Embodied Movement as Awareness

by Stephen Tredrea

This writing is not for the mind. The mind alone will struggle to know it – the body holds the key. Don’t just think it: breathe it in, sound it, move it, feel and come to know as lived and felt experience.

It suits me to conceive that, at its essence, anything can be ‘made’ to be tantric, and not necessarily by the lighting of Candles & Incense. It’s where life becomes an active meditation; where we are both participant and curious observer in our own experience.

A dance of perpetual arising

In this sense ‘tantric’ is, at the very least, a willingness and intention of striving to continuously return to mindful awareness of, and presence with, our embodied experience in any moment, as it is, as fully as we are able. This is how I’ve come to understand what Shakti meant by Totality.

Form, movement and sound is existence expressing itself. Energy in motion. The deep breath of life rising from nothingness into somethingness – then releasing into an eternal, vast, limitless and potent possibility of something else. Formation and densification into matter expressing and impressing itself as being. A dance of perpetual arising.

ANIMALS + PLANTS (2) In our human story, this is our incarnation into embodiment and all that comes with it, which is happening regardless of our participation or conscious awareness.

A Tantric Movement Practice supports being embodied, returning to relaxation, and opening (or surrendering) to the fullness of the experience of having an enlivened human body with all its sensory and emotional capacity. It employs the mind in a collaborative or supportive capacity rather than as an escape from embodiment in the present moment.

Throughout my life I’ve experienced pointers to this.

What child doesn’t know the carefree bliss of spinning around and around, out of control in a dizzy blur of ecstatic sensation? When, as a teenager, I sprained my ankles I came to realise (in its absence) the meditative quality of my running practice – not that I had a word for it then. My experiences of dancing for hours under the anonymous guidance of DJs, once it became more about the dance and less about the dance scene, hinted towards possibilities for superseding my limited idea of self and reaching into the ecstasy of being. Tai chi practice revealed a path towards a quietened mind, returning to presence and opening to the joy of life flowing. Even perfecting the art of brewing coffee with a moka pot became a meditative practice as the quality of enjoyment reflected the quality of my presence while making it.

Shakti’s BlissDance brought this together for me: a guided embodiment practice of participation in the moment.

Life becomes the dancer

An encounter with all that was stuck in my mind, as reflected in my movement (or lack thereof) with the invitation of an active meditation: keep returning to the movement, with a gentle and curious mind. Relaxing into any contractions of discomfort and pain. Allowing expression of form through sound and movement in alignment with whatever is present.

In doing so, creating a spaciousness, ease and flow that reveals the mystery of potential become manifest moment-to-moment.

With awareness, life becomes the dancer leading us infinitely through form and formlessness, density and flow, breath and exhalation, birth and death; distinctions that begin to blur as apparent opposites become integrated into one seamless experience, our awareness able to hold both spirit and matter as being.

 

About Stephen:

A perfectly orchestrated quarter-life ensemble, leading from the turn of the century, introduced Steph to Shakti’s tantric teachings, working with her to become a practitioner and BlissDance facilitator. As an invitation into the fullness of embodiment and present moment awareness, conscious movement forms an essential aspect of his personal journey and offering.

 

Connect with Stephen:

www.danceswithchaos.com

IG: @stephentredrea

 

Stephen will be our BlissDance Support Teacher on our upcoming 12-month BlissDance Training – Level 1: Personal & Practitioner Mastery.

Read more about this offering HERE

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