Coming up February 24-26, 2012, I will be back at Rowe Confrence Center....
When Dance Becomes Prayer
Rupa Cousins
“Many years ago, at a workshop in Florida, I was invited to dance for the child in me, to dance for my soul. At that moment my life changed: I was suddenly awakened. Through my body, I became a seeker of the mysteries that were held in my heart, in my soul, in the vast universe within and beyond. This experience led me to look to different approaches, ancient and modern, that use movement and body awareness to deeply connect with our selves and others, and I learned that ingrained habits of mind, body, and emotion can be limitations to our free expression.” - Rupa Cousins
When Dance Becomes Prayer is an invitation to explore movement, and come to the joy of a “lightened” embodied being.
Using various practices, we will open to several spiritual traditions and to modern techniques that bring mind, body, heart, and spirit together. Spontaneous free form dance becomes meditation; with eyes closed you dive deep into your own being; it is an opportunity to transform self-judgment into compassion and acceptance.
Inspired by the Alexander Technique, we will explore sacred ways to move and to touch and be touched.
Most children know the experience of whirling around and around. With innocence and wonder, that experience takes them somewhere. What is that wonder? Why has it been performed as a spiritual practice for hundreds of years? We will do a simple form of the Sufi turn. We will also deepen into a sacred Sufi chanting practice.
Exploring the joy and power of a circle we will dance the Paneurhythmy, a circle dance developed by Peter Deunov, a Bulgarian mystic. It is a transformational process, a healing for the dancer and for the earth.
Mystic poetry will enhance this workshop, uplifting and opening our hearts and our spirits. We will take time to have conversation, create art, to journal, to spend time alone, to be in nature, to heighten our senses. As Rumi said, “There are many ways to bow and kiss the earth.”
Rupa Cousins loves movement, dance, and the body/mind connection, and has been offering workshops in them for over 30 years. She is a Senior Teacher of the Alexander Technique, a somatic-psychotherapist through the Rubenfeld Synergy Method, and co-founder of the North East Psychoneuroimmunology Institute. Rupa has studied deeply several spiritual traditions, was initiated as a whirling dervish by the Threshold Society in 1990, and has been teaching Paneurhythmy since 1994. She has worked with teenagers and adults in countries dealing with war and conflict, is president of Associated Psychotherapists of Vermont, and facilitates an Interfaith Initiative in Brattleboro Vermont. Please visit www.rupacousins.com
Contact Rupa at 802-387-5276 to inquire about scheduling or attending one of these workshops. Stories and feedback are linked from this page to "Clients Say".
Toward A Sacred Sexuality
TOWARDS A SACRED SEXUALITY: An ongoing group for women, where sharing and witnessing one another in a protected and sacred holding of a circle. Building trust and support allows for the deep communication of each woman's sexual stories, questions and wisdom.
Inspired by the work of Jalaja Bonheim founder of the Institute for Circlework, dear friend and author of Aphrodite's Daughters, Women's Sacred Sexual Stories and the Journey of the Soul. The first time this group was offered it lasted for 3 years. Elements of “When Dance Becomes Prayer” are also a part of this group where movement helps us to leave the brain chatter, and go deeper into the soul of being woman. It can also be modified into a one day workshop format.
When Dance Becomes Prayer
In 2009, WHEN DANCE BECOMES PRAYER for women and men, with an emphasis on practices from different spiritual traditions. It was first presented at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME) in Portland Maine, www.chimeofmaine.org. to students trained to be Interfaith Clergy. Here are some of the comments and feedback from the ChiME workshop.... "I've been waiting to get back to you on how wonderful your teaching was for ChIME when I had a fair amount of student’s feedback. Many have shared that it was their favorite workshop yet." Clients Say
WHEN DANCE BECOMES PRAYER was presented later at Rowe Conference Center November 20 to 22nd 2009, www.rowecenter.org. It was a wonderful and magical event with 15 participants some from as far away as Texas. We explored form and formlessness through practices of freeform dance and the structure of Paneurhythmy, and whirling and more. We were able to go out of doors both mornings to honor the earth and cosmos. We explored sacred touch based on Alexander Technique and Rubenfeld Synergy and some Sufi practices.
WHEN DANCE BECOMES PRAYER was originally a workshop for women only. Below is the original description Rupa wrote for it years ago. This format is still available for those interested.
WHEN DANCE BECOMES PRAYER honors the sacred wisdom of being a woman through an exploration of the body as a doorway to the soul. Enticed by poetry, movement individually, sharing in dyads and as a group, we will lift ourselves from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Included are: Whirling and movement meditations, folk and free form dance.
Together we will create a fragrance of sacred communion and ecstatic celebration. This workshop can be a day long or weekend long experience, and has been offered in Vermont and at Spirit House Retreat Center in Woodacre California.
Rupa writes:
“This workshop is my autobiography. In a workshop years ago, I was invited to dance for the child in me, to dance for my soul. At that moment my life changed: I was suddenly awakened. Through my body, I became a seeker of the mysteries that were held in my heart, in my soul, in the vast universe within and beyond.”
“In the many years I’ve been an Alexander Technique teacher and a Rubenfeld Synergist, I’ve learned that ingrained habits of mind, body, and emotion become limitations to our free expression. When Dance Becomes Prayer is an invitation to go within, to loosen blocks that say we cannot dance.”
Allowing movements to arise spontaneously, with eyes closed, free form dance becomes meditation. This is not for others, but for your own being, your own soul, an opportunity to transform self-judgment into compassion and acceptance. Alone and in pairs we will explore sacred ways to move and to touch and be touched.
Most children know the experience of whirling themselves around and around. In their innocence and wonder, that experience takes them somewhere. What is that wonder? Feel it for yourself. We will do a simple form of the Sufi turn, exploring the joy and power of the circle. A Christian Mystic, Beinsa Douno, developed Paneurhythmy; it is a prayer, a connection with the circle of dancers, with the earth and the cosmos. Mystic poetry will enhance this workshop, uplifting and opening our hearts and our spirits.
We will take time to create art, to journal, to process, to spend time alone, to be in nature, to heighten our senses. We will open to diverse spiritual traditions and to modern approaches that bring mind, body, heart, and spirit together. Rumi said, “There are many ways to bow and kiss the earth."
