5Rhythms® Dance with Bernadette Ryder

5Rhythms® Dance with Bernadette Ryder

5Rhythms®

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The 5Rhythms®

The 5Rhythms is a simple, powerful moving meditation that anyone – of any age, size, or physical ability – can practise. There are no steps to follow, no choreography to learn, no way to do it wrong. The only requirement is a body that is still breathing, a heart that is still beating, and mind that is still curious!

Just like light, sound or ocean waves, a dancing body when moving freely passes through five distinct rhythmic patterns. These patterns continuously repeat themselves in a wave of motion.

Each of the 5Rhythms is illustrated in this video (and described above).

The 5Rhythms Waves Map:

FLOWING STACCATO CHAOS LYRICAL STILLNESS ®

Some short extracts from “Maps to Ecstasy” by Gabrielle Roth*:
(these were published weekly to our mailing list and blog, and added here as they were published)

Flowing

The first of the 5Rhythms…

“Gradually begin moving with the flowing rhythm of the music. Stretching, undulating, feeling the weight of each movement in space, you’re inventing your own tai chi. You feel your feet firmly on the floor and the circular movements of your legs, your arms, and your hands describe an evolving continuum. You’re centered in your belly and all the movement begins and returns there: rising on the inhale, exaggerated and prolonged, and sinking and contracting on the exhale. Now follow your feet and flow with the music as the spirit moves you. There’s no right way to do it, only your way. And gradually your own style, your unique way of being, will emerge, and the movements, and the breathing, and the flow of the music will blend into a dynamic unity so that you will feel you are the rhythm, you are flowing.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Maps to Ecstasy”

Staccato

The second of the 5Rhythms…

“… Move into staccato following … music … that has a hard, driving, pulsating beat. Let the beat to take hold of you. Then, inhaling with each movement and letting out the breath explosively, making whatever sounds come out, your movements become fast-paced, thrusting, pounding – each movement isolated, with the beginning and an end. You’re moving in lines and angles, no longer in circles, and your moves are percussive, short; they’ve got edges, and your breath releases in bursts of sound. As in every other rhythm, if you ground your awareness in your feet, the waves will flow through your whole body and you’ll become more and more aware of all the parts of your body as they’re swept into the beat.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Maps to Ecstasy”

Chaos

The third of the 5Rhythms…

“To move into chaos, I love to be carried away by tribal drumming. Chaos is rooted in flowing and staccato rhythms but revs them up beyond control. Jerks, spins, releases, taking every movement over the edge, yet totally grounded in your feet. You’re carried away, surrendering to the surging of the music. Letting the brain and the controlling mind go, and letting the body loose – no blocks, no inhibitions, no doubts, just pure animal gyrations.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Maps to Ecstasy”

Lyrical

The fourth of the 5Rhythms…

“When you have let go in chaos, you enter the rhythm of lyrical where you let go of letting go. It’s really chaos inside out. The intuitive moves that have driven your dance are shifted into the zone of your imagination where you reinvent yourself, make yourself up from scratch in every moment.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Maps to Ecstasy”

Stillness

The fifth of the 5Rhythms…

“Finally comes stillness. The movement becomes inner, a feeling of empty fullness, of concentration, of vibrant presence. You move in slow motion, or you move and stop, move and stop, feeling your feet, your face, your hands, your total body. No longer is the movement the meditation, but the stillness between. It can look like mime or like break-dancing. Move and stop. Hold. Move and stop. The breath is strong, the vitality intense. The time is now, the place here. Every gesture total, measured, your body full of breath, your look direct.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Maps to Ecstasy”

The 5Rhythms Heartbeat™ Map:

FEAR ANGER GRIEF JOY COMPASSION ®

The Purpose of the 5Rhythms Heartbeat™ map is to release the heart from its history – the old feelings that have been locked in our limbs or frozen in our chest – beginning to shake them loose and release an expanded emotional maturity and spontaneity.

As we become comfortable with allowing and giving expression to feelings, neither getting attached, nor denying them, we discover how to transform the energies of the heart, and the power of a heart fully able to feel and respond with love.

“Feelings are the language of the heart, but we have silenced them. We talk about feelings, we think about feelings, but when we actually feel them, we get so scared we immediately shove them back into the deepest chambers of our hearts. Yet none of us wants to be numb. We long to connect. We long to be real. We long to be intimate.”
—Gabrielle Roth, “Connections”

This more advanced work is taught in some workshops and ongoing closed groups.

Bernadette trained in the 5Rhythms Heartbeat advanced practice with Gabrielle Roth in 2005-7.

5Rhythms Sweats:

5Rhythms Sweat logo
5Rhythms Sweat

SWEAT, is the free flow format of the 5Rhythms wave. It is a self exploration, a personal expression, your own dance, guided by the music & supported by the rhythms. No instructions, back to your body and the movement meditation at its pure essence. A 5Rhythms Sweat begins with a gentle warm-up and demonstration followed by an unguided Wave where the music moves you and your body is the teacher.

Sweats are offered as part of the 5Rhythms Teacher Training mentorship program.

Find out more...

The 5Rhythms®, the foundation of the the work of Gabrielle Roth, is a map of how energy flows – through the body, through our lives…

The late Gabrielle Roth, originator of the 5Rhythms explains more in this short video.

* “Maps to Ecstasy” and a treasure trove other books, music, clothing and more are available online – support 5Rhythms worldwide by buying direct from the shop at 5rhythms.com

Next...

Solstice Dance
Dec 21, Horfield Parish Church Hall
see drop-in classes

New Year’s Night 5Rhythms Party
Dec 31, St Michael’s Parish Hall
– big discounts –
for early booking
🙂

Rhossili Residentials – booking now
Gower Coast, South Wales:
find out more:
Elemental Rhythms 2024
:
Earth: April 18-21
Fire: June 27-30
Water: Sept 19-22
Air: Nov 7-10
(bookable individually or as a series)

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