ABOUT THE 5RHYTHMS®
"Created by Gabrielle Roth in the late 70's and practiced by tens of thousands worldwide, 5Rhythms® is a philosophy, perspective, performance art and a dynamic movement practice rooted in the principle that if you put the psyche in motion it will heal itself.
Movement is both the medicine and the metaphor, reaching across all languages, cultures and age groups to transform suffering into art, art into awareness, and awareness into action.
Wherever the 5Rhythms are practiced, a community is born to dance, to sweat, to change, to support, and to provide a safe space for each of us to shatter the ego’s hold and awaken the juicy, unpredictable, fascinating, edge-walking, rock star part of ourselves that yearns to be free."
Creativity. Connection. Community.
The 5Rhythms movement practice is...
• Accessible to All: The 5Rhythms practice is designed to be accessible to people of all ages, body types, and levels of experience. It encourages individuals to connect with their innate ability to move and express themselves through dance, regardless of any perceived limitations.
• Self-Discovery through Movement: The practice can facilitate a journey of self-discovery, allowing participants to access their most fluid and creative selves through movement. By engaging with the rhythms, individuals can explore different aspects of themselves and tap into their own unique expressions.
• Healing and Creative Expression: The primary teaching of the 5Rhythms is the belief that movement has the power to catalyze deep healing and creative expression within the individual. By putting the psyche (mind, soul) in motion through dance, individuals can facilitate their own healing processes. “Put your body in motion and your psyche will heal itself.” — Gabrielle Roth
• The Five Rhythms: Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical, and Stillness - serve as the foundational elements of the practice. Each rhythm represents a different energy quality or state of being, and participants explore these rhythms to discover new layers of themselves.
• The Wave: The Wave is a structured movement meditation practice that involves flowing through the five rhythms in a continuous sequence, creating a dynamic and transformative experience. Rather than following predefined steps, participants are encouraged to find their own expression within each rhythm.
• A Lifetime of Self-Discovery: The 5Rhythms practice is described as a series of healing maps for the body, heart, mind, soul, and spirit. It offers a lifelong journey of self-discovery and growth, providing a pathway to awakening and returning to one's true essence.
The 5Rhythms practice offers a holistic approach to personal transformation through movement, inviting individuals to explore the depths of their being and connect with their innate wisdom and creativity.
What to expect from a class with Shauna...
During a 5Rhythms® class we will work our way through a Wave, using the map of this dynamic movement practice. The class will have a balance of instruction mixed with your own movement, whatever that might look like on any given day. Generally, a class will begin with a 20-30 minute warm up. This is an opportunity to arrive into the space and physically warm up. Music will playing, but little instruction. After that I will begin to guide the class through each of the Rhythms, Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness. Some classes we will work with a theme or a specific Rhythm and others the group energy will guide the class. A large variety of music is played, all to get your body moving. There are no steps to learn no left or right, no counting, just your courageous heart, breath and body.
Shauna has been practicing and studying the 5Rhythms® since 2005 and in 2010/11 she completed the 5Rhythms® Teacher Training Program, certified by Gabrielle Roth and The Moving Center® School to teach 5Rhythms Waves™ level classes and workshops. "The Dancing Path begins with Waves: the foundation and fundamentals of the practice. There is a spiritual force driving our dance that strips us to our naked soul, a force that allows us to be the dancer rather than do the dance. This force is unleashed by the 5Rhythms into an energetic language that reveals us to ourselves in action, alone, together as a tribe."
Shauna's classes are credited towards Teacher Training with the 5Rhythms® Teachers Association (5RTA).
All are welcome, all fitness levels and no experience is required.
Flowing • Staccato • Chaos • Lyrical • Stillness
Each rhythm is interpreted by individuals in a uniquely personal way, opening them to a new sense of freedom and possibility that is both surprising and healing, exhilarating as well as deeply restorative. It is, in essence, “exercise for the right brain.” When we practice 5Rhythms, we learn to creatively express aggressiveness and vulnerability, emotions and anxieties, edges and ecstasies. It reconnects us to cycles of birth & death and hooks us into humanity and the spirit of all living things. Within the group context we create connection and community and hone our instincts and our intuitions. We are made up of all walks of life – every culture, religion, race, gender, age and sexual preference are welcome. 5Rhythms transcends dance. The movement is the medicine, the meditation and the metaphor. Together we peel back layers, lay masks down, and dance till we disappear…Only to rediscover ourselves through it all.
Flowing
In Flowing, we physically practice the art of being fluid in our bodies. Flowing is the pipeline to our inner truth, the impulse to follow the flow of one’s own energy, to be true to oneself—listening and attending to our needs, receptive to our inner and outer worlds. When we open up to the flow of our physical beings, all other pathways open. It is one of the most beautiful and fascinating ways of dancing—to be in, to be around, and to watch.
People that embody the Rhythm of Flowing are supple, flexible, surrendered and trust their feet to lead them where they are meant to go.
STACCATO
In Staccato we physically practice the power of masculine energy. It is percussive and strong and promotes connection with the rest of the world. Staccato is the gateway to the heart. It shows us how to step out into the world connected to our feet and our feelings. This rhythm is the ruler of our linear world, the ruler of the warrior part of us, the part of us that shows up as truth and clarity. It is the part of us that stands up for what we care about, who we love, and what we love.
Staccato is the fierce teacher of boundaries. And it is the protector and ambassador of our fluid being. Visually, a man or woman fully embodied in the Rhythm of Staccato is defined, clear, connected and not fearful of the transparent expression of their heart. Whether dancing Staccato alone, in partnership, or in groups—it is always a powerful experience.
CHAOS
In Chaos we physically practice the art of fully releasing our bodies - we let go of the head, spine, hips and feet and move faster than we can think. Chaos breaks us free of our illusions and throws us headfirst into the beat. It takes us on the journey from “I can’t” to “I will”. The simple practices of Chaos immediately bring us back to our bodies, to the moment. This rhythm liberates us from all ideas about who we are and gives us a real experience of being total, free, intuitive and creative.
Chaos is the gateway to the big mind. Dancing Chaos is the practice of going into the unknown, not fearing what’s on the other side. Visually we look like a big, hot, giant, sweaty mess overflowing with cathartic energy. This is our big dance, our break out dance, our break through dance.
LYRICAL
In Lyrical we practice the art of coming out of Chaos. It is the physical, energetic, emotional and spiritual dancing rebirth. The practice of Lyrical teaches us how to break out of destructive patterns and surrender into the depths of the fluid, creative repetitions of our soulful self, bubbling up from the deepest parts of ourselves, to the integrity and dignity that we often forget is within us.
Lyrical is expansive and connects us to our humanity, timeless rhythms, repetitions, patterns and cycles. Lyrical is more of a state of being than a Rhythm, as it can be a crystal clear expression of any of the Rhythms in their lightness. We become light in our feet, like birds flying in the air—but make no mistake, in Lyrical we are grounded and fully empowered.
STILLNESs
Being Still and doing Nothing are totally different. Stillness moves, both within and all around us. The dance is our vehicle, our destination is the Rhythm of Stillness; our challenge is to be a vessel that keeps moving and changing. Physically, in the dance of Stillness, we move in slow motion—like highly unpredictable meditative Tai Chi masters. Shapes from the past, the present and the future come through us—shapes of the Feminine and the Masculine and the magic dance they do together. Moving in Stillness and being still in motion fuses the accumulation of our bodies’ life experiences into our true wisdom. Eventually we dissolve into sitting meditation, where all the other Rhythms of our journey converge in the vital resonance of Stillness.
Each time we dance into Stillness, we practice the art of making humble and mindful endings interpreted by our higher connected self. This carries through to all of our endings in life—the end of this dance, this day, this relationship, or this life cycle. Good endings mean taking responsibility for the whole journey, distilling wisdom from our experience so that we may begin the next wave or cycle clean and not carrying the past with us.
*Text taken from 5Rhythms® website.
Books by Gabrielle Roth
Maps To Ecstasy (New World Library, 1989)
Sweat Your Prayers (Tarcher/Putnam, 1997)
Connections (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004)
Gabrielle by Robert Ansell (Raven Recording Inc 2015)
For more information about The 5Rhythms teachings, books, music and worldwide teachers go to
www.5rhythms.com