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"Moving in novel ways increases neuroplasticity and makes your brain more adaptable." Interview with Amber Richard Bauer, physical therapist at PT Mindfully, about how "dance is a valid way to heal.."
Listen to this interview with Donna Carroll of how we can tap into our own body's wisdom through dance. Interviewed by Maite of Transformational Expo.
Going to ALIXIR ecstatic dance requires courage. Every time. We show up, yet we have no clue who will be there, what the music will be like, or what will emerge. We might dance solo, or with another.
The Monday night Mountain View ecstatic dance was winding down. I sat at the altar and looked at the tarot cards that had been chosen by other dancers and lay face up on the black cloth.
"I think there’s a state of dancing, like there’s a state of sleeping, or a state of shivering. Some people have a shyness about entering that state, but everybody does it sometime...
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In order to make space for something new, when we’re ready we need to say goodbye to the old. Rituals help make sense of loss and care for the dangling threads so we can move on.
For Maya Light, DJing is deeply somatic. She holds the dance floor’s nervous system energy and uses her intuition to create a journey where she’s simultaneously responding to and leading the dancers.
The song was all wrong. It felt like a brillo pad on my flesh. I wanted to get the hell out of the room. I wanted to run away from the awful noise coming out of the speakers.
We’ve changed the name Ecstatic Dance International to ALIXIR DANCE. We’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and planning during the pandemic, and are stoked to be relaunching.
I remember the first time I went to the Wednesday night ecstatic dance on the Big Island of Hawaii as if it were yesterday, though it happened 15 years ago. Do you remember your first time?
The cost is the attention that’s directed toward an outer source, not an inner one. These costs might seem trivial, but for a deeper experience of yourself and of the dance, they matter.
Entrainment is not entertainment. Entertainment is an outward energy where you’re watching or listening to something outside yourself (like watching TV or passively listening to music).
Have you ever felt disconnected from your body? Here’s a quick and easy way to stay grounded and connected to your body. It’s also a great way to prepare for dance.
The power of nonverbal communication, how email sucks and why our body language affects our ability to truly commune with our self and another. Only 7% of communication is conveyed through words.
“Set a goal, and in small, consistent steps, work to reach it. Get support from your peers when you start flagging. Repeat. You will change.” -Seth Godin
When we allow ourselves to communicate without words, a part of us deeper than the personality shows up. Without words, we surpass the normal societal cues and go directly to a soul conversation.
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People who have never gone to ecstatic dance ALIXIR DANCE often tell me they’d like to try it, but they’re nervous to dance in front of others. I tell them to take a leap of faith and go.
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According to the book Women Don’t Ask, research reveals men are four times more likely to ask for higher pay than are women with the same qualifications.
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As a global dance community, we teach and study inclusion, accepting diversity and others’ points of view. We learn and adapt as we grow.
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The benefits of having bare feet articulating on the wood floor are many: energetic grounding; increased foot intelligence; subtle body awareness through the feet; strengthening of feet, toes, and...
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Dancer Favorite: Recovery Smoothie. Michelle Carmen Rossi of Rhythmic Seed Dancing Cuisine loves to whip up this superfood smoothie to refuel after a long dance session. Try it!
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What do you eat after dance to refuel? I asked a friend of mine, Britt Barrett of Daily Ayurveda, an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, Writer, and Speaker.
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Let this be a call to all the event producers that the 51% of the population who are women on this planet need to be represented fairly on stages, and it’s our responsibility to begin closing the...
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Here are seven ways to manage the shift that you might find helpful as you re-enter the new, changed world in your new, changed form.
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When we dance and listen to music, we strengthen our bodies, our mental states, and our spirits. Dance and music should be standard prescriptions in the efforts to keep us safe, and even better...
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When learning anything new, there comes a time when you have to go from learning to putting that learning into practice in the real world. You will never be ready for this. All your ducks will never
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Our dance floors can be a steady presence in life when things don't always feel so steady. Spaces like these are as essential to wellbeing as food and water. Our souls are deeply nourished when they
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Early in the morning, I sit in a corner of the dark dance floor next to a pile of pillows. I’m overcome with tears of recognition. This is home—dance, transformation, an altar, and a smooth, worn wood
