Shakti's Sacred Dance Workshops

Shakti is ecstatic to be back on Kaua'i and is offering 2 classes on ancient sacred dance in celebration of her return:

• Kundalini Dance Meditation (4:00 - 5:00 PM Sundays)
• Core Energetics: Isolations at the chakras (5:10 - 6:00 PM Sundays)

Balancing things on your head begins with the feet. Many westerners walk on their heels since our shoes (sneakers, in particular) restrict flexion throughout our feet. I have seen my 3 children (who were usually barefoot) begin life walking from ball to heel. Once they start wearing hard-soled shoes, they soon shift into walking from their heel to the ball of their foot to compensate for the lack of flexion in their feet caused by the hard sole. The interesting thing is that when you walk on the heel of your foot, there are very few muscular structures above the heel able to absorb the shock of the impact of your foot hitting the ground. Thus we are told to buy special shoes with cushiony, bouncy heels in athletics in order to absorb the impact of running, jumping, and otherwise exercising so we don't jar our joints. On the other hand, if the first thing that hits the ground is the ball of the foot, there are scads of little muscles throughout the foot and ankle specifically designed to cushion, absorb, and rotate around impact. To feel this firsthand, try bouncing up and down (lightly) on the balls of your feet. Now try it on your heels. See what I mean?

So how does this relate to balancing things on your head? Well, when you walk (or dance) if the first thing that hits the ground is the ball of your foot, then all the little muscles that are designed to cushion & rotate around the impact can come into play and prevent the k'banging! in your body that would knock whatever's on your head right off.

Let's talk about the big toe for a minute. Your big toe is an incredibly sensitive organ. It is not designed to take weight, but rather is the "eye" of your foot. It is the part of your foot that detects what is on the ground that you don't want to step on lest it hurt your foot. If you tune into your big toe's capability to "see" what's on the ground, you will not need to look down in order to avoid rocks and other prickly objects; Your toe will find them for you. By listening to the toe, then placing the ball down gently and the heel behind it, your foot will have time to react to any unsuspected prickles on the ground and seamlessly flex, rotate, and bridge over / around them. Listen to your feet when balancing things on your head! They will give you all of the information that you need about the terrain on which you are dancing.

The next thing to pay attention to is your head. Obviously, when you are balancing something on your head, you can't tip it from side to side, jerk it back and forth, or bounce it up and down (unless you're very advanced) without the thing that you're balancing sliding off! So your head should stay pretty stationary.

What about your body between your head and feet? How should that move? Well, any way that absorbs the bounce between your feet moving and your head staying still is correct. That is where the dancing comes in and belly dancing, with its isolated and sinuous movements, is absolutely perfect for this.

Before you can dance with something on top of your head, it is a good idea to become skilled at walking with something on top of your head.

What should I balance on my head?

Different objects have different levels of difficulty. In terms of typical bellydance objects, swords are easiest, followed by canes (if they've been rubber banded), then trays and bowls, and finally candelabras. Here are the basic principles involved:

1. The higher the surface friction, the easier it is to balance.
2. The heavier the object is (up to a point), the easier it is to balance
3. The lower its center of gravity, the easier it is to balance.

What are the advantages of balancing things on my head?

Okay, this is not just a flashy party trick. Here are just some of the many benefits of mastering the art of walking (& dancing) smoothly enough to carry something on your head:

1. Decreased impact to your joints
2. Increased endurance. Bouncing your entire body weight up and down against gravity is a lot of work. Carrying it smoothly parallel to gravity is much less work.
3. Better bellydance skills. To dance while balancing something on your head, your isolations must be clean. Sharp moves must be stopped properly through counter-muscular flexion, not by skeletal resistance, which is bad for your joints and translates through your body, disrupting your balanced item.
4. Decreased back stress. Carrying stuff on your shoulders or back (i.e. in a backpack) puts weird torques and pressures on your spine. This is fairly well known, which is why most hiking packs these days have hip straps to transfer much of the weight to the pelvis. A healthy spine is designed to comfortably support a fair amount of vertical weight. Belly dancing greatly strengthens all of the little micro muscles supporting and surrounding the spine, many of which atrophy in bodies that never use them. Consequently, while you should always respect your personal physical limits, you may be surprised at how much vertical weight you can comfortably carry on your head. When I have carried heavy loads long distances, I was shocked to discover that my only soreness occurred in my thighs! Since your thighs hold some of the biggest, strongest muscles in your body, they respond to this treatment by getting even stronger, which is just great.

Have fun!
:)
-Shakti

Other Mideastern & Sacred Dance Class Topics

• Class Goals & Basic Posture
• Physical Health Benefits of Mideastern dance
• Directions of Movement in Sacred Dance: Lesson 1 - Isolations & Basic Geometry
• Sacred Dance and the Chakras: Introduction
• Sacred Dance and the Chakras: Manifesto
• Tribal or Cabaret?
• Shakti's Quick-Start Guide to Henna
• Balancing Things on Your Head
• Energetic Arms