Monday 30 April 2012

Task No. 3 · Greenwich Rhythms

(What's this "12 tasks" all about? Service exchange + gift economy + meeting people + promoting fantastic projects. Read about it here).

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music".

I met Sarah two winters ago. A friend invited me to join her for a full moon winter solstice 5 rhythms session and I said yes. I usually say yes to the unknown, it makes me feel alive. Another group was holding a 30 minute meditation beforehand and my body happily enjoyed tuning into the silence. It was liberating! My body had been craving for all this movement since my arrival to the UK (nearly 7 years ago) and it flowed with the music. Two hours went by and I wasn't even aware. I danced on my own, with a partner and with the whole group at some point. It’s difficult to describe the feeling of freedom; you have to experience it. For some, it’s probably an alternative to gym aerobics I guess, but I felt connected with myself and others while I moved following my inner choreography as there are no steps / forms to stick to. It was like using the language of the body to communicate and surprisingly enough, it seemed we were understanding each other without words.

At some point I started attending her classes in Greenwich every blue moon. Even though I had made her aware of my service exchange life philosophy way before I had even thought about this blog, she contacted me again at the end of Feb with some sort of deadline.

Just in case you don't know I don't like deadlines. From a Spanish speaker point of view it seems like there's a line that comes to an end and dies or worst, you die! Something or someone dies and I don't like to work with the pressure of death on my shoulders. Having said that, I'm also aware things need to get done. A few years ago I used to be part of a the "graphic + web design" world where almost everything needed to be ready for "yesterday". I decided to leave that world behind and tune into life's rhythms. I now invite people to trust the process and so far I've had positive experiences. Sarah accepted this invitation without agreeing in advance what I wanted in return. This wasn't clear until a month ago when I asked my-Self: "how can we take this experiment even further? I know there's the pay it forward option but is there a way in which more could benefit?". The answer didn't take long. I then told Sarah I wanted to introduce some friends to the 5 rhythms practice and she really liked the idea. 


She wrote "I didn’t know what an unusual outcome this would have. Not so much the graphic design on the flier itself, but the flavour of the ‘energy exchange’. I found it refreshing that Calu prefered to follow her heart’s timing than pressurised deadlines, though when we had a ‘natural deadline’ (running out of fliers and needing to get more printed) her heart’s timing certainly clicked in with my own. What a gorgeous flier... I really like it. And then, the ‘energy exchange’ a sort of cross between ‘Pay It Forward’ and a delightful unexpected outcome; that she’ll invite 5-10 of her friends to the dance (5Rhythms in Greenwich: ‘Greeenwich Rhythms’). I’ll aim to weave a ‘Pay It Forward’ theme into the dance that day, may it continue to ripple out in a myriad of delightful and unexpected ways."



We are scheduling it for June and I'll add an update with the outcome.

I've got to leave now as Task No. 4 is waiting for me. It's a chocolate related project. That's all I can say so far. Please pass this on as I still need to manifest 8 tasks before the end of the world.

Thanks for being your wonderful Self and shining as you do. You are perfect as you are.

Much love
Calu


PS. Wikipedia states “5Rhythms is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the late 1970s. It draws from many indigenous and world traditions using tenets of 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. Roth describes the practice as a soul journey, and says that by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential”.

3 comments:

  1. Oooh, this sounds tempting even for an old creaky person....and love the graphic design Calu xx

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  2. Hey beautiful, I hope you are not talking about yourself because the fantastic woman I met was neither old nor creaky. Much love, xxx

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  3. hi luv i tried emailing yu but ut bounced back...off fb fer a while...plz email ejme69@yahoo.com <3

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