What is 5 Rhythms?
If you’ve been following me for a bit, you know I love to dance, a lot! But over the last few years dancing hasn’t been my top priority because of this thing called covid! Clubbing used to be a past time, an event, a way to let go, but with the clubs closed, this hasn’t been possible anymore. I thought to myself, why do I only dance in a club? This is ridiculous! Why don’t I start dancing at home and I’m not talking about dance party with friends, which is amazing by the way, but me dancing on my own?
So I thought to myself ok I can put on some music and dance but what if there was a class I could go too that people just gathered and danced? So I started doing some research. I found Ecstatic Dance and 5 Rhythms dance. Both very similar but 5 Rhythms has a system to it which It’s a form of dance that helps people get out of their head and into their bodies. I don’t know about you, but I am in my head constantly and this can be so toxic for me. My ego thinks it’s in charge and runs rapid through my mind telling me I am unfit for this world. So I decided to take back control over my ego. And check into this 5 rhythms thing.
5 Rhythms was started back in the 1970’s by dancer and psychologist, Gabrielle Roth. She realised the power of dance and how it can help us reconnect with our bodies, as so many of us have lost this vital connection. This form of dance draws from indigenous and world traditions combing shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy. It also draws from Gestalt therapy, the human potential movement and transpersonal psychology. Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms.
This dance form creates a wave with 5 different rhythms (in order here): Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness. The entire dance takes about an hour but can be longer depending on how long you decide to spend in each rhymn. Each rhythm takes our body and mind to different stages of release.
In a class you will experience flowing first which is slower, calm music to get your body warmed up and you into your body and out of your head, then the music will speed up a bit to take you to the next rhythm Staccato, which can be a bit more dancey and your body starts to move a bit more, than the next rhythm Chaos, this is where you completely let go and allow your body to go crazy. You let your body do it’s thing. Then like a wave, once we have peaked, we start to transition into the slowing down of our body, this rhythm is called lyrical, where we slowly start to calm our bodies. And lastly, Stillness. Stillness is where we do exactly that, come to a point of completely stillness, be still in the moment and let everything go. I personally have experienced tears during this time, a complete emotional release. It’s truly beautiful.
Because of covid, I’ve unfortunately not carried on with the physical 5 rhythms course I was attending, which was amazing. People from all walks of life and ages came together to dance this amazing wave. I didn’t want to stop dancing so my friend Judith and I started our own dance evening on Tuesday nights from 8pm-9pm where we follow the 5 rhythms wave and dance for an hour via zoom. If you would like to join us, let me know, email me here or message me through instagram. It’s a sacred and safe space where we can come together in the comfort of our own homes and dance to a very good playlist, I may add. Check out our weekly playlist here.
I encourage you to find an ecstatic dance class (which is basically the same kind of dance, but can’t call itself 5 rhythms because there is a rigid process to go through to be certified as a proper 5 rhythms class and reacher), a 5 rhythms course or form a group yourself with friends. It’s therapy in the form of dance and it allows you to connect with your body.