#ThursdayExpressions: Luminosity

#ThursdayExpressions is your weekly invitation to dance online. This Thursday, I invite you to reveal your own Luminosity.

“Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”

Martin Luther King Jr

We are standing in the unlit wilderness. We don’t know which way to go, through the cold, the floods, hunger and sickness. Yet there is a tiny inner light that shines, as soon as we set ourselves free from conditioning. The natural state of the heart-mind is luminosity, creating its own light to guide us forward, step-by-instinctive-step, moment-by-present-moment. A subtle impulse creates a gesture, a movement, a path through the dark night. The body radiates light once the layers that hide our inborn brightness drop away. And any light, while revealing itself, illuminates everything around it.

Bodhicitta, the awakened heart of compassion in Buddhism, is said to be the quality that reveals the natural, luminous state of the embodied mind. Whatever we do that is motivated by compassion, benefits ourselves and those around us. First, in stillness, silence and solitude we tune into what glows within. Then under the warm light of relationships, we support each other’s contributions. Once each light shines through the web, a single star becomes Kurumbi’s Path, a humble algae creates the luminescent ocean.

During this curated music set, you are invited to follow your body’s impulse to move. There are no dance steps, no choreography, simply your instinctive impulses, gestures and innate rhythm. We were made to dance and let our unique contributions to the world shine forth, illuminating the darkness. Perhaps you are a healer, a truth-speaker, a helper, an academic, a teacher. We all have our own luminous presence in the world. I invite you to share it with us all during this Thursday Expressions.

For those new to the practice: Expressive Movement is a somatic meditation, enabling a greater sense of presence and freedom. With music, and through a moving mindfulness practice, we are able to activate conscious awareness, creative action and authentic connection. The five phase practice, founded by Sian Palmer (@dancingsian) begins with a gentle warm up, and then moves through a deeper sensing into our present experience, expressing what is moving through us, and then releasing, dreaming into new possibilities, and finally opening to a sense of integration.

#ThursdayExpressions are a drop-in movement meditation class facilitated by an Expressive Movement facilitator. In this hour-long class, Lucy Draper-Clarke (@lucyheartmind) will guide you to follow your body’s way through an Expressive Movement Wave using a curated music set. These weekly classes have been hosted since Expressive Movement’s conception in 2009 and are home to a growing community of dancers.

Join us online to dance in real time every Thursday at 6:30pm SAST (5.30pm BST). All are welcome. No previous experience is needed. 

Investment: R60 Scholarship Rate; R100 Full Exchange; R140 Sponsoring you and a Scholarship dancer  

Bookings: Quicket https://qkt.io/aOvfeC

Platform: Zoom (After registering, you'll receive an e-mail confirmation with the relevant login details)