When are you at your best?
When do you feel like everything is coming easy, you are effective, and you are in your element?
A while ago I attended a seminar on the 5Rhythms that were developed by Gabrielle Roth in the 1960’s. Now – I have to admit that I am not a dancer. Dancing to the beat of the 5Rhythms was by far not as enjoyable to me as it was to many other participants. In fact, I found the entire approach a bit suspicious. However, the learnings I took away from this seminar were surprising and much deeper than the actual dancing experience. I found that the 5Rhythms could be used as a metaphorical way to look explore the the kind of energy we use to conduct our lives, relate to others, and go about our business.
Background:
The Moving Center School explains that “The 5Rhythms are a simple, powerful moving meditation”. The 5Rhythms present 5 different stages of movement of Flowing – Staccato – Chaos – Lyrical – Stillness:
The following explanation of the different rhythms is taken directly from the Moving Center School website:
- FLOWING – the fluid, continuous, grounded glide of our own movements
- STACCATO – the percussive, pulsing beat that shapes us a thousand different ways
- CHAOS – the rhythm of letting go, releasing into the catalytic wildness of our dance that can never be planned or repeated
- LYRICAL – the rhythm of trance, where the weight of self-consciousness dissolves, where we lighten up and disappear into our own uniqueness
- STILLNESS – the quiet emptiness, where gentle movements rise and fall, start and end, in a field of silence
Take another look at the descriptions above and then watch the video below and relate the kind of energy of each rhythm to the way you typically conduct business and the way go through your day. It takes a while to look at it metaphorically. Are you in Staccato mode most of the time? Flow? Chaos?
We live our lives in all of these rhythms at some time (figuratively). In fact, as you heard in the video above, the rhythms are so connected that they are referred to as a “wave”, indicating a certain sequence to them.
You will find that you are most home in one of the rhythms. You feel most creative, powerful, aligned, and most authentic in one particular rhythm. However, is that the one you are spending most of your time in? In other words – if you find that you are most powerful, creative, and authentic in the chaos rhythm but you force yourself into staccato mode (or you feel forced to put yourself into staccato mode in response to your environment) you are not leveraging your inner resources to the fullest because you are not operating from your center.
Being able to consciously change from one rhythm – or type of energy – to another is an invaluable skill when you feel that your ability to focus for example is waning. It gives you a chance to shift your energy and refocus by becoming more present. You can change your energy in other ways such as conscious breathing or by focusing on these areas. But of course you can also simply start dancing to the rhythms.
Experiment:
Maybe you are a bit more courageous than I am and you want to try this out? Close the doors, turn up the volume, and move to the beat of the 5Rhythms in the following clip. Think about this: Where do I feel my most natural? The most alive?
Think how you operate in your work and life.
Have fun!
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