JourneyDance™: A Path to Self Discovery Through Intuitive Movement

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Episode 17.  Explore the world of JourneyDance - a transformative movement practice that fuses improvisational dance, yoga, ritual, theater, shamanism, and the inspiring rhythms of world dance. With bare feet connecting to the earth, JourneyDance is not just a dance, but a sacred ritual journey of physical and emotional transformation.

 JourneyDance is a celebration of self-expression and the liberation that comes from dancing with intention. It's a ritual journey that empowers individuals to reconnect with their inner selves, heal, and uncover their authentic selves.

Whether you're new to JourneyDance or a seasoned practitioner, this episode will inspire you to embrace the dance of self-discovery and embark on a path of empowerment and authenticity through the transformative and rhythmic world of JourneyDance.

Links:
JourneyDance
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health

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Find my World Groove movement zoom class on Thursdays, under my name, at: https://theworldgroovemovement.com/virtual-search/

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Episode Transcript

Lisa (00:05):
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life Podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung and todayI'm going to be talking with you
about JourneyDance.
So I discovered JourneyDancewhen it showed up in my Facebook
feed, as often happens when youstart searching on a subject,
you start getting ads aboutsimilar things.
And it's actually offeredsomewhere near me, which I hope

(00:29):
to do soon, but I haven't had achance yet to try.
But it got me looking at herwebsite and checking out some
YouTube videos and it was veryintriguing.
So I do want to start with justsome testimonials that are on
her website so you can kind ofget a sense of what people
experience when they do dojourney dance.

(00:50):
So this one person, Gary,wrote...
"Through her energy, Toni allowsfor vitality, freedom, and
security.
Her positivity brings alive ahigher level of spirituality and
serenity.
Journey Dance must be on everyperson's to do list".
The woman named Beth said," Yourblend of movement, play, spirit,

(01:14):
body awareness slash connection,and emotion was very healing for
me.
In dancing with you and thegroup, I found my way home to
myself."" And then I'll read onethat's kind of long, but pretty
interesting and that's by agentleman named Roger.

(01:37):
So he says,"I was at Kripalu,conflicted whether to do regular
journey dance, or perhaps nap.
Something propelled me into yourspace, where I stood as a self
conscious, Wallflower for abouta nanosecond before the beat
woke me up to the joy awaiting.
My body found its way to thefloor, to the circle, to the

(02:01):
rhythm of our group.
A few months ago I was feelingpent up, aching to be unbound,
wild, out of control, tocompletely lose it.
I could literally feel thefrustration residing.
What I felt with you was theliberation my body had been
seeking.
As I strutted and jiggled andslid my way around the room, I

(02:24):
felt a smile rip across my facewith authentic, genuine, deep
down satisfaction.
I lost my self consciousness andmy prevailing, daily,
repetitious, acceptable, boringsafety.
Thank you for showing up as thewild, tribal, heartfelt,
authentic expression that youare.
Thank you for showing me a pathto the place that my body has

(02:46):
been seeking.
Journey Dance was the highlightof my weekend, leaving me
sweaty, reawakened, connectedand full of spirit." So Tony
describes in her origin storythat she went to Kripalu, I
believe it was for a retreat.
And she chose, I think it wasKinetic Dance, I might be

(03:10):
getting the name wrong, but.
When she did the dance class,she found herself on the floor
sobbing and realized thatconnecting with her body was one
way to connect with heremotions.
And so she continued on thatjourney for a number of years.
And eventually she began todevelop her own style called

(03:35):
Journey Dance.
So...
Journey dance is a healingpractice to bring people into
the present moment, to bringthem into the present space, to
listen to their own bodies.
It combines freestyle andstructured movement to inspire
you to get out of your head andinto your body.

(03:58):
The flow leads participants on aritual journey, a physical and
emotional transformation.
It combines freestyle, improvdance, yoga, ritual, theater,
and shamanism.
It uses inspiring world music,and you dance barefoot.

(04:19):
there are no mirrors, and that'sso people can experience dancing
in a non judgmental environment.
It's a facilitated experience,so if you've listened to my
podcasts on World Groove andBody Groove, it's a similar
approach where you're not tryingto follow an instructor to copy

(04:43):
the moves, but instead you're,are given suggestions.
Phrases to help you move deeperinto your own body and to moving
deeper into how you want to moveyour own body.
I know in one of the videos shementioned, like, feeling all the
surfaces of the body, which Ithink is really cool.

(05:04):
Because often we're not reallyaware of all the surfaces of our
body.
So she has various techniquesto, to do that.
There are six E's, qualities ofjourney dance.
The first one is embody, whichis about grounding movements,
feeling contact with the floorand the earth.

(05:27):
Experience, which is aboutsensual awakening.
Enliven, which is aboutconnecting with your funky,
playful self and others on thefloor.
Explore, which is about tappinginto our inner realms to tell

(05:48):
our story and connect with ouremotions.
Empower, which is aboutliberating old cellular
memories.
and cleansing the body and mindwith sweat and breath.
And then elevate, which is aboutraising our vibration and
embodying our heart.

(06:11):
So it's a very holistic approachto self discovery and personal
growth through movement.
And if that is what you'relooking for to Tap into your
emotions and have a way torelease them, to increase your
energy, to expand your sense ofwho you are, then this is a

(06:32):
really great form to, to try.
She's all about celebratingbeing in your body and having it
move.
So, there's definitely anelement of fun as well.
So, the options for the classare, you can look on, if you

(06:52):
look at her website, which I'llhave a link to in my show notes.
You can look for an in personclass.
she also has a couple.
Online options, I think one iswith her and others are with
other people that have beentrained.
She does do workshops around atvarious retreat centers, as I
mentioned, like Kripalu.

(07:13):
The Omega Institute, which is inRhinebeck, New York.
The Esalon Institute, which isin Big Sur, California.
The Synergy Studio, which is inSan Antonio, Texas.
Studio Nia, Santa Fe, which isin Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Studio Samadhi, which is inNewton, Mass.

(07:34):
she also has a DVD out that youcan purchase and follow along
with and also audio.
And as always you can tryYouTube.
I did find, a 45 minuteexperience on YouTube And she
also offers one on one coachingif you find that you really love

(07:55):
it and want to Get deeper intoit.
So if you do become aninstructor for JourneyDance,
people have been trained in thecomposition of the JourneyDance
experience, in the explorationof the rituals.
And there's a personal growthcomponent so that they can bring
their full selves to the dancefloor and to facilitating it for

(08:18):
other people.
And finally, I'll just mentionthat I actually have a
connection to Kripalu as well.
In 2001, I had the chance, Gothere and do their SEVA program,
which unfortunately I don'tthink they're offering anymore.
But in exchange for working inone of the three areas to help

(08:39):
support the community of eitherhousekeeping, food prep or the
kitchen we were given room andboard and also connection with
the group of people that came inwith us.
And access to the facilities.
And so if you do get a chance tovisit, it's in Western

(09:01):
Massachusetts.
It really is a beautiful andwonderful place to experience.
And I will have a link to theirwebsite in the show notes as
well.
So, I know this is brief, but Ijust wanted to give you a little
bit of an introduction toJourney Dance as I think it's a
really wonderful dance basedexercise option.

(09:24):
And I look forward to bringingyou another episode next week.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you do try out Journey Dance,I would love to hear from you.

(09:47):
And if you have any questions orcomments, I'd also love to hear
from you.
So you can email me atHappySweatLife at gmail.
com.
And I will have my email also inthe show notes below.