Sacred Healing Dance

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Sacred Dance Guild — Leave a comment

by Tricia mary Lee

Welcome to this Sacred Space

Thank you for joining me as together we enter the Sacred Ground between us and thank you for taking this time to explore the healing power of our most precious gift of Sacred Dance.

**Tricia mary Lee** Photo : Manjimup WA by John Lee

I dance on the threshold of an ancient culture of Indigenous wisdom here in Australia, where for 60,000 years the traditional custodians have used dance as the Sacred language of healing and celebration, of ritual, myth, ceremony and spiritual oneness. Through their bare feet, they can sense their connectedness with the Sacred Earth and can communicate with her in rhythm and harmony. Through their whole bodies, they feel the life force and their gift from the Dreamtime.

I honour these people and give thanks for all I have been blessed to learn in my own journey through Sacred Dance upon this beautiful earth.

If I may request, then I would like you to simply take off your shoes, wriggle your toes, stand up (or if unable, then stay seated or even laying down) and feel the weight and balance of yourself and your feet upon the Sacred Earth. Play with stretching and if you can, rising onto your toes and pounding back onto your heels, connect with the life force which flows within you like the energy up a beautiful tree. Raise your arms as branches and feel the air around you, the sun the moon and the stars above you……. Pause ….. sense, smell, listen, taste and gently give thanks as you sweep your arms down to the earth and back to your heart.

Connecting with the Great Blessing you have in this your Sacred Dancing Body

Create a gesture, or movement sequence, of gratitude for your gift of Life.

“ Here, Now, Me, Thank you”

**Tricia mary Lee** Photo : Uluru, Central Australia by John Lee

My Personal Journey with Sacred Healing Dance

My work as a natural therapist/ practitioner/ teacher for the last thirty years has centered around natural health and healing, from Reflexology to Reiki and massage, from Tai Chi and Qigong to Sacred and Therapeutic Dance, from joyful singing to performance and visual arts.

Sadly, however, in spite of all this experience, 12 years ago when I was dancing with a group of Oriental dancers, I found myself with a frozen shoulder and crippled with pain.

I truly feared I would never dance again…. the classic “wounded healer”.

I was desolate and of course sought medical advice.

Finally I was diagnosed with an “incurable condition” which I was told would need a permanent chemical medication.

Gasp ? What? Shock horror!! Is that the only way?

I felt something powerful inside me rise and resist, so I refused this prescription and I left the surgery with the scorn of the consultant hot on my heels!!!

I passionately believe in the Sacred Body and its ability to restore itself, so now I simply had to be my own witness and my own healer.

Turning within to discover the causes of my pain and thereby the deeper “soulutions”, became my raison d’être.

Sacred Healing Dance became my pathway as I combined my physicality and wisdom, my love of dance and healing with my sense of mystery and spirituality and found a way to release and make peace with the grief and pain I found deep within from what was essentially my ‘Dark night of the Soul’.

Fast forward to 2022 and yes …. I recovered my “wholeness”, my strength, my ‘joie de vivre’, I learnt some vital lessons about myself and the world in which I am living and so each day I rise to dance the Sacred with even more passion and gratitude than ever before. I would wish the same for you.

The Blessings in our Sacred Medicine Dance

We can all recognize the cultural, physical and emotional health benefits of dance and movement because more recently there has been a whole range of scientific evidence from studies, research and academic documentation.

As a natural, creative and enjoyable form of “medicine” however, how would you begin to describe, identify, or begin to quantify, the added bonus of our ingredient of “Sacred” into this Medicine Dance mix?

Surely this is truly our secret in the Sacred Dance Guild (SDG), for it weaves us together beyond specific religious beliefs, beyond physiology and anatomy, across history, culture and dance forms, beyond individual issues and age related evolutions, across planetary time and space…… some might call it magic.

In my experience when we add ‘Sacred’ to the mix, we are talking of a most beautiful energy which we can sense within, which moves us and whispers to us, which comforts us and cheers us, motivates and inspires us….. in the unseen mystery we connect and receive all we need in the spirit of Love. It is immeasurable, powerful, beautiful and elusive.

Some years ago whilst dancing with the local Spiritualist Church, I choreographed a veil dance for them for Christmas to a beautiful song about Angels.

This proved to be a perfect revelation for me because as you may know the Spiritualist Churches gather the healers and ones with “Psychic gifts” of Clairvoyance [seeing Spirit], Clairaudience [hearing Spirit], Clairsentience[feeling Spirit], Clairaromance [smelling the fragrance of Spirit].

Well the response from these, our witnesses, to the Dance was overwhelming!!

Some described seeing a beautiful colourful vortex of energy arising from within our circle. Others reported feeling spontaneous beauty descending into hearts. Tears releasing and love flowing, a spontaneous sense of Oneness with the Great Mystery wrapped itself around us all.

If ever I needed evidence of the power of “Sacred Dance” then it was given to me in abundance. I can certainly recommend dancing with healers and psychics if you are seeking proof!! xx

“Think of your body as an instrument.

Movement has a harmonic and wishes to create a Symphony for your Life

Consider the pitch, the rhythm, the melody, the rests ….

Surrender the whole of yourself for healing to the Song of your Soul”

Tricia mary Lee

Some Reflections for you

How do I sense the presence of the Divine in my dance?

How do I invite the healing power of Great Love?

What does my Sacred Dance Body need today ?

How do I initiate my personal prayer for healing?

Does my dance suggest a specific ritual or form?

Can I surrender myself to receive the source of movement from within?

Your Way of Sacred Healing Dance

If you would like to begin to explore this for yourself then I suggest the first thing to do is to ask for healing and to offer your intention in your body prayer. Then the last thing is to simply say ‘Thank You’ and to honour the Sacred Healing Energy.

These two courtesies to me are like vital bookends which support you and hold the space and time as Sacred, no matter where or how you are.

Next set aside a time when you will not be disturbed as Sacred work is Secret work and needs to be held in total trust and confidence.

You may wish to create a focus within your Sacred Dancing Space, to one side or raised and central with candle, incense, flowers, etc.

You may have an outdoor space which you love and where you will be safe to dance in privacy. Nature provides some beautiful temples for us, so allow some flexibility and stay open to surprise opportunities to dance in open air beauty.

Safety first : Do not dance with a veil near candles

Photo : Meelup Beach, W.A., by Kate Russell

Revealing the Layers

Let’s start really gently with you and your personal “wholeness” in Heart, Mind, Body, Soul …. along maybe with your wider feelings and connection to Life and the Universe.

So …how are you traveling today ?

What is being held within that might be bubbling up to the surface for release ?

This alone is a huge reflection especially after the last two years of COVID !!!

Many issues of grief, frustration and anger have raised their heads for us all.

You may find movements rising, pictures, words or songs flowing as the Soul has an imaginal language of its own. So collect your Journal now, along with a pen and even some coloured pastels, crayons or pens and as you begin to concentrate then listen truthfully and commit them quickly to paper.

This is not meant to be a Mona Lisa masterpiece but a quick symbolic sketch, a rough map if you like, for now is your confidential time to open and reveal to yourself, the truth of what’s in your heart, mind, body and soul, to maybe chart your dance over many years, to revisit perhaps a time or space that is still waiting for healing through love, forgiveness, reconciliation.

If you wish, maybe you can take time to further reflect and allow the answers to arise and manifest through expressive movement as you contemplate your inner/outer landscapes.

Reflections:

How am I truly feeling today?

Do I feel a greater need for “wholeness’ in my body, in my Life ?

What is troubling me and where ?

What situation do I wish to bring for healing?

Can I locate the “root”, for all things are connected to the Oneness ?

How is my Life/ Love balance feeling ?

If you like, you can create a visual map for this is your unique Soul journey. This becomes your deep quest to dance with the healing power of the Mystery, the Source of Great Love, your own higher power (or use whatever name that feels comfortable to you).

“ Dance is the hidden language of the Soul “, Martha Graham

The Cycle of Wholeness

“Emotions affect Posture,

Posture impacts Structure,

Structure governs Function,

Function determines the Flow of Energy

Energy initiates Change and Growth”

Tricia mary Lee

Fundamentals : Just a suggestion ……

We enter in stillness

We begin with the Breath of Being Alive,

We connect with the balance of the Sacred body,

We honour the Earth and the Sky,

We remember our connections with the elements all around us,

We turn to the four directions and back to Center

We weave in Sacred symbols and Geometry

We stretch from the past to the future

We listen to the Song of our Soul

We dance, we dive, we open, we discover

We give, we share, we learn,

We believe in beauty

We embody Love, Peace, Harmony, Grace

For we are truly Blessed

Global Water Dances 2019 at Geographe Bay, Busselton W.A By Julie

Personal / Community / Global Medicine Dancing

I believe that your personal Sacred Healing Dance and my Sacred Healing Dance together combine in the greater energy field when we share our Sacred Intentions .

From there they ripple out energetically into our Community Healing Dance to benefit our loved ones, our friends and community.

Then the energy dances into the great beyond to join a greater Global Sacred Intention of Healing for the Planet and all her people.

I believe that we are currently in a time of birthing and healing for the Sacred Feminine energies, the Yin, the Great Mother return. So for each of us who dances personally to release guilt, shame, fear, grief and other repressed or congested emotions, we are creating a wave which will help to wash the World with healing and create planetary re-balancing.

That we have been given dance is a Sacred Birthright, that we use it for healing is a Sacred Choice, that we recognize ourselves as instruments for the Sacred Divine is our absolute Blessing.

“ The Process of healing rests within the Dance,

an ancient practice with wonderful possibilities for us today”

Anna Halprin : Moving Towards Life