Welcome to "disSOLViNG fear with Miss Alissa!"
Episode 39:
Before we get started, please know that I'd love to hear from you on social media! Message me some feedback about the podcast. I'd love to honor your requests for future topics. I'll cover anything in the most authentic, fearless way possible!
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ON THIS EPISODE:
Today I have the honor of interviewing the creator and director of JourneyDance®: Toni Bergins!
Do you need more dance and music in your life? Do you want to hear all about our "issues in the tissues" and how "motion is lotion?"
It's TRUE!
I'm SO excited to talk to Toni because I've taken her JourneyDance® classes at Kripalu Yoga Center on many occasions. They are truly a journey of growth and release every single time.
Learn about upcoming JourneyDance® classes online and at Kripalu Yoga Center, as well as Remedy retreats in Mexico and New York (at Omega Institute)
www.journeydance.com
Her work is magical and I know this interview will help and inspire YOU!
Toni Bergins is on a mission to get people into their bodies, to feel, heal, expand their bandwidth, end perfectionism, stop the “not good enough” crisis, and inspire people to express their authentic uniqueness in a world that needs all our healing now. Toni, MEd, founder and director of JourneyDance®, is an artistic alchemist and passionate catalyst for people to transform their angst into art and their vulnerability into strength. Over the past 25 years, she has helped thousands of people find a new sense of self-esteem, inner wisdom, emotional health, spiritual practice, and total well-being. She leads an international team of over 1000 JourneyDance Facilitators, spreading joy, healing and passion for life. Toni has a popular instructional JourneyDance DVD, a series of online courses, and a private practice in her Embodied Transformations Method. She is a recording artist and one-person show creator with her stories and original music. Her sense of humor and authenticity makes JourneyDance® programs accessible to all.
Below is a list of the musicians we ended up talking about in the interview.
Check out some new music and enjoy!
FaceSoul
Orka
Desiree Dawson
Equanimous
Uutai
Zen That Beat
Beautiful Chorus
cr3ature (beautiful cr3atures)
The Human Experience
There are SO many amazing quotes in this podcast. Here are 2 by Toni:
"Everything is survivable and thrive-able!"
"resilience + joy = empowerment"
Thank you for being HERE at disSOLViNG fear.
FEAR doesn't run the show, YOU do!
Doubt? Let GO to GROW.
Anxiety? disSOLVE & EVOLVE.
Much Love,
Miss Alissa
www.missalissa.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to the dissolving fear podcast, where anxiety and doubt
don't run the show you do. So, let's dissolve some fear up
in here and make room for growth, dissolve and evolve.
I'm your host, Alyssa bringing you tools practices and
inspirational interviews to build your forward momentum.
So that you can make the rest ofyour life, the best of your
(00:29):
life, Life, full of whatever it is that you value and desire.
I've been a resilience coach forover a decade.
And if rapallo yoga teacher for over 20 years, so many of these
episodes focus on nurturing yourself in order to maximize
your potential. Follow this podcast.
You'll love the results. Loving life is what we're all
(00:50):
about here on the podcast and itMiss alexa.com, enjoy the show.
Today, I have the honor of interviewing the Creator and
director of Journey dance, Tony Bergens.
Tony, welcome to the podcast. Oh my God, thank you so much.
(01:11):
This is wonderful. I'm so happy to talk to you
today because I've been doing your journey dance classes for
20 years at proposal yogurt. Yeah.
And I just realized that you've been doing your journey to get
for longer Yeah, so I bet that Ifirst took your class when you
(01:33):
were pretty new at it, but I actually have like an epiphany
in your class and it was awesome.
Mmm-hmm how will you tell me what it was?
Oh yeah. Sure, these are my favorite
stories in the world so it givesmy life meaning and purpose.
Let me tell you, I'll tell you and then you can talk about like
what Journey dance is, okay? So you're all you listeners out
(01:57):
there, quick my epiphany, He waswe're doing this dance and I
just had like this awareness popout of my body like I make it
easy for people to love me. Hmm.
And it was just like this release of the knowledge and so
(02:17):
I was like, wow. I just realised.
What, how I've been acting? And then I also kind of felt it
leave my body. Wow.
Yeah. And what did you replace that
way that you don't mind me asking?
Well, I think that I don't have a let myself fit in to your life
and figure out how I can be lovable attitude, I have more of
(02:40):
a Love Me or Leave me attitude. Mmm, Yeah.
Is what I'm talking about, okay,I got you.
All right, that makes sense. Oh, wow.
That's deep. And I'll tell you like I just
I'm just going to relate to you when I when I dance I have like
an epiphany. Like that's what I do.
I decide that today on this, in this moment in this dance class
(03:01):
in this experience of music and movement and really like almost
like loss of self and yet completely finding self.
I have an epiphany. Every single pretty much every
single class of ever taught because if I'm not in it it's
not the same. I'm not just like leading from
this structured idea of what youshould be feeling.
(03:23):
I'm in the process and I believethat every single human being
Being is going through somethingat all times because we're all
in a constant state of change, right?
So we're in a constant state of change when a constant state of
evolution where most people, hopefully, with any luck are
trying to grow their adding thatto their list of things that
they need to do with their life and growth is the top of their
of their priority list. And and, and they have an
(03:46):
epiphany to sew it together. When there's like, this medicine
is of human connection. All of us together in the room,
something crazy happens. And it's like Jake, it's like
tripping. It's like, it's like it's like
taking plant medicine. It's like doing breathwork.
It's like being in that yoga space when you burst into tears.
(04:07):
It's like that time when you getbroken open that kind of
experience. When you just suddenly realize
that you are Divine or that whatyou said, like I am not going to
just be, you know, this person that says, oh, I'm easy to love
but then I don't get my needs met her at you.
Like you realize things on the dance floor because you're
stepping out of regular sort of Of reality with this music as a
(04:29):
hip as a hypnosis container literally, the music is a
hypnotic container. So like I know you've heard the
word hypnosis Ray, everyone knows what that is but like to
really understand it, it just means to focus your attention so
much on the thing that you are doing that you become hypnotized
in it, right? It's like it's not like I'm like
you know swinging something and telling people you will now
(04:50):
relax, you know it's like it's like we just drop right?
We drop in so deeply to the body.
And to the experience of the senses and then I take people
into the psyche and we unpack things.
I don't know what I did that day.
That you took the class for thatfirst time, but, you know, it's
that moment when today I was teaching today and I unpacked
something. I called it you know, we just
(05:11):
did a little Shadow side moment where there's a pattern or
there's a shadow piece that we really are working on right now
and we want to face it and not run away from it and not make it
bad and not hate on it. Thank it for what it's been
doing and teach it something new.
So it's very deep Stuff that we do sometimes and sometimes it's
different sometimes, it's meeting your inner guide or
(05:32):
going on a different type of Journey.
But you have any questions from that?
I should answer about what the jury has processes.
Because I've gone, I've gone pretty down the rabbit hole
already. Well, you know, back then 20
years ago, when I first took your class, I was 23 and so I
wasn't like, oh, I have to go toJourney dance.
So I can face my anger Apollo, Iwas doing the save a program.
(05:56):
The Service volunteer program because you get yeah, they're
free, you know? And so I'm just bopping right
into the journey dance class because I like to dance.
And then so then unexpectedly, it was like, I felt my
conditioning leaving my body because our conditioning isn't
(06:18):
who we are. You know, if we're conditioned
to feel trapped, we're really free, you know, and I think in
my case, My dad was an addict and so I was conditioned to walk
on eggshells. Be lovable, be the easy child
and I mean I wasn't walking around with the weight of that,
(06:39):
on my shoulders on a daily basis.
You know, I wasn't like going totherapy.
It really wasn't plaguing me at that point, but it was affecting
my behavior. And it was effect or
subconscious thoughts and man, and a relationship therapist.
I was like, whoa, you know what?Hit me out of nowhere.
Yeah, I think the sister I really enjoy what you just said
(07:00):
for a lot of reasons. I think that what we forget,
what most people forget when they're doing like, quote,
healing work, is that first of all, you never know what's going
to come up. It's a fact and sometimes, you
know, our biggest fears are never ever going to happen
because they're not going to surface or they never happened
or all the things that we, you know, we fear.
But the thing that does always happen is in relationship, you
will be triggered into your pattern of the way you were
(07:25):
conditioned, right? So In Intimate Relationships,
you could be great at work and great with friends and great and
public, and great, and all theseAffairs.
But in the deepest relationship that everybody wants, right?
Most people want some kind of human connection, a one-on-one
relationship, whatever. Gender, whatever, sexual
preference. That makes no difference.
You're still going to have the triggers because we are in a
(07:48):
body and that's just the way it is.
So like what I'm practicing all the time and that's why I think
I love what I do is because I'm constantly We practicing it for
my own growth and healing and for everyone in the room that I
really wish like may we all today uncover something that is
going to propel us forward into a new possibility of how he
(08:10):
might behave and act and all things you just said because
like it's the awareness and the Consciousness that when it gets
raised to a point where were like, oh I see that shadow piece
of me, I see that I do that or oh I always say this thing to
myself or this voice is always. Always in my head of like,
you're not good enough for your you're too much or your to your
(08:32):
Dom or whatever. The crap is that you tell
yourself, it just surfaces in this moment that we call
evocative emotion. And I ask people are you willing
to let go of something today? Are you willing, to at least
meet something today? You willing to see something
today that could be like your freedom, you said it perfectly.
It's like, as soon as you see it, it's like Freedom appears
(08:54):
even if you can't get out of it right away and you Off the dance
floor and you're like, wow, I just realized I have to actually
make some changes that's like such a friggin gift.
Yeah. You know what I mean?
It's like yeah, yeah. If anyone plans on checking out
your website Journey dance.com or going to a workshop like
(09:14):
bring a pen and paper, you know,because I'm jumping out of the
dance floor and writing down some epiphanies.
I love that you can do it afterwards.
Write it down but I still remember it to this day, you
know. Well I remember my experience
you know there's something and Ialways say in my in my in my
(09:35):
emails you know one dance can change your life.
Like you just never know what's going to happen and it's so
funny. I want to tell you something, I
was 23 which I am not anymore. And when I went to chromoly for
the first time and I was a live in New York City, I was doing
the thing that like you do, likewhen you're raised, I was raised
in a highly pressurized, must besuccessful.
(09:56):
Kind of Emily. I was on the track to like, you
know, be like you know, whateverlawyer or something, right?
I was going to be at this point I was like I decided to go back
to grad school and I was just you know, I liked my life.
I was teaching, I got some really great jobs in different
schools. I taught in different places in
the city. I had a really great life before
that I had been like, you know apublic relations consultant at
(10:17):
this public relations firm. I was a complete beginner.
I was like a you know labeling slides and stuff but I was like
in that corporate world and I switch to education but either
way I knew I was going someplace.
Elsa I just didn't know where itwas and I went to the dance
floor in order to like I was going I just went to her Paulo.
I literally I swear I'm not kidding.
It was the old days where peoplestill wore white and they wore
(10:37):
sandals and everybody was supposedly celibate, we won't go
into that whole story but you know all the everybody you know
who live there was you know do and it wasn't even open for like
what it is today. It's not like it didn't bring in
guest teachers, you just went tothe classes of the of the people
who live there. So I was like, well, I hate
meditation. Imagine I'm 23, I'm like super
(10:58):
hyper. I work out like crazy.
I'm like I'm like so buff. I went to like Jeff Martin, a
probably isn't even open anymoreJaqueline.
All the plays, all the crazy studios in New York City that
we're really like hip at the time doing, step, aerobics, and
Hip-Hop classes. I was like so obsessed with
dancing, but I went to this place at all, go to the dance
class, for sure. And I burst into tears in this
(11:19):
class and this teacher, this this man named Yuri.
He was this beautiful, man. It was a totally different time.
It was when people used to talk about Out.
Like now we're coming back around to talking about trauma.
Finally, but we sort of people talked about trauma in the early
90s and then it all got pushed under the rug.
And we got all like neat and tidy.
And that we're talking about trauma in a big way.
(11:39):
But the point is back then, you know, he shared some trauma.
I was like, wow, that guy is very open.
Like, I was like, what is happening and I'm on the floor
crying at the end and I'm like, what the hell have I been doing
to myself? Like I am home.
I'm in my body, I call it the tonypop.
All and I was in the corner of this room.
Never in a million years. Did I think that this was going
(12:02):
to be my life? Never in a million years.
You don't understand, I just left going, oh my God, I am
changed and I changed my whole life over the next two years and
I ended up moving out of New York City and I got a sub job at
kripalu and like, oh, the fact that has happened to me, is
still amazes me to my own self. You know that I was that I've
(12:24):
created a life, you know, base Ston this work that then I
developed into my own thing. Yeah.
And that place living bike, rapallo, pretty much kind of, I
have lived in this area of the, the Berkshires biker Paulo for
20 years, had my kids and had like I did some other businesses
as well over the years. But like I've been doing
(12:44):
teaching dance. They're never stopping for 20
except during covid for 27 years.
I know it's crazy, right? Nuts?
People think that, like, I was born and I thought I'm going to
create a dance form and I'm going to be the Global.
But that's not at all how it happens.
It was much more healing of my own pain.
I was bulimic, I was anorexic. I was I was I was successful but
(13:05):
I wasn't happy. I had such negative self as such
a low self-esteem and I love this self-hatred and uh, I was
just like I was one of those people that, like, I put on a
good face but that wasn't who I truly was on the inside.
And now, my inside is my outsideand I feel so much better but
years and years and years of healing have led me to this
place where I am. Now I can really go deep places,
you know, and really I touch places that I never thought I
(13:28):
could touch or bring people to because I've walked that road.
You know, it's like I always saylike you know, you know, I do
what I do because I've walked that road, you know.
Yeah. And that inspires other people
to walk their Road and get out of their habits and patterns.
I'm going to your workshop at crew Paulo in June next.
(13:52):
I so excited to move to heal andthat's kind of what happened.
Get your, when I first discovered Journey dance, 20
years ago, I didn't expect to heal as much as I did.
And I think a lot of it had to do with letting go.
Hmm. Well, I'd love to share with
you. So the move to heal program was
(14:13):
really a, it's a meeting of a few different Journey.
Dance teachers that I've traineda bunch of amazing people in
this lifetime. I mean I really have I've
trained a thousand teachers at this point.
Not everyone is teaching a lot of people do it for their own
personal growth but But there's like 500 people were probably
teaching, you know, on and off. But there's two amazing
facilitators that came to kripalu at have been teaching
(14:35):
there for a number of years and I asked them if they'd like to
collaborate and do a weekend together.
So we're going to be we're goingto have some sound baths with
Antoinette. We're going to have some amazing
creative play with Stephen Hawking's.
Who's this incredible artist? I'll be teaching obviously, will
be doing, will be dancing quite a bit and we're going to do some
Voice works. It's going to be a lot of Of
(14:56):
expression and they'll be down time as well for receiving and
restoring. So it's kind of like, how do we
touch new places in our lives orlet things go?
As you said, and express them inthis like really.
And I'm going to say it supportive and brave, and
courageous space. Because it takes a lot to show
(15:17):
up at these places. Like, I know, I've been to
workshops and I walk in and you're like, what's going to
happen, what's going to happen and I love it.
It's like a mystery, it's like going on an adventure like a
soul Adventure. I think that's what most people
crave. And because of the society that
we live in, we don't always takeAdventures.
We don't always do things. We don't have like Rites of
(15:39):
Passage like, like, you know, like we used to, or maybe other
cultures do and some cultures just don't have those anymore.
And we're learning how to recreate our own Rites of
Passage. So it kind of feels like every
time I step on the dance floor, it's like I'm I'm marking a new
level in my own Shannon. And that's how I feel every
person walks away. Like, okay, I have learned so
(16:00):
much about myself, and I feel inmy body, my knowing in my joy
and my physical being and I try to remind people, you know, this
home, this body is your home, this is all you've got right
now. Like you can think you have
security safety that it all the things.
And, you know what? We have this one home and we
have to learn. How does it work?
How do I look at my trauma? How do I when I get triggered?
(16:23):
How do I say? Okay, I know I'm in the now
moment and that's the Past right?
All my conditioning is the past is not the now moment, but how
do I not future eyes and stay inthis moment?
It's very hard, like I want to just congratulate people for
Being Human because it's freaking hard, it's not easy.
And I just the simple Act of breathwork like grieving in 43
(16:47):
breathing out 43. It brings your mind and body
into the now. So you're not really thinking
about the future. And all of the eternities or the
past, you're thinking about the now and your breath.
And so, I feel like that can be a relief because it brings you
(17:08):
into the present moment. And then, you know, movement, I
think it raises our vibration. And our bodies want to be in a
high vibration. They feel healthy and happy.
The other thing I love is telling stories with my body.
You know, we, you know, we use our mind so much and our
(17:32):
thoughts and our voice and, you know, all the talking and all
the processing that we do outside of our in our lives.
And the body is this incredible.Beautiful way of expressing,
doesn't matter if you're a fancyor if you're don't even know
what you're doing it to me. Every single movement is like,
oh, I'm using my body to tell mystory.
Using my body to feel this moment.
(17:52):
And to me in the moment, like I caught for me, I I wrote a
little bit about how I said embodiment is Enlightenment
because the truth is when we're in our body and we can feel the
feelings and still function, like we are moving toward
Enlightenment, you know. It's not like Enlightenment
means you're never going to havea feeling again, you're not
going to ever feel. No you're going to feel even
(18:13):
more the more we become enlightened the more we become
like Enlightenment is like empathy on steroids you know in
light His like is like when we feel so connected to the people,
the Earth, each other ourselves,and then we see.
And it's sometimes painful, sometimes, compassion, and
(18:34):
tears. And all these things come
because we realize, wow you know, we're not all so nice to
ourselves or each other and I really do think that my mission
is to continually help people become.
I say n dinner violence to end outer violence and I'm working
on that every day. How do I treat myself in the way
(18:54):
that I want to treat every person who I love because like
you said, sometimes would put everyone else above us and then
we put ourselves below and that's not good either.
We have to not put anyone above or below us, right?
We stay right here in that placeof like, Equanimity where I see
you and you see me. And even if we have conflict, we
can work through it. We can feel our way through it.
(19:15):
To me the mind sometimes gets inthe way.
Yeah, we can talk about our issues until we're blue in the
face, but our are in our tissues.
There you go baby. Thank you very much.
(19:47):
Laying. But sometimes we need to
actually move. Yeah, interestingly I'll share
with. You said, the motion is the
lotion. I love that.
So the thing about Journey dance, it's not just like, let
me explain a little bit about it.
So, there's many different typesof many different types of
dance. Many different beautiful,
amazing dance forms. Sure.
You've heard of and journey. Dance is, is not LED with steps
(20:11):
and movement shapes and copying,but it is lead, but it's LED
with images and And movement suggestions and ways of being.
It's like I mean it has it has awhole stage.
I'm not going to go through all the stages right now on this
podcast because I'm sure that will take way too long, but
(20:31):
basically I'll use a few keywords embodiment is key.
So the first thing we do in Journey dance, is we roll around
on the floor. Journey dance is so much about
during its as a whole. I call it the embodiment series
I've developed and worked with and studied all these different
forms of embodiment and The key to everything is to get it every
single part of your body touchedby the floor.
(20:52):
I call it total surface area, dancing every inch of Mi
removing super slow. We're just pressing and feeling
and pouring and connecting and it just brings us into this
present awareness. Then we move into sorry you
know, activating the energy, lift it all up, until we get
into a really fun state where which we call connection, where
(21:12):
we're connecting with the room and the people.
And then the next key element iscalled evocative Ian where we
start doing that thing, I was talking about what we tell our
story to the dance floor. So we're not like we're not
looking at everybody but we're seeing everybody like everyone's
their right? And they're all telling their
story and the music is evocativeand stirring and it brings
things to the surface. So it's not like if I play a sad
(21:34):
song, you're going to cry because the song is sad, you're
going to cry if the song. Resonates with you and you feel
sadness that day, you might feelJoy.
During the song that I play that, I think is sad.
And you think it's joyful because you're not feeling sad.
Really amazing, what music can do but there are certain pieces
of music that will you know say will sort of bring you to
embrace a certain feeling. So we play with the emotional
(21:57):
bandwidth little bit. We do a little bit of releasing
of grief because where else do you get to release grief and
you're enjoying your daily day? We do a little bit of
frustration and anger and release.
We use we use the Alchemy process.
We call it with you shaking and we do bouncing and pulsing and
we create these visualizations where we create a sacred
container to burn or release, whatever needs To be released,
(22:18):
that's the Alchemy section and then after that, we go into sort
of this elevated celebration andthen into the heart.
So when we start talking to our heart, that's when things get
real. Like you've gone through this
process, you're dancing the journey dance and you're in your
heart now and there's a moment to be like, okay, where am I,
what's happening in my heart? What do I need to hear?
(22:39):
What I need to feel? What do I need to remember?
Because our heart is not most people, I'm just going to be
honest, this is not an insult toanyone but most people don't.
Be their daily day with their heart, they lead it with their
mind because they have things todo.
They've got to get to the store.They got to go to the post
office. I got to write their emails.
I got to do The, To Do List, whatever it is, and we're in our
mind, we don't think about our heart.
We don't let our heart lead the day more and more.
(23:03):
We can if we awaken to it and say, because the heart is really
smart, the heart knows, actuallywhat we need, sometimes, even
more than our mind. I mean, you, of course, more
than our mind. So, to get into this
conversation with the heart is just to assist to bring sort of
that Spirit Alive, or we can say, oh, you know what?
I have parts of me that I have never spoken to before parts of
me, that want to emerge, you know, we can transform, we can
(23:23):
change, we have to just be willing to go through that.
Sticky icky, part of like letting go and resistance to
change and it's not easy for most of us.
It is not easy. We have to evolve and it takes a
little bit of rubbing like shedding a skin.
Kind of thing. You have to get out of your head
and into your body and I feel like there it isn't and then
music helps you get there and then get into your heart to be
(23:48):
You know, it takes time and so you obviously and you're
embracing that time that you have to get your nervous system
focused on your body. Yeah.
The breath and and the extensionof ourselves.
Like, there's an interesting thing that happens.
I feel in the dance and in many,in many dance forms of this kind
(24:10):
where there's like a transpersonal moment.
We're like, now, I'm in my heartand then I go to this next place
and the last place we take people.
Before relaxation is prayer. I call it prayer.
You know, I'm Jewish. So prayer to me, means what it
means to me. Like, it would mean something to
every other person with any other religious background, but
I still decide that I like this word prayer because I feel that
(24:31):
my body is praying. My body is today, I talked about
following the energy, not telling yourself what to do,
just feeling your body. You're in right now.
Whoever's listening, you just close your eyes for a moment.
Bring your hands to your heart. Just rub your heart and just
feel the That is coming from your hand, from your body.
It's right there, easy to access.
(24:51):
And then just let your hand moveaway and then face your hand to
the other hand. And start to see, oh, there's
energy between my two hands. I am energy.
You are energy. We are having this conversation
to energies or having a conversation.
We're literally talking over. The airwaves.
We are definitely energies afteryour conversation.
I know it's so nice. It's so so so then you take your
(25:12):
hands and you let them open up over your head and then you
bring them through the space, move them around and all of a
sudden you're doing what I call prayer dancing.
You're just in this energy moment in this present moment
and that's where we say. Thank you, thank you for my life
and you for my existence, I thank myself.
Thank you body. I love you, I am the prayer.
My thoughts are the prayer. I thank my thoughts.
(25:34):
My body is the prayer. I thank my body.
My heart is the prayer, my tearsor the /.
Sometimes I just cry. That's one of my favorite
things. That happens.
People on the dance floor. They cry.
They let go. My laughter is my is my you know
my Where are all these things are the prayer.
Nothing is wrong with you, right?
You are you are you don't need to be fixed.
Just need to be held to be embraced.
(25:57):
So we embrace our own Spirit self, and sometimes we do it
with other people. And it's so deep and magical to
see beyond the personality. To see this transpersonal moment
where I see you as this energy, that is interacting with my
energy, you know? And then we go into the floor.
So I get very passionate about this work.
(26:18):
And not for the peak experience of it.
You know, I've been reading a lot about Peak experience and
the thing that I want to share is that, yes I think there is
Peak experience in Journey that just like in yoga like when you
when you're doing, if you're doing, like a vigorous Vinyasa
or you're doing a deep relaxation or you're doing
breathwork, there's like this peak experience that happen.
Same thing with dance when you reach that ecstatic point and
(26:40):
there's nothing wrong with goingfor Peak experience but it's the
practice of awareness that is going to change.
Change your daily life, not justthe peak experience which you
will go for because it is fo fun.
Nothing is wrong with Peak experience.
But that's when you need to use the P experience for
manifestation when you're feeling so good and you get to a
(27:01):
gratitude State, you're like oh my God, I'm alive, I am alive.
My heart is beating I'm alive but one of my favorite trauma.
Experts Bethel. Van Der kolk he lives in the
Berkshire and his wife is an amazing teacher as well Lycia
Sky. I've been connecting with them
recently. Been studying a lot about trauma
with them and other teachers as well.
And the thing about Journey dance, I actually asked, I had a
(27:23):
big discussion with Lisa about it and talked about like, you
know, rolling on the floor and all the things that I do.
And she said, you know what, what you're giving people is a
is an experienced and they get to decide, you know, how far or
how less they want to go and just to be able to roll around
the floor, could be a massive incredible win for somebody who
(27:44):
is been traumatized and cannot allow Themselves to let go.
So there's so many places, alongthe journey dance map, where
someone who has been traumatizedin some way, shape, or form, can
have some feeling of freedom andcontrol of their own body.
It's not like you're letting go of control of your body, and I'm
telling you what to do with yourbody, right?
(28:05):
It's like you still retain full sovereignty, over your body and
how deep you want to go, it might be a chance to express
some feelings that don't normally get to be expressed, in
a container of sort of, Support rather than being just totally
shut down and trapped inside, right?
There's like little moments of healing.
(28:25):
That could happen even if you don't do anything.
Big and cathartic, you know, just little moments of being
able to put your hands on your own heart sway, back and forth
to the music where someone is singing, you know, tell
yourself, I love you or something, you know?
And you're just being like I love you and you're trying it
out for the first time. So I really feel that this is a
(28:46):
right now actually my company. We are moving toward trauma,
aware practice. We have been studying trauma,
all of us. And we just have a new trauma.
Module, in our teacher training,that has been developed by an
amazing psychotherapist in our program, who wanted to, you
know, up level the trauma, awareness piece.
And it has just been so powerful, so the facilitators
(29:08):
that are out there now, have a ton more awareness than those
from the past. So, we are bringing everybody up
to speed, actually, and we're doing some trauma, module
training. This year, which is super
exciting for Journey dance teachers.
Yeah, because when you're teaching, you know, anybody in
any Healing Art, you know, you don't know who's coming into the
room and you need to be wise andyou need to be aware and I need
(29:32):
to be wise and aware and sometimes I do things and, you
know, somebody doesn't like it and, you know, I wish that I
hadn't done it. And, you know, and I don't of
course, no one ever intends to cause anybody trauma, but we
don't know what people are walking in with.
So we do our best to create. Create, this amazing support of
container where anything goes really, in terms of the
movement, you don't have to be doing what everyone else is
(29:54):
doing. But I'll tell you one, funny
story. There was once a person in my
class and I thought, wow, this person is having a terrible
time, I was like, oh, they're having a terrible time.
I was trying so hard to get themlike to enjoy the experience
because like, you know, I'm justme and I'm like, dancing around.
I'm like, oh, they're in the corner home, terrible.
Time at the end of the class, they come up to me and they say,
I was like, oh oh, you're comes.I'm like, oh God, I'm so nervous
(30:16):
where they going to say they said that was the most amazing
experience I've ever had in my life.
And I was like, really. I like, yeah, they said, I have
so much trouble, expressing myself and just being in the
corner. I was able to, like, express
myself, but not getting the middle or be part of the group,
but I was still there the whole time moving around.
I said, yes, I saw you. You did great and we hugged and
(30:37):
we cried, you know, so you neverknow how something could change
someone's life. Life or a dance.
So i who thought, right, who would have thought that?
This could be another healing modality.
So powerful for people to be in their body rolling around.
You're doing things you've neverdone and if you want to be
(31:00):
someone, you've never been, you have to start doing things.
You've never done and if you love that and if you want to be
fearless and not traumatized, you have to do things that make
you feel. You know fearless or like a
different Persona. Like I know vessel was talking
on YouTube about the Shakespeareplays in the Berkshires and how
(31:23):
sometimes they take. Yeah they take youth from like
prisons and things like that andthey put them in Shakespeare
plays and it lets someone who's been beat down and traumatized.
It lets them be the hero or be the king in the play.
And so being someone you've never been can really be
life-changing because you Why's that you can change your life
(31:45):
and you can change your identity.
You know, you're adorable. I'm like so excited right now
because, you know, my you don't know this about me because you
don't know me that well, but my background is 100% theater and I
recently I wrote my own one-woman show in 2019 2020,
right before the pandemic. And then I never put it up again
because I did it three times andthen boom pandemic.
But anyway, I started a program called turn your angst into art,
(32:08):
which is a program of creating this exactly.
You're talking about creating your own one person show.
And it is, it is my baby. It's like my little baby and
it's so fun and people come to me and we, you know, we dance,
we do we sing, because I'm a songwriter, we do
singer-songwriter stuff, we do theater.
We get people like really telling their story in these
(32:29):
incredible ways through character and people do comedy.
And, you know, I create comedy characters with people and help
them find the funny in somethingthat they really want to
transform. Because sometimes, the hardest
thing to do is to look at something and be able to find
the humor in it and then sort ofit immediately loses its power
over you as soon as you find thehumor in it, so we play with
(32:50):
comedy. So it's a whole theater program
that I've been working on with. We've have 18 students go
through it so far. 18 women havemade, one-woman shows.
Oh my God, they're so amazing. And we watch them all and we had
they perform them recently, and it was just, you know, it's,
it's truly, I think it's a gift to be able to do that.
I love how that is a trauma, healing activity is to change
(33:13):
who you are. But you said, if you can't if
you want to change, you got to take these steps, you have to
take risks and that is the scarything, but it's really worth it
in the end. Like the level of risk that I
have taken in my own. Life has healed me in so many
ways and I feel like a powerful person because I'm willing to
take risk, I actually write songs as well.
And speaking about taking risk, you know, I am I made an album
(33:34):
with these amazing incredible voice teachers, who I love to
work with name the brothers coreand I just recently made an
album with them and it's coming out soon and I'm freaking out,
I'm like, oh my God. God, and I realized that like,
I'm the only one who has to loveit.
Really truly at the end of the day because it's my story is.
It's all of my stories about healing and and not wanting to
let people down and bending instead of breaking and, and
(33:56):
staying there with somebody going through their pain.
And like, I just put my a lot ofpain into music.
I think music is a wonderful healing as well.
So for me, it's all about the dance, the music, the theater,
and wow, we're on the same page,I love it.
Yeah, it helps so many people heal.
I I'll just say briefly I interviewed like filmmaker
(34:17):
Collier Landry and he was in foster care, his father,
murdered his mother. So then he lost both his parents
because his mother was dead and his father was in prison, so he
made a movie about it. But anyway, he really turned to
the art and music as a way of healing from being thrown into
foster care and healing from allthat trauma.
(34:39):
And so I for the past 10 years, I've been a resilience coach for
at-risk kids in public schools. And so I think wonderful helping
them take little risks. Actually, it inspired me to take
more risks with my life because I'm, I'm like, I'm like, yeah,
you know, you can do it, like, let's have lunch group with some
(34:59):
friends. Like, you can learn how to be a
friend or, you know, let's talk to a teacher.
You can learn to advocate for yourself, you know, let's learn
algebra, whatever it was. I was like, yeah, this is no big
thing, like this is no big deal.Let's do this and I really want
it. School to be a bright spot for
them. And so what ended up happening
was working with them and inspiring them to take little
(35:21):
risks? Inspired me to take a risk.
So I ended up like have a podcast.
Well, I ended up leaving my husband and getting a divorce
when my kids were like one and four and, you know, just really
inspiring me to just keep going toward the most healthy and
(35:42):
whole life. If possible because at the end,
that's what I want for the kids,I don't want them to focus on
their fear just for the heck of it, you're focusing on it so
that you can dissolve it and then step forward into things
that serve you and into your best life, you know.
Oh wow. I just we have so much in
common. You don't know, you don't even
know honey I won't go down that rabbit hole with you today but
(36:06):
so much to talk about. But yeah, I mean I've done a lot
of things like that myself. So we're the listeners.
You have amazing music and All of your classes.
Do you have any music recommendations that the
listener should check out and enjoy any songs or any artists?
Come to mind? Oh my God.
I mean that is you could that's a to our podcast.
(36:26):
I'd love to share with you. I mean, I'll tell you my top
three favorite artist right now.Okay, so I love there's a woman.
She's absolutely incredible. I believe II believed and
advised as a woman. The artist name is Desiree
Dawson, incredible lyrics, incredible.
I wrote On Instagram, I wrote them on Instagram.
I don't want to see what their pronouns are, so I wrote them on
(36:48):
Instagram, they're amazing. Oh my God, Desiree.
Desiree Dawson face Soul, all one word, my other my new
favorite artists from definitelyBritish absolutely incredible.
Artist, the lyrics again. Unbelievable.
The harmonies, The Voice. Try to think of my own.
I found a whole new. All I got I got to tell you
(37:10):
about this other. I found a new woman named or Oh,
RKA there in Israeli and Spanishmusic.
Oh my God, I'm just hold on. Let me just, I got to give now.
I got to find you my favorite new stuff because I make
playlists every single day. So last week I introduced
everyone to this new artist. I just found, oh my goodness and
(37:32):
for you listeners I'll try to find these artists and post a
link in the podcast episode as well as posting a link to
Journey. Dance.com Tony's website just
FYI, I'll post some links to music.
You know what, if you jump on mywebsite and you type in your
email list, your email, you get a playlist.
(37:52):
So, just so, you know, if you goto my homepage and you get,
sometimes you get like a care package as well, which is
totally cool. Yeah, I found this new artist
named I don't, I don't know how to say the name, but I'll spell
it for you, you UTA. I totally totally like, Alchemy
music. I music to transform to You
(38:13):
know, I have a lot of musical obsessions sequin animus.
I mean, I just use a lot of different types of music,
Beautiful chorus. I mean, I'm just looking, I am
obsessed creature with a 3. Instead of an e, you know, I
dance to everything. I'm obsessed with music.
So I found a new, a new artist. I really like called Zen that
beat Zen. That beat is super fun because
(38:35):
do a whole podcast is on music. Listening of you happy to do it
with you. I'm excited to dance with you
next month. In June.
Absolutely. So, what advice do you have for
people who have a lot of anxietydoubt or fear in their bodies,
like, they're physically feelingit?
Well, the first thing is the cool thing is now that we have
(38:56):
zoom, anybody could common experience a journey to have
online without even turning yourcomputer on without even being
seen. I mean, of course you turn your
computer on without turning yourcamera on like today we had
like, say, we had 40 people on and six people had their camera
off and Don't ask them to turn it on, you know, they come every
week and they need to practice that way because they don't want
(39:18):
to look at themselves in the mirror because member dance
Journey. Dance has no mirrors but Zoom.
There's a mirror which is yourself your screen, you know?
So you can start dancing. Start simple, don't make it,
don't make it pressurize low pressure, just see what it feels
like to come and roll around thefloor with me.
See what it feels like to do. The Awakening process where we
(39:40):
do this exercises of the spine. That's very yogic.
See what it feels like. Like to look at your own body.
Like, use it following the suggestions that are given like
what does it feel like to get like bring the aliveness on and
get like funky you know what does it feel like to shake?
You know it's like it's like just going to go at it with
curiosity and see if there's energy that could be released
(40:03):
from the body. Like that would be my suggestion
but start slow then come and if you have like anxiety is an
issue. You know, we don't want to like
throw somebody into the ocean ofcore Paloma Or you know, some
other Workshop unless they feel like they can manage.
So so that's what I would say. I would say start slow go to a
class first you know, then drop into a workshop and see how it
(40:24):
feels because I think you could feel safe.
Like, in our container, we do a lot of safety work before we
begin and it's mostly we call itsafety work.
But it's really about feeling supported because as we know,
safety cannot be created for another person.
If you don't feel safe inside yourself like it's like safe.
She is really comes from within,and we practice a lot of
(40:47):
mantras. I am safe.
Let me tell you, supportiveness,and sacredness, and brave, and
courageous spaces. These, we can create if that
makes any sense. Yeah, you know, when I was 16, I
went to my first yoga class and that was the first time I really
felt safe and at home and centered.
(41:08):
And that was before we were talking about trauma that was
like, 1996 and I was like, what is this feeling like, is this
like a peaceful feeling? Like I didn't realize how
hyper-vigilant and stressed. I had been my entire childhood.
That was my Baseline was just like hyper-vigilance and then
yoga was taking me down from that, and it was just like, this
(41:31):
amazing experience. So fortunately, you know, I
didn't go into it thinking, I'm gonna heal from my childhood
obesity, but like, I'm so happy I discovered yoga, I'm so happy.
I discovered you 20 years ago and kripalu.
So last but not least, it just if there's anything you want to
(41:52):
say about your upcoming Retreat.So you have moved to heal, Accra
Paulo and June year at Omega suit, and August, you have
online classes all the time and in Mexico, Retreat.
Next year, there's two more little pieces.
I'll add. So one piece is our teacher,
training module, one of level one, we are really interested in
(42:13):
Dating teachers. And inviting people who really
want to create communities of movement and help people heal
because and help people just connect and enjoy their their
body, their bodily experience, their sensation life.
And if you feel called and you feel interested like and you
love to dance and move and you, you've studied, you know, you
did some personal work, you kindof have a sense that this might,
(42:36):
you know, ring your bell. The embodiment experience is our
first module and it's just the most, it's just the most
embodies being like you just getinto your body, we do Voice
work, we do so much healing during that week, it is just my
it's my why every module of teacher training is my favorite
but I love this module so much and I have my two
co-facilitators with me and our teacher from Mexico.
(42:58):
So we're really excited and that's it.
That's July 2nd, through the 7th, it's a five-day and it's
during July 4th. So you can go and see James
Taylor concert who plays every year at times during July 4th
and July 3rd. And then I have another program
that I want to share with you a little bit where we've really
been during the pandemic. We really wanted to connect more
(43:21):
with people, people are coming to class every Tuesday, and
people were coming to class on the weekends and they really
wanted more. So we did this challenge which
was a 21-day challenge of movingfor 25 minutes and then writing
for 15 and then sharing our writing for 10 and then getting
to a big group and having a few volunteers to share it blew up,
(43:41):
we loved it so much. It's called the remedy.
Yeah, and we have been doing it now.
For three years, it's on Friday mornings, we just launched one
of our sessions but you can definitely jump into the next
session. Is it on the Friday morning?
It is it's online or Friday mornings online.
And it's just this beautiful community of Really Brave and
(44:02):
some shy and people who've neverhad their voices heard, and we
read these pieces, and the pieces are that are written,
come from this beautiful writing, prompt that my
co-facilitator. She writes, Prompts and I do the
playlist and together, we createthis, like, it's magic and
people write these pieces that will just blow your mind.
Like, right out of like, you know, the most famous poetry
(44:23):
books, you've ever you've ever heard, people are so creative
and, and it's like an outlet andthen they see each other and
they meet and they become friends.
And they come to the remedy live, which we have in August at
Omega, and then we have it in the so it's become a whole
Community. We've been doing the remedy now
at Omega, this will be our thirdyear at Omega.
This will be our third year in Mexico, doing the remedy again
because people love It so much, and it's dance.
(44:45):
Its movement, it's writing its sharing.
And that's where the next level comes in.
People start to want to express themselves more and we go into
the songwriting and the theater and we go to the next angst and
art program. So it's all kind of like a, an
incredible. You know what is it like a feast
of creativity healing empowerment.
(45:05):
You know my biggest key message that I would like to leave you
with is that resilience is a beautiful word and But
resilience without Joy mixed into it, is suffering.
Like if you think about like, I'm so resilient I go through
all this stuff and I keep going,but if you add just a little bit
of joy to it, just a little bit of Dance Movement.
(45:26):
Love for yourself a self, lovingact.
Boom, it becomes empowerment. Like that's my feeling.
So I say resilience plus Joy equals empowerment and that is
what I want to bring to people. And I want the journey dance
community and we have so many teachers all over the country
and world and you can look them up.
Up and find them and seek them out.
And go take their classes in person and experience it for
(45:48):
yourself. If you can't make it to these,
you know, other other locations where I happened to be there, so
many more people teaching now. Yeah, Journey dance.com.
You can find a dance teacher andit's so true.
What you say like, after being aresilience coach, for 10 years
for kids, all I want for them isfor them to access happiness.
(46:09):
You know, the resilience helps you overcome and then feel
empowered. Do whatever it is that lights
you up? Totally, I'm with you so much
not just to take on more crap and then overcome that know you,
exactly. That's what I'm saying.
And there's something about Joy,when you feel it in your body,
it's like, you remember, oh, this is my natural state.
(46:29):
This is my natural state becauseour Natural State and I know
that we're conditioned from childhood.
I mean, trust me, when you talk about hyper-vigilance, I get it.
I'm not going to go into that right now, but we could talk
much more another time, but I get what you're talking about
and hyper-vigilance It's very common because people are hurt
and we are wounded in ways that are, you know, all different for
every single soul on this planethas their own has their own road
(46:52):
to walk. And I just want to say, like,
it's all survivable and Thrive abby'll.
If we just bring a little bit ofthe memory of Soul whose soul is
Joy, soul is a joyful thing Spirit.
They call it you know energy. It's it's this aliveness that
that we forget. Yeah.
(47:14):
And he spent if you spend time around kids you'll see him
running around screaming on the playground.
Like I love how children are just so full of soul and joy and
I will see you in June at Apolloand who knows?
I might come to your writing anddancing workshop at Omega in
August in Mexico, in March because that sounds amazing
(47:36):
back. When I first took your class, we
didn't have these communities online.
It was still dial up with AOL. Well and you can I remember
going and the ding ding and thenyou finally get online and like
book York rapallo you know Workshop or you call to schedule
it. And so now there's so much
Beauty in the community that you've created.
(47:58):
And everybody go to Journey, dance.com to learn more.
Ha, ha ha. So cute.
You are your character adorable.Thank you.
So nice. To actually I'm sure I know who
you are. I'm sure I'm going to see you
again. I'll see you this.
I'll see you in. Weeks.
And thank you for having me. That completes our episode.
(48:23):
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The mission. Here is a world where fear
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(48:45):
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Welcome to the dissolving fear podcast, where anxiety and doubt
don't run the show you do. So, let's dissolve some fear up
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I'm your host, Alyssa bringing you tools practices and
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(00:29):
life, Life, full of whatever it is that you value and desire.
I've been a resilience coach forover a decade.
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(00:50):
about here on the podcast and itMiss alexa.com, enjoy the show.
Today, I have the honor of interviewing the Creator and
director of Journey dance, Tony Bergens.
Tony, welcome to the podcast. Oh my God, thank you so much.
(01:11):
This is wonderful. I'm so happy to talk to you
today because I've been doing your journey dance classes for
20 years at proposal yogurt. Yeah.
And I just realized that you've been doing your journey to get
for longer Yeah, so I bet that Ifirst took your class when you
(01:33):
were pretty new at it, but I actually have like an epiphany
in your class and it was awesome.
Mmm-hmm how will you tell me what it was?
Oh yeah. Sure, these are my favorite
stories in the world so it givesmy life meaning and purpose.
Let me tell you, I'll tell you and then you can talk about like
what Journey dance is, okay? So you're all you listeners out
(01:57):
there, quick my epiphany, He waswe're doing this dance and I
just had like this awareness popout of my body like I make it
easy for people to love me. Hmm.
And it was just like this release of the knowledge and so
(02:17):
I was like, wow. I just realised.
What, how I've been acting? And then I also kind of felt it
leave my body. Wow.
Yeah. And what did you replace that
way that you don't mind me asking?
Well, I think that I don't have a let myself fit in to your life
and figure out how I can be lovable attitude, I have more of
(02:40):
a Love Me or Leave me attitude. Mmm, Yeah.
Is what I'm talking about, okay,I got you.
All right, that makes sense. Oh, wow.
That's deep. And I'll tell you like I just
I'm just going to relate to you when I when I dance I have like
an epiphany. Like that's what I do.
I decide that today on this, in this moment in this dance class
(03:01):
in this experience of music and movement and really like almost
like loss of self and yet completely finding self.
I have an epiphany. Every single pretty much every
single class of ever taught because if I'm not in it it's
not the same. I'm not just like leading from
this structured idea of what youshould be feeling.
(03:23):
I'm in the process and I believethat every single human being
Being is going through somethingat all times because we're all
in a constant state of change, right?
So we're in a constant state of change when a constant state of
evolution where most people, hopefully, with any luck are
trying to grow their adding thatto their list of things that
they need to do with their life and growth is the top of their
of their priority list. And and, and they have an
(03:46):
epiphany to sew it together. When there's like, this medicine
is of human connection. All of us together in the room,
something crazy happens. And it's like Jake, it's like
tripping. It's like, it's like it's like
taking plant medicine. It's like doing breathwork.
It's like being in that yoga space when you burst into tears.
(04:07):
It's like that time when you getbroken open that kind of
experience. When you just suddenly realize
that you are Divine or that whatyou said, like I am not going to
just be, you know, this person that says, oh, I'm easy to love
but then I don't get my needs met her at you.
Like you realize things on the dance floor because you're
stepping out of regular sort of Of reality with this music as a
(04:29):
hip as a hypnosis container literally, the music is a
hypnotic container. So like I know you've heard the
word hypnosis Ray, everyone knows what that is but like to
really understand it, it just means to focus your attention so
much on the thing that you are doing that you become hypnotized
in it, right? It's like it's not like I'm like
you know swinging something and telling people you will now
(04:50):
relax, you know it's like it's like we just drop right?
We drop in so deeply to the body.
And to the experience of the senses and then I take people
into the psyche and we unpack things.
I don't know what I did that day.
That you took the class for thatfirst time, but, you know, it's
that moment when today I was teaching today and I unpacked
something. I called it you know, we just
(05:11):
did a little Shadow side moment where there's a pattern or
there's a shadow piece that we really are working on right now
and we want to face it and not run away from it and not make it
bad and not hate on it. Thank it for what it's been
doing and teach it something new.
So it's very deep Stuff that we do sometimes and sometimes it's
different sometimes, it's meeting your inner guide or
(05:32):
going on a different type of Journey.
But you have any questions from that?
I should answer about what the jury has processes.
Because I've gone, I've gone pretty down the rabbit hole
already. Well, you know, back then 20
years ago, when I first took your class, I was 23 and so I
wasn't like, oh, I have to go toJourney dance.
So I can face my anger Apollo, Iwas doing the save a program.
(05:56):
The Service volunteer program because you get yeah, they're
free, you know? And so I'm just bopping right
into the journey dance class because I like to dance.
And then so then unexpectedly, it was like, I felt my
conditioning leaving my body because our conditioning isn't
(06:18):
who we are. You know, if we're conditioned
to feel trapped, we're really free, you know, and I think in
my case, My dad was an addict and so I was conditioned to walk
on eggshells. Be lovable, be the easy child
and I mean I wasn't walking around with the weight of that,
(06:39):
on my shoulders on a daily basis.
You know, I wasn't like going totherapy.
It really wasn't plaguing me at that point, but it was affecting
my behavior. And it was effect or
subconscious thoughts and man, and a relationship therapist.
I was like, whoa, you know what?Hit me out of nowhere.
Yeah, I think the sister I really enjoy what you just said
(07:00):
for a lot of reasons. I think that what we forget,
what most people forget when they're doing like, quote,
healing work, is that first of all, you never know what's going
to come up. It's a fact and sometimes, you
know, our biggest fears are never ever going to happen
because they're not going to surface or they never happened
or all the things that we, you know, we fear.
But the thing that does always happen is in relationship, you
will be triggered into your pattern of the way you were
(07:25):
conditioned, right? So In Intimate Relationships,
you could be great at work and great with friends and great and
public, and great, and all theseAffairs.
But in the deepest relationship that everybody wants, right?
Most people want some kind of human connection, a one-on-one
relationship, whatever. Gender, whatever, sexual
preference. That makes no difference.
You're still going to have the triggers because we are in a
(07:48):
body and that's just the way it is.
So like what I'm practicing all the time and that's why I think
I love what I do is because I'm constantly We practicing it for
my own growth and healing and for everyone in the room that I
really wish like may we all today uncover something that is
going to propel us forward into a new possibility of how he
(08:10):
might behave and act and all things you just said because
like it's the awareness and the Consciousness that when it gets
raised to a point where were like, oh I see that shadow piece
of me, I see that I do that or oh I always say this thing to
myself or this voice is always. Always in my head of like,
you're not good enough for your you're too much or your to your
(08:32):
Dom or whatever. The crap is that you tell
yourself, it just surfaces in this moment that we call
evocative emotion. And I ask people are you willing
to let go of something today? Are you willing, to at least
meet something today? You willing to see something
today that could be like your freedom, you said it perfectly.
It's like, as soon as you see it, it's like Freedom appears
(08:54):
even if you can't get out of it right away and you Off the dance
floor and you're like, wow, I just realized I have to actually
make some changes that's like such a friggin gift.
Yeah. You know what I mean?
It's like yeah, yeah. If anyone plans on checking out
your website Journey dance.com or going to a workshop like
(09:14):
bring a pen and paper, you know,because I'm jumping out of the
dance floor and writing down some epiphanies.
I love that you can do it afterwards.
Write it down but I still remember it to this day, you
know. Well I remember my experience
you know there's something and Ialways say in my in my in my
(09:35):
emails you know one dance can change your life.
Like you just never know what's going to happen and it's so
funny. I want to tell you something, I
was 23 which I am not anymore. And when I went to chromoly for
the first time and I was a live in New York City, I was doing
the thing that like you do, likewhen you're raised, I was raised
in a highly pressurized, must besuccessful.
(09:56):
Kind of Emily. I was on the track to like, you
know, be like you know, whateverlawyer or something, right?
I was going to be at this point I was like I decided to go back
to grad school and I was just you know, I liked my life.
I was teaching, I got some really great jobs in different
schools. I taught in different places in
the city. I had a really great life before
that I had been like, you know apublic relations consultant at
(10:17):
this public relations firm. I was a complete beginner.
I was like a you know labeling slides and stuff but I was like
in that corporate world and I switch to education but either
way I knew I was going someplace.
Elsa I just didn't know where itwas and I went to the dance
floor in order to like I was going I just went to her Paulo.
I literally I swear I'm not kidding.
It was the old days where peoplestill wore white and they wore
(10:37):
sandals and everybody was supposedly celibate, we won't go
into that whole story but you know all the everybody you know
who live there was you know do and it wasn't even open for like
what it is today. It's not like it didn't bring in
guest teachers, you just went tothe classes of the of the people
who live there. So I was like, well, I hate
meditation. Imagine I'm 23, I'm like super
(10:58):
hyper. I work out like crazy.
I'm like I'm like so buff. I went to like Jeff Martin, a
probably isn't even open anymoreJaqueline.
All the plays, all the crazy studios in New York City that
we're really like hip at the time doing, step, aerobics, and
Hip-Hop classes. I was like so obsessed with
dancing, but I went to this place at all, go to the dance
class, for sure. And I burst into tears in this
(11:19):
class and this teacher, this this man named Yuri.
He was this beautiful, man. It was a totally different time.
It was when people used to talk about Out.
Like now we're coming back around to talking about trauma.
Finally, but we sort of people talked about trauma in the early
90s and then it all got pushed under the rug.
And we got all like neat and tidy.
And that we're talking about trauma in a big way.
(11:39):
But the point is back then, you know, he shared some trauma.
I was like, wow, that guy is very open.
Like, I was like, what is happening and I'm on the floor
crying at the end and I'm like, what the hell have I been doing
to myself? Like I am home.
I'm in my body, I call it the tonypop.
All and I was in the corner of this room.
Never in a million years. Did I think that this was going
(12:02):
to be my life? Never in a million years.
You don't understand, I just left going, oh my God, I am
changed and I changed my whole life over the next two years and
I ended up moving out of New York City and I got a sub job at
kripalu and like, oh, the fact that has happened to me, is
still amazes me to my own self. You know that I was that I've
(12:24):
created a life, you know, base Ston this work that then I
developed into my own thing. Yeah.
And that place living bike, rapallo, pretty much kind of, I
have lived in this area of the, the Berkshires biker Paulo for
20 years, had my kids and had like I did some other businesses
as well over the years. But like I've been doing
(12:44):
teaching dance. They're never stopping for 20
except during covid for 27 years.
I know it's crazy, right? Nuts?
People think that, like, I was born and I thought I'm going to
create a dance form and I'm going to be the Global.
But that's not at all how it happens.
It was much more healing of my own pain.
I was bulimic, I was anorexic. I was I was I was successful but
(13:05):
I wasn't happy. I had such negative self as such
a low self-esteem and I love this self-hatred and uh, I was
just like I was one of those people that, like, I put on a
good face but that wasn't who I truly was on the inside.
And now, my inside is my outsideand I feel so much better but
years and years and years of healing have led me to this
place where I am. Now I can really go deep places,
you know, and really I touch places that I never thought I
(13:28):
could touch or bring people to because I've walked that road.
You know, it's like I always saylike you know, you know, I do
what I do because I've walked that road, you know.
Yeah. And that inspires other people
to walk their Road and get out of their habits and patterns.
I'm going to your workshop at crew Paulo in June next.
(13:52):
I so excited to move to heal andthat's kind of what happened.
Get your, when I first discovered Journey dance, 20
years ago, I didn't expect to heal as much as I did.
And I think a lot of it had to do with letting go.
Hmm. Well, I'd love to share with
you. So the move to heal program was
(14:13):
really a, it's a meeting of a few different Journey.
Dance teachers that I've traineda bunch of amazing people in
this lifetime. I mean I really have I've
trained a thousand teachers at this point.
Not everyone is teaching a lot of people do it for their own
personal growth but But there's like 500 people were probably
teaching, you know, on and off. But there's two amazing
facilitators that came to kripalu at have been teaching
(14:35):
there for a number of years and I asked them if they'd like to
collaborate and do a weekend together.
So we're going to be we're goingto have some sound baths with
Antoinette. We're going to have some amazing
creative play with Stephen Hawking's.
Who's this incredible artist? I'll be teaching obviously, will
be doing, will be dancing quite a bit and we're going to do some
Voice works. It's going to be a lot of Of
(14:56):
expression and they'll be down time as well for receiving and
restoring. So it's kind of like, how do we
touch new places in our lives orlet things go?
As you said, and express them inthis like really.
And I'm going to say it supportive and brave, and
courageous space. Because it takes a lot to show
(15:17):
up at these places. Like, I know, I've been to
workshops and I walk in and you're like, what's going to
happen, what's going to happen and I love it.
It's like a mystery, it's like going on an adventure like a
soul Adventure. I think that's what most people
crave. And because of the society that
we live in, we don't always takeAdventures.
We don't always do things. We don't have like Rites of
(15:39):
Passage like, like, you know, like we used to, or maybe other
cultures do and some cultures just don't have those anymore.
And we're learning how to recreate our own Rites of
Passage. So it kind of feels like every
time I step on the dance floor, it's like I'm I'm marking a new
level in my own Shannon. And that's how I feel every
person walks away. Like, okay, I have learned so
(16:00):
much about myself, and I feel inmy body, my knowing in my joy
and my physical being and I try to remind people, you know, this
home, this body is your home, this is all you've got right
now. Like you can think you have
security safety that it all the things.
And, you know what? We have this one home and we
have to learn. How does it work?
How do I look at my trauma? How do I when I get triggered?
(16:23):
How do I say? Okay, I know I'm in the now
moment and that's the Past right?
All my conditioning is the past is not the now moment, but how
do I not future eyes and stay inthis moment?
It's very hard, like I want to just congratulate people for
Being Human because it's freaking hard, it's not easy.
And I just the simple Act of breathwork like grieving in 43
(16:47):
breathing out 43. It brings your mind and body
into the now. So you're not really thinking
about the future. And all of the eternities or the
past, you're thinking about the now and your breath.
And so, I feel like that can be a relief because it brings you
(17:08):
into the present moment. And then, you know, movement, I
think it raises our vibration. And our bodies want to be in a
high vibration. They feel healthy and happy.
The other thing I love is telling stories with my body.
You know, we, you know, we use our mind so much and our
(17:32):
thoughts and our voice and, you know, all the talking and all
the processing that we do outside of our in our lives.
And the body is this incredible.Beautiful way of expressing,
doesn't matter if you're a fancyor if you're don't even know
what you're doing it to me. Every single movement is like,
oh, I'm using my body to tell mystory.
Using my body to feel this moment.
(17:52):
And to me in the moment, like I caught for me, I I wrote a
little bit about how I said embodiment is Enlightenment
because the truth is when we're in our body and we can feel the
feelings and still function, like we are moving toward
Enlightenment, you know. It's not like Enlightenment
means you're never going to havea feeling again, you're not
going to ever feel. No you're going to feel even
(18:13):
more the more we become enlightened the more we become
like Enlightenment is like empathy on steroids you know in
light His like is like when we feel so connected to the people,
the Earth, each other ourselves,and then we see.
And it's sometimes painful, sometimes, compassion, and
(18:34):
tears. And all these things come
because we realize, wow you know, we're not all so nice to
ourselves or each other and I really do think that my mission
is to continually help people become.
I say n dinner violence to end outer violence and I'm working
on that every day. How do I treat myself in the way
(18:54):
that I want to treat every person who I love because like
you said, sometimes would put everyone else above us and then
we put ourselves below and that's not good either.
We have to not put anyone above or below us, right?
We stay right here in that placeof like, Equanimity where I see
you and you see me. And even if we have conflict, we
can work through it. We can feel our way through it.
(19:15):
To me the mind sometimes gets inthe way.
Yeah, we can talk about our issues until we're blue in the
face, but our are in our tissues.
There you go baby. Thank you very much.
(19:47):
Laying. But sometimes we need to
actually move. Yeah, interestingly I'll share
with. You said, the motion is the
lotion. I love that.
So the thing about Journey dance, it's not just like, let
me explain a little bit about it.
So, there's many different typesof many different types of
dance. Many different beautiful,
amazing dance forms. Sure.
You've heard of and journey. Dance is, is not LED with steps
(20:11):
and movement shapes and copying,but it is lead, but it's LED
with images and And movement suggestions and ways of being.
It's like I mean it has it has awhole stage.
I'm not going to go through all the stages right now on this
podcast because I'm sure that will take way too long, but
(20:31):
basically I'll use a few keywords embodiment is key.
So the first thing we do in Journey dance, is we roll around
on the floor. Journey dance is so much about
during its as a whole. I call it the embodiment series
I've developed and worked with and studied all these different
forms of embodiment and The key to everything is to get it every
single part of your body touchedby the floor.
(20:52):
I call it total surface area, dancing every inch of Mi
removing super slow. We're just pressing and feeling
and pouring and connecting and it just brings us into this
present awareness. Then we move into sorry you
know, activating the energy, lift it all up, until we get
into a really fun state where which we call connection, where
(21:12):
we're connecting with the room and the people.
And then the next key element iscalled evocative Ian where we
start doing that thing, I was talking about what we tell our
story to the dance floor. So we're not like we're not
looking at everybody but we're seeing everybody like everyone's
their right? And they're all telling their
story and the music is evocativeand stirring and it brings
things to the surface. So it's not like if I play a sad
(21:34):
song, you're going to cry because the song is sad, you're
going to cry if the song. Resonates with you and you feel
sadness that day, you might feelJoy.
During the song that I play that, I think is sad.
And you think it's joyful because you're not feeling sad.
Really amazing, what music can do but there are certain pieces
of music that will you know say will sort of bring you to
embrace a certain feeling. So we play with the emotional
(21:57):
bandwidth little bit. We do a little bit of releasing
of grief because where else do you get to release grief and
you're enjoying your daily day? We do a little bit of
frustration and anger and release.
We use we use the Alchemy process.
We call it with you shaking and we do bouncing and pulsing and
we create these visualizations where we create a sacred
container to burn or release, whatever needs To be released,
(22:18):
that's the Alchemy section and then after that, we go into sort
of this elevated celebration andthen into the heart.
So when we start talking to our heart, that's when things get
real. Like you've gone through this
process, you're dancing the journey dance and you're in your
heart now and there's a moment to be like, okay, where am I,
what's happening in my heart? What do I need to hear?
(22:39):
What I need to feel? What do I need to remember?
Because our heart is not most people, I'm just going to be
honest, this is not an insult toanyone but most people don't.
Be their daily day with their heart, they lead it with their
mind because they have things todo.
They've got to get to the store.They got to go to the post
office. I got to write their emails.
I got to do The, To Do List, whatever it is, and we're in our
mind, we don't think about our heart.
We don't let our heart lead the day more and more.
(23:03):
We can if we awaken to it and say, because the heart is really
smart, the heart knows, actuallywhat we need, sometimes, even
more than our mind. I mean, you, of course, more
than our mind. So, to get into this
conversation with the heart is just to assist to bring sort of
that Spirit Alive, or we can say, oh, you know what?
I have parts of me that I have never spoken to before parts of
me, that want to emerge, you know, we can transform, we can
(23:23):
change, we have to just be willing to go through that.
Sticky icky, part of like letting go and resistance to
change and it's not easy for most of us.
It is not easy. We have to evolve and it takes a
little bit of rubbing like shedding a skin.
Kind of thing. You have to get out of your head
and into your body and I feel like there it isn't and then
music helps you get there and then get into your heart to be
(23:48):
You know, it takes time and so you obviously and you're
embracing that time that you have to get your nervous system
focused on your body. Yeah.
The breath and and the extensionof ourselves.
Like, there's an interesting thing that happens.
I feel in the dance and in many,in many dance forms of this kind
(24:10):
where there's like a transpersonal moment.
We're like, now, I'm in my heartand then I go to this next place
and the last place we take people.
Before relaxation is prayer. I call it prayer.
You know, I'm Jewish. So prayer to me, means what it
means to me. Like, it would mean something to
every other person with any other religious background, but
I still decide that I like this word prayer because I feel that
(24:31):
my body is praying. My body is today, I talked about
following the energy, not telling yourself what to do,
just feeling your body. You're in right now.
Whoever's listening, you just close your eyes for a moment.
Bring your hands to your heart. Just rub your heart and just
feel the That is coming from your hand, from your body.
It's right there, easy to access.
(24:51):
And then just let your hand moveaway and then face your hand to
the other hand. And start to see, oh, there's
energy between my two hands. I am energy.
You are energy. We are having this conversation
to energies or having a conversation.
We're literally talking over. The airwaves.
We are definitely energies afteryour conversation.
I know it's so nice. It's so so so then you take your
(25:12):
hands and you let them open up over your head and then you
bring them through the space, move them around and all of a
sudden you're doing what I call prayer dancing.
You're just in this energy moment in this present moment
and that's where we say. Thank you, thank you for my life
and you for my existence, I thank myself.
Thank you body. I love you, I am the prayer.
My thoughts are the prayer. I thank my thoughts.
(25:34):
My body is the prayer. I thank my body.
My heart is the prayer, my tearsor the /.
Sometimes I just cry. That's one of my favorite
things. That happens.
People on the dance floor. They cry.
They let go. My laughter is my is my you know
my Where are all these things are the prayer.
Nothing is wrong with you, right?
You are you are you don't need to be fixed.
Just need to be held to be embraced.
(25:57):
So we embrace our own Spirit self, and sometimes we do it
with other people. And it's so deep and magical to
see beyond the personality. To see this transpersonal moment
where I see you as this energy, that is interacting with my
energy, you know? And then we go into the floor.
So I get very passionate about this work.
(26:18):
And not for the peak experience of it.
You know, I've been reading a lot about Peak experience and
the thing that I want to share is that, yes I think there is
Peak experience in Journey that just like in yoga like when you
when you're doing, if you're doing, like a vigorous Vinyasa
or you're doing a deep relaxation or you're doing
breathwork, there's like this peak experience that happen.
Same thing with dance when you reach that ecstatic point and
(26:40):
there's nothing wrong with goingfor Peak experience but it's the
practice of awareness that is going to change.
Change your daily life, not justthe peak experience which you
will go for because it is fo fun.
Nothing is wrong with Peak experience.
But that's when you need to use the P experience for
manifestation when you're feeling so good and you get to a
(27:01):
gratitude State, you're like oh my God, I'm alive, I am alive.
My heart is beating I'm alive but one of my favorite trauma.
Experts Bethel. Van Der kolk he lives in the
Berkshire and his wife is an amazing teacher as well Lycia
Sky. I've been connecting with them
recently. Been studying a lot about trauma
with them and other teachers as well.
And the thing about Journey dance, I actually asked, I had a
(27:23):
big discussion with Lisa about it and talked about like, you
know, rolling on the floor and all the things that I do.
And she said, you know what, what you're giving people is a
is an experienced and they get to decide, you know, how far or
how less they want to go and just to be able to roll around
the floor, could be a massive incredible win for somebody who
(27:44):
is been traumatized and cannot allow Themselves to let go.
So there's so many places, alongthe journey dance map, where
someone who has been traumatizedin some way, shape, or form, can
have some feeling of freedom andcontrol of their own body.
It's not like you're letting go of control of your body, and I'm
telling you what to do with yourbody, right?
(28:05):
It's like you still retain full sovereignty, over your body and
how deep you want to go, it might be a chance to express
some feelings that don't normally get to be expressed, in
a container of sort of, Support rather than being just totally
shut down and trapped inside, right?
There's like little moments of healing.
(28:25):
That could happen even if you don't do anything.
Big and cathartic, you know, just little moments of being
able to put your hands on your own heart sway, back and forth
to the music where someone is singing, you know, tell
yourself, I love you or something, you know?
And you're just being like I love you and you're trying it
out for the first time. So I really feel that this is a
(28:46):
right now actually my company. We are moving toward trauma,
aware practice. We have been studying trauma,
all of us. And we just have a new trauma.
Module, in our teacher training,that has been developed by an
amazing psychotherapist in our program, who wanted to, you
know, up level the trauma, awareness piece.
And it has just been so powerful, so the facilitators
(29:08):
that are out there now, have a ton more awareness than those
from the past. So, we are bringing everybody up
to speed, actually, and we're doing some trauma, module
training. This year, which is super
exciting for Journey dance teachers.
Yeah, because when you're teaching, you know, anybody in
any Healing Art, you know, you don't know who's coming into the
room and you need to be wise andyou need to be aware and I need
(29:32):
to be wise and aware and sometimes I do things and, you
know, somebody doesn't like it and, you know, I wish that I
hadn't done it. And, you know, and I don't of
course, no one ever intends to cause anybody trauma, but we
don't know what people are walking in with.
So we do our best to create. Create, this amazing support of
container where anything goes really, in terms of the
movement, you don't have to be doing what everyone else is
(29:54):
doing. But I'll tell you one, funny
story. There was once a person in my
class and I thought, wow, this person is having a terrible
time, I was like, oh, they're having a terrible time.
I was trying so hard to get themlike to enjoy the experience
because like, you know, I'm justme and I'm like, dancing around.
I'm like, oh, they're in the corner home, terrible.
Time at the end of the class, they come up to me and they say,
I was like, oh oh, you're comes.I'm like, oh God, I'm so nervous
(30:16):
where they going to say they said that was the most amazing
experience I've ever had in my life.
And I was like, really. I like, yeah, they said, I have
so much trouble, expressing myself and just being in the
corner. I was able to, like, express
myself, but not getting the middle or be part of the group,
but I was still there the whole time moving around.
I said, yes, I saw you. You did great and we hugged and
(30:37):
we cried, you know, so you neverknow how something could change
someone's life. Life or a dance.
So i who thought, right, who would have thought that?
This could be another healing modality.
So powerful for people to be in their body rolling around.
You're doing things you've neverdone and if you want to be
(31:00):
someone, you've never been, you have to start doing things.
You've never done and if you love that and if you want to be
fearless and not traumatized, you have to do things that make
you feel. You know fearless or like a
different Persona. Like I know vessel was talking
on YouTube about the Shakespeareplays in the Berkshires and how
(31:23):
sometimes they take. Yeah they take youth from like
prisons and things like that andthey put them in Shakespeare
plays and it lets someone who's been beat down and traumatized.
It lets them be the hero or be the king in the play.
And so being someone you've never been can really be
life-changing because you Why's that you can change your life
(31:45):
and you can change your identity.
You know, you're adorable. I'm like so excited right now
because, you know, my you don't know this about me because you
don't know me that well, but my background is 100% theater and I
recently I wrote my own one-woman show in 2019 2020,
right before the pandemic. And then I never put it up again
because I did it three times andthen boom pandemic.
But anyway, I started a program called turn your angst into art,
(32:08):
which is a program of creating this exactly.
You're talking about creating your own one person show.
And it is, it is my baby. It's like my little baby and
it's so fun and people come to me and we, you know, we dance,
we do we sing, because I'm a songwriter, we do
singer-songwriter stuff, we do theater.
We get people like really telling their story in these
(32:29):
incredible ways through character and people do comedy.
And, you know, I create comedy characters with people and help
them find the funny in somethingthat they really want to
transform. Because sometimes, the hardest
thing to do is to look at something and be able to find
the humor in it and then sort ofit immediately loses its power
over you as soon as you find thehumor in it, so we play with
(32:50):
comedy. So it's a whole theater program
that I've been working on with. We've have 18 students go
through it so far. 18 women havemade, one-woman shows.
Oh my God, they're so amazing. And we watch them all and we had
they perform them recently, and it was just, you know, it's,
it's truly, I think it's a gift to be able to do that.
I love how that is a trauma, healing activity is to change
(33:13):
who you are. But you said, if you can't if
you want to change, you got to take these steps, you have to
take risks and that is the scarything, but it's really worth it
in the end. Like the level of risk that I
have taken in my own. Life has healed me in so many
ways and I feel like a powerful person because I'm willing to
take risk, I actually write songs as well.
And speaking about taking risk, you know, I am I made an album
(33:34):
with these amazing incredible voice teachers, who I love to
work with name the brothers coreand I just recently made an
album with them and it's coming out soon and I'm freaking out,
I'm like, oh my God. God, and I realized that like,
I'm the only one who has to loveit.
Really truly at the end of the day because it's my story is.
It's all of my stories about healing and and not wanting to
let people down and bending instead of breaking and, and
(33:56):
staying there with somebody going through their pain.
And like, I just put my a lot ofpain into music.
I think music is a wonderful healing as well.
So for me, it's all about the dance, the music, the theater,
and wow, we're on the same page,I love it.
Yeah, it helps so many people heal.
I I'll just say briefly I interviewed like filmmaker
(34:17):
Collier Landry and he was in foster care, his father,
murdered his mother. So then he lost both his parents
because his mother was dead and his father was in prison, so he
made a movie about it. But anyway, he really turned to
the art and music as a way of healing from being thrown into
foster care and healing from allthat trauma.
(34:39):
And so I for the past 10 years, I've been a resilience coach for
at-risk kids in public schools. And so I think wonderful helping
them take little risks. Actually, it inspired me to take
more risks with my life because I'm, I'm like, I'm like, yeah,
you know, you can do it, like, let's have lunch group with some
(34:59):
friends. Like, you can learn how to be a
friend or, you know, let's talk to a teacher.
You can learn to advocate for yourself, you know, let's learn
algebra, whatever it was. I was like, yeah, this is no big
thing, like this is no big deal.Let's do this and I really want
it. School to be a bright spot for
them. And so what ended up happening
was working with them and inspiring them to take little
(35:21):
risks? Inspired me to take a risk.
So I ended up like have a podcast.
Well, I ended up leaving my husband and getting a divorce
when my kids were like one and four and, you know, just really
inspiring me to just keep going toward the most healthy and
(35:42):
whole life. If possible because at the end,
that's what I want for the kids,I don't want them to focus on
their fear just for the heck of it, you're focusing on it so
that you can dissolve it and then step forward into things
that serve you and into your best life, you know.
Oh wow. I just we have so much in
common. You don't know, you don't even
know honey I won't go down that rabbit hole with you today but
(36:06):
so much to talk about. But yeah, I mean I've done a lot
of things like that myself. So we're the listeners.
You have amazing music and All of your classes.
Do you have any music recommendations that the
listener should check out and enjoy any songs or any artists?
Come to mind? Oh my God.
I mean that is you could that's a to our podcast.
(36:26):
I'd love to share with you. I mean, I'll tell you my top
three favorite artist right now.Okay, so I love there's a woman.
She's absolutely incredible. I believe II believed and
advised as a woman. The artist name is Desiree
Dawson, incredible lyrics, incredible.
I wrote On Instagram, I wrote them on Instagram.
I don't want to see what their pronouns are, so I wrote them on
(36:48):
Instagram, they're amazing. Oh my God, Desiree.
Desiree Dawson face Soul, all one word, my other my new
favorite artists from definitelyBritish absolutely incredible.
Artist, the lyrics again. Unbelievable.
The harmonies, The Voice. Try to think of my own.
I found a whole new. All I got I got to tell you
(37:10):
about this other. I found a new woman named or Oh,
RKA there in Israeli and Spanishmusic.
Oh my God, I'm just hold on. Let me just, I got to give now.
I got to find you my favorite new stuff because I make
playlists every single day. So last week I introduced
everyone to this new artist. I just found, oh my goodness and
(37:32):
for you listeners I'll try to find these artists and post a
link in the podcast episode as well as posting a link to
Journey. Dance.com Tony's website just
FYI, I'll post some links to music.
You know what, if you jump on mywebsite and you type in your
email list, your email, you get a playlist.
(37:52):
So, just so, you know, if you goto my homepage and you get,
sometimes you get like a care package as well, which is
totally cool. Yeah, I found this new artist
named I don't, I don't know how to say the name, but I'll spell
it for you, you UTA. I totally totally like, Alchemy
music. I music to transform to You
(38:13):
know, I have a lot of musical obsessions sequin animus.
I mean, I just use a lot of different types of music,
Beautiful chorus. I mean, I'm just looking, I am
obsessed creature with a 3. Instead of an e, you know, I
dance to everything. I'm obsessed with music.
So I found a new, a new artist. I really like called Zen that
beat Zen. That beat is super fun because
(38:35):
do a whole podcast is on music. Listening of you happy to do it
with you. I'm excited to dance with you
next month. In June.
Absolutely. So, what advice do you have for
people who have a lot of anxietydoubt or fear in their bodies,
like, they're physically feelingit?
Well, the first thing is the cool thing is now that we have
(38:56):
zoom, anybody could common experience a journey to have
online without even turning yourcomputer on without even being
seen. I mean, of course you turn your
computer on without turning yourcamera on like today we had
like, say, we had 40 people on and six people had their camera
off and Don't ask them to turn it on, you know, they come every
week and they need to practice that way because they don't want
(39:18):
to look at themselves in the mirror because member dance
Journey. Dance has no mirrors but Zoom.
There's a mirror which is yourself your screen, you know?
So you can start dancing. Start simple, don't make it,
don't make it pressurize low pressure, just see what it feels
like to come and roll around thefloor with me.
See what it feels like to do. The Awakening process where we
(39:40):
do this exercises of the spine. That's very yogic.
See what it feels like. Like to look at your own body.
Like, use it following the suggestions that are given like
what does it feel like to get like bring the aliveness on and
get like funky you know what does it feel like to shake?
You know it's like it's like just going to go at it with
curiosity and see if there's energy that could be released
(40:03):
from the body. Like that would be my suggestion
but start slow then come and if you have like anxiety is an
issue. You know, we don't want to like
throw somebody into the ocean ofcore Paloma Or you know, some
other Workshop unless they feel like they can manage.
So so that's what I would say. I would say start slow go to a
class first you know, then drop into a workshop and see how it
(40:24):
feels because I think you could feel safe.
Like, in our container, we do a lot of safety work before we
begin and it's mostly we call itsafety work.
But it's really about feeling supported because as we know,
safety cannot be created for another person.
If you don't feel safe inside yourself like it's like safe.
She is really comes from within,and we practice a lot of
(40:47):
mantras. I am safe.
Let me tell you, supportiveness,and sacredness, and brave, and
courageous spaces. These, we can create if that
makes any sense. Yeah, you know, when I was 16, I
went to my first yoga class and that was the first time I really
felt safe and at home and centered.
(41:08):
And that was before we were talking about trauma that was
like, 1996 and I was like, what is this feeling like, is this
like a peaceful feeling? Like I didn't realize how
hyper-vigilant and stressed. I had been my entire childhood.
That was my Baseline was just like hyper-vigilance and then
yoga was taking me down from that, and it was just like, this
(41:31):
amazing experience. So fortunately, you know, I
didn't go into it thinking, I'm gonna heal from my childhood
obesity, but like, I'm so happy I discovered yoga, I'm so happy.
I discovered you 20 years ago and kripalu.
So last but not least, it just if there's anything you want to
(41:52):
say about your upcoming Retreat.So you have moved to heal, Accra
Paulo and June year at Omega suit, and August, you have
online classes all the time and in Mexico, Retreat.
Next year, there's two more little pieces.
I'll add. So one piece is our teacher,
training module, one of level one, we are really interested in
(42:13):
Dating teachers. And inviting people who really
want to create communities of movement and help people heal
because and help people just connect and enjoy their their
body, their bodily experience, their sensation life.
And if you feel called and you feel interested like and you
love to dance and move and you, you've studied, you know, you
did some personal work, you kindof have a sense that this might,
(42:36):
you know, ring your bell. The embodiment experience is our
first module and it's just the most, it's just the most
embodies being like you just getinto your body, we do Voice
work, we do so much healing during that week, it is just my
it's my why every module of teacher training is my favorite
but I love this module so much and I have my two
co-facilitators with me and our teacher from Mexico.
(42:58):
So we're really excited and that's it.
That's July 2nd, through the 7th, it's a five-day and it's
during July 4th. So you can go and see James
Taylor concert who plays every year at times during July 4th
and July 3rd. And then I have another program
that I want to share with you a little bit where we've really
been during the pandemic. We really wanted to connect more
(43:21):
with people, people are coming to class every Tuesday, and
people were coming to class on the weekends and they really
wanted more. So we did this challenge which
was a 21-day challenge of movingfor 25 minutes and then writing
for 15 and then sharing our writing for 10 and then getting
to a big group and having a few volunteers to share it blew up,
(43:41):
we loved it so much. It's called the remedy.
Yeah, and we have been doing it now.
For three years, it's on Friday mornings, we just launched one
of our sessions but you can definitely jump into the next
session. Is it on the Friday morning?
It is it's online or Friday mornings online.
And it's just this beautiful community of Really Brave and
(44:02):
some shy and people who've neverhad their voices heard, and we
read these pieces, and the pieces are that are written,
come from this beautiful writing, prompt that my
co-facilitator. She writes, Prompts and I do the
playlist and together, we createthis, like, it's magic and
people write these pieces that will just blow your mind.
Like, right out of like, you know, the most famous poetry
(44:23):
books, you've ever you've ever heard, people are so creative
and, and it's like an outlet andthen they see each other and
they meet and they become friends.
And they come to the remedy live, which we have in August at
Omega, and then we have it in the so it's become a whole
Community. We've been doing the remedy now
at Omega, this will be our thirdyear at Omega.
This will be our third year in Mexico, doing the remedy again
because people love It so much, and it's dance.
(44:45):
Its movement, it's writing its sharing.
And that's where the next level comes in.
People start to want to express themselves more and we go into
the songwriting and the theater and we go to the next angst and
art program. So it's all kind of like a, an
incredible. You know what is it like a feast
of creativity healing empowerment.
(45:05):
You know my biggest key message that I would like to leave you
with is that resilience is a beautiful word and But
resilience without Joy mixed into it, is suffering.
Like if you think about like, I'm so resilient I go through
all this stuff and I keep going,but if you add just a little bit
of joy to it, just a little bit of Dance Movement.
(45:26):
Love for yourself a self, lovingact.
Boom, it becomes empowerment. Like that's my feeling.
So I say resilience plus Joy equals empowerment and that is
what I want to bring to people. And I want the journey dance
community and we have so many teachers all over the country
and world and you can look them up.
Up and find them and seek them out.
And go take their classes in person and experience it for
(45:48):
yourself. If you can't make it to these,
you know, other other locations where I happened to be there, so
many more people teaching now. Yeah, Journey dance.com.
You can find a dance teacher andit's so true.
What you say like, after being aresilience coach, for 10 years
for kids, all I want for them isfor them to access happiness.
(46:09):
You know, the resilience helps you overcome and then feel
empowered. Do whatever it is that lights
you up? Totally, I'm with you so much
not just to take on more crap and then overcome that know you,
exactly. That's what I'm saying.
And there's something about Joy,when you feel it in your body,
it's like, you remember, oh, this is my natural state.
(46:29):
This is my natural state becauseour Natural State and I know
that we're conditioned from childhood.
I mean, trust me, when you talk about hyper-vigilance, I get it.
I'm not going to go into that right now, but we could talk
much more another time, but I get what you're talking about
and hyper-vigilance It's very common because people are hurt
and we are wounded in ways that are, you know, all different for
every single soul on this planethas their own has their own road
(46:52):
to walk. And I just want to say, like,
it's all survivable and Thrive abby'll.
If we just bring a little bit ofthe memory of Soul whose soul is
Joy, soul is a joyful thing Spirit.
They call it you know energy. It's it's this aliveness that
that we forget. Yeah.
(47:14):
And he spent if you spend time around kids you'll see him
running around screaming on the playground.
Like I love how children are just so full of soul and joy and
I will see you in June at Apolloand who knows?
I might come to your writing anddancing workshop at Omega in
August in Mexico, in March because that sounds amazing
(47:36):
back. When I first took your class, we
didn't have these communities online.
It was still dial up with AOL. Well and you can I remember
going and the ding ding and thenyou finally get online and like
book York rapallo you know Workshop or you call to schedule
it. And so now there's so much
Beauty in the community that you've created.
(47:58):
And everybody go to Journey, dance.com to learn more.
Ha, ha ha. So cute.
You are your character adorable.Thank you.
So nice. To actually I'm sure I know who
you are. I'm sure I'm going to see you
again. I'll see you this.
I'll see you in. Weeks.
And thank you for having me. That completes our episode.
(48:23):
If today's content felt true foryou, follow the podcast today or
leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts.
The mission. Here is a world where fear
doesn't control us. We feel it.
Heal it and let go to grow. Have an amazing day, fill it
with opportunities to dissolve, fear, nurture, yourself, and
(48:45):
enjoy life. Thank you for being here.
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