started to pull from my heart space. A Soul recognition, it just felt RIGHT.

So I followed my heart’s pull, took a leap and signed up.

From the moment I heard the beautiful music that is used in the process, I knew I had come to the right place. I found the training to be incredible. Chakradance itself, mind-blowing. Finally, I had discovered a transformational healing process that combined my love of music and dancing fused together with chakras, meditation and art. Phenomenal.

I was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the course. All the materials and support offered is first class. I felt completely supported and empowered during the whole process.  The integrity, attention to detail and love that Natalie and her team have  so obviously poured into the training was very evident. The teacher training runs in a similar fashion to the 9 Week “Awakening” Series. Commencing with the “Discovery” week, and then each week after is focusing on a different chakra starting from the Base, moving through to the Crown, before finishing with the “Integration” week. I was matched up with a wonderfully supportive trainer, Sharon who I would have weekly mentoring sessions with to talk about my own experiences of the dance and how things were changing in my own life as a result. At the end of the training you are also given a lot of practical marketing and business tools to get you up and running straight away which I was really impressed with.

So how does Chakradance work?

Guided by music resonating to each of the seven chakras each session you are taken on a journey to connect deeply to your inner space and soul. You move with your eyes closed and the physical body is very much part of the process, as you allow yourself to move in whatever way feels right for you as you listen to the music. As you dance your way through the chakras, different patterns and issues will surface giving you a safe space to process and heal whatever is being held. In using the Jungian principles, the dance journey helps bring light to the unconscious and create a strong connection between your inner and outer worlds.

After the dance you then sit down and draw a mandala to create a visual representation of anything that shifted in the dance. The therapeutic act is in the dance itself, and that’s what I love about it so much. No need to talk, analyse or judge, instead you just surrender and allow your body’s innate wisdom, your chakras and the music to do whatever is needed to bring you into balance and harmony.

After each session you then get to experience the transformative ripple effect that then occurs across all areas your life. And boy. What a ripple it causes.

My Awakening Journey

My journey through the 9 weeks was a mind blowing, transformative adventure. I loved doing each dance and then discovering the result of what had shifted in the days and weeks to follow. It was like being gifted a different key each week and then unlocking a special door, you never quite knew what you would find on the other side!

During the Base chakra week I found myself going on a cleaning spree in my home, booking in for the dentist (the base is connected to your bones and teeth!) and organizing my finances. I became very aware of how lopsided my work/life balance had become and how addicted to social media I was. I fell in love with stillness & nature that week, and recognized the importance of spending regular time outside amongst the grass, trees, water and fresh air.

Sacral week I felt heavy and spent a lot of time in the bath. I felt old emotions stirring I thought I had dealt with intellectually, but my body was still very much holding onto. I dreamt of past lovers and said goodbye to them in my dreams. As I processed all the feelings that lay repressed I started to become very aware of how much my life had been lacking joy and pleasure and set about making some changes. I got a massage. I threw out old clothes and bought new ones. With everything I let go of, I felt new creative potentials and possibilities bubbling.

Throughout the Solar Plexus week I kept finding myself triggered by “selfish” people. I sat with the shadow gift of why I was being triggered and journal wrote around what this was really reflecting. I recognized I hadn’t been honoring my own needs and boundaries. I had been so busy pushing and forcing myself, spending almost all my waking hours working on my business, totally neglecting myself. It was time for me to put myself first. I needed to be selfish. The profound shift of perception was a tipping point, my vitality started to increase again and my self-worth went through a quantum leap. I felt powerful and courageous, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t afraid of the power I had access too, I didn’t feel like I needed to hold myself back in order to not threaten others. I felt liberated, free to be me. My Inner Warrior became conscious, awake and alive.

CHAKRADANCE SYDNEY by Natalie Southgate
SEPT 2002
(C) TESS PENI

The Heart Dance took me completely by surprise and gave me the biggest release of the journey. The music for the heart chakra unlocked a deep reservoir of grief I had been holding on for a very long time. I cried the whole dance. I barely moved my body, instead just swayed from side to side as tears streamed down my face. I cried for people I have lost in this lifetime that I so desperately missed. I cried for old pets. I grieved for ex boyfriend’s and old friends. I grieved for my childhood, my teenage years and my twenties. I witnessed images of ancient faces flashing before my eyes, of souls I recognized from what could only be described as past lifetimes. I sobbed and howled. I strongly experienced the love and appreciation I feel for everyone in my life and every experience I have had. Even though I danced alone in my bedroom I felt so energetically held and supported by the music and the love from my heart. I was so vulnerable, so raw, yet felt so loved and connected. It was incredible.

I felt like I dropped a dress size of physical weight the week I released the grief. My intuition and psychic senses started to expand and intensify in a way I had never experienced before. I was exhausted, sensitive and raw but felt so, so light.

With my heart wide open I moved into throat week with a curiosity and openness. During the dance you chant the mantra “om” throughout and from the moment I commenced the dance my mind’s eye became full of rich visuals. I found myself imagining walking into a circle of people and as I looked at the faces I recognized the souls from heart week that I had grieved. My Soul Family. My ancestors. They all smiled at me. Beamed. It felt like an amazing energetic hug. The grief and heaviness now gone from my heart meant I was able to connect and communicate with their souls so much easier (and I still can on a regular basis). We laughed. The illusion of space and time dissolved and we all re-connected. I felt their love and support and recognised they had never left me in truth. Just changed forms.

Half way through the dance their faces moved away and my attention was drawn further inward. I was surprised as a wave of anxiety flooded my body and I witnessed an old memory from primary school surface. It was moment of humiliation and embarrassment, of being rejected by a group of friends for no real reason other than them deciding they didn’t “want to be friends with me”. I hadn’t done anything – it was just silly school yard politics, but my younger self had been traumatized by that incident and my body had kept the memory alive energetically. I recognized it was from that moment in time where I started to hold myself back, I had created a belief about “not being enough” and had a fear of being seen and heard from that point. The dance helped my throat release the old fear and old feelings of rejection and abandonment. As I sang through the release I found my vocal register open and I was able to reach much higher notes than my usual ability. Amazing. My true voice was finally free.

By Third Eye week I was on fire. Suddenly I had the focus, motivation, clarity and direction to move forward on many areas and projects in my life that had been stilted. I got stuck into a major redevelopment of my website, I re-wrote my client offerings, I got new press shots taken, I finished a meditation album. My words and voice flowed, no longer afraid of being exposed. My dreams became a lot more intense and I became a lot better at recognizing their messages. I received very specific visions of my soul’s purpose of this lifetime. That I am here to be a Leader, a Teacher, a Heart-Opener and to lead people back to their soul’s truth. That week opportunities, rewards and recognition found me. Doors started opening everywhere; as a result of all the doors I had unlocked and opened within.

I loved the dance of the Third Eye. For much of the journey I just stood and swayed as I visualized myself on the back of a white horse running on the open desert. I then merged and became the horse itself. Free. Liberated. Wild. Powerful.

Crown week was magical. The dance itself blissful, I felt waves of ecstasy ripple through my whole body and for the week following I basically felt “high” on life the entire time. I felt so much love for everyone and everything in my life and was able to perceive the perfection and balance in every facet of life.

By the time Integration Week rolled around I actually felt a little bit sad that such a magical experience was coming to a close. Yet, having the Integration week allowed me to really recognize how MUCH had shifted and changed over the 9 weeks. I had totally transformed. So many layers had been shed and I was like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. The journey gave me such a deeper and profound experience of life, the universe and myself. I had become free. Liberated. Empowered and excited to be alive.

Amazing. Game Changing. Life Altering. 

Chakradance is now not something that I do, it is part of who I am. I feel so blessed to have discovered it and I am now delighted to be able to facilitate and guide others through this transformative journey.

There are so many techniques and healing methods out there that tend to dissociate from the physical, and ignore the physical body. Chakradance is pure soul EMBODIMENT. I truly believe that enlightenment won’t come from disconnecting from the body; instead it will come from bringing light, your spirit & soul, INTO THE PHYSICAL. Chakradance creates the sacred space for this to happen. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Updated Note : Since writing this blog a number of years ago I am now no longer teaching Chakradance. I adore the practice but now focusing on the other offerings in my work. I still totally advocate Chakradance and encourage you to try a class if feeling drawn. 

Do you feel drawn?

There are Chakradance facilitators worldwide, to look up a local class and find a teacher near you on the official website here.

If you would like to try Chakradance in the comfort of your own home there are wonderful guided albums and also a DVD that you can purchase from the Chakradance site.