This week I was challenged to dance the Heart Chakra. Moving up from the yellow Solar Plexus Chakra with all the vim and vinegar, Tabasco sauce of Warrior Flamenco energy…we have the beautiful fourth energy cluster located at the Heart, the Green Heart Chakra aka “Anahata”. I have to say I was not expecting to be weeping on the floor with this one but that is precisely what happened and it kind of knocked me out…more on that later.
The Heart Chakra is full of emotion, the bridge between Earth and Sky, Yin and Yang, Feminine and Masculine. It is represented by the element of Air and the dance is of beauty, reaching and soaring. Searching for Air in breath, air in lungs, flying through the air. It is where love, forgiveness, compassion, beauty, and joy reside. It is where we must learn open-heartedness, and generosity. It is where we find a deep connection with ourselves and our loved ones, and realize the inter-connectivity of all and ultimately find peace.
Read more about the Heart Chakra here, “Intro into the Anahata” by Yoga Journal: https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/intro-heart-chakra.
Reflecting upon now 100 days of uprooted schedule, I am now so happy to have the time now to study the Chakra system and Chakradance. It has been an eye-opening incredible journey so far, and new passion! There are 7 chakras (imagine softballs of spinning energy) that align from the tailbone to the top of the head and have corresponding colours/vibrations: red/root, orange/sacral, yellow/solar plexus, green/heart, blue/throat, indigo/third eye and purple/crown. Each are responsible for a specific aspect of our well-being and our emotions.
The Heart Chakra is truly significant, as it is the bridge between our lower chakras (security, stability, creativity, confidence, action) and our higher chakras (expression, intuition, spirituality). Also it has taken my whole life to realize that the Heart is truly powerful and responsible for attracting all our dreams and manifesting our desires. One quote that has stuck with me since finding it in 2019 is:
“The heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic energy in the human body, producing the largest rhythmic electromagnetic field of any of the body’s organs. The heart’s electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain.” Heartmath.org
“The heart’s magnetic field, which is the strongest rhythmic field produced by the human body, not only envelops every cell of the body, but also extends out in all directions into the space around us. The heart’s magnetic field can be measured several feet away from the body by sensitive magnetometers. Research conducted at HMI suggests the heart’s field is an important carrier of information.”
The Heart is responsible for inexplicable miracles, unexplained and spontaneous healing and compassion and…basically rocks our world! Once I asked a great guitarist, what inspired him to compose music and what inspires his performances? Wisely, he simply said, “Love.” That stuck with me for a long time. He didn’t elaborate or speak more about it. It was a one word answer.
Being the cerebral Brainiac I am, I thought to myself…well…what kind of love? Platonic love, romantic love, motherly love, sibling love, compassionate love, unconditional love? Nope. Just Love. Love is love. Humans…we crave it, need it, desire it, seek it, are inspired by it, motivated by it, express it in all of our dance, art, music and song! In spiritual circles, they say that energy is unlimited and is able to reach across time, space and dimensions. Simply, Love is the most powerful energy of them all. The ancient Roman poet Virgil said, “Love conquers all.”
Well then.
Putting on the Chakradance music, instantly the feeling was very different in sensation from the first three chakras which were highly percussive. I was transported to an innocent and heavenly, airy, calming music. A little surprised, I had no idea what to actually do. No percussion? No wild stamping? Hm. So I just swayed, closed my eyes and listened. A slowly, I grew tall to bring my neck and cheek to the sky and with open arms slowly rising overhead, it was dreamy, trance-like and melancholy. And then the wind blew, the sun shone on my face and soon I was blowing in the breeze.
The warm, benevolent masculine breeze always present in Maui. Hawaiian Hula to the Celtic bagpipes. Many soft hand movements came to me, of course the flamenco floreos…but more! My hands were in prayer, made a cup, yin and yang symbol, flower and cradle for life. I imagined swaying my newborn babies in my arms, the biggest loves of my life. Then my arms became the wings of a butterfly, fluttering widely, with helices and spiral shapes. All hands became the soft caress of a mother. Mother! And that’s where all the tears came and BOOM!
Chakradance is a healing moving meditation. I see that I have been approaching it all wrong from the perspective of a dancer. Riiiigghttt. This innovative healing modality created by Natalie Southgate is intended to release emotions locked up in each chakra. (Yes, I did read that somewhere.) The music has been thoughtfully created to bring the dancers into another world, another time, another space, to unlock closed chakras to release old baggage, issues, problems for healing.
OK then. I guess I am not over the death of my mother who died earlier this year after a 6 year battle with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. Tears flowed for this fighter-dancer-tiger and for me to have this type of experience is profound. With no battle, no challenge, no stamping to do, no name to live up to, the heart chakra dance was emotionally pure and purged some emotions that I suppose I have been bottling up. Today, on my third try dancing Anahata, I became a orange golden butterfly and soared in the sky. I created a protective golden shield over the earth and just felt freedom.
For all of us, adults especially, we carry great burdens on our shoulders. It is important to take time to care for ourselves. Self-care. Especially on Day 100 of pandemic times here in Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is a luxurious way to spend an hour dancing out your pain and baggage. The heart chakra marries the divine father and divine mother, heaven and earth, Shiva and Shakti, light and shadows. It represents balance and really, the heart is the middle ground that connects our lower and higher selves.
I would say, IMPORTANT. We have to heal our hearts and be aware of what we actually need to do to keep ourselves health. Remember, the heart is energetically more powerful than the mind. So, time to quiet the mind and move forward with heart.
Stay tuned for Throat Chakra Dance Blog.
Covid Day 100 Blog…yes it has been 100 days.
“Dancing The Heart Chakra, Anahata”
North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
June 19, 2020
About The Author
Kasandra “La China”
Flamenco Dancer and Instructor, Director, Producer, Choreographer
Kasandra is one of Canada’s leading flamenco artists well-known for her unrelenting drive to push the artistic envelope. A tirelessly ambitious artistic director, soloist and prima bailaora, Kasandra is always hungry for new sources of inspiration and knowledge, constantly pushing her musical and choreographic mastery to its limits. She has been identified as “Vancouver’s flamenco star who has embodied flamenco with her dynamic, precise style” by Flamenco-World magazine. Read More
Beautifully written, Kasandra, thank you!
Amor Vincit Omnia.
P x