Bringing people down into their bodies, booties, and hearts is part of the reason I was put on this eart. I have been asked a lot lately if I am “only” teaching dance these days or do I still teach asana too. Sadly this often is accompanied with a condescending attitude. As if some how one kind of movement trumps another or the “pose” or shape the body is making determines if it is yoga or not. Yoga means to unify. To call back all the disintegrated parts of yourself and return them to wholeness. There is no mention of Triangle pose, Warrior 1, or even handstand (which you know I love.)
Movement and music is something that is not only in my blood, but in my cellular memory. I was dancing in the womb as my mother was a dancer. We lived in an apartment on top of her dancing school; Miss Marylou’s New School of Dance. I began taking classes pretty much by the time I could walk. As a young adult I tried to push it away in attempt to be nothing like my mother and to avoid the advances of creepy men who thought just because I danced wild and free at the club I was inviting them into my personal space! I became rigid, constricted, & disconnected from my body.
It’s ironic that what I tried to “escape” has become one of the things I am known for today. Dance is hands down one of the most healing, transformative and liberating art forms/practices that I do and share. I never had “the plan” to integrate dance into my yoga teaching it is something that happened very organically which out of Deep Exhale and SoulFire have been born.
So the answer to the question is no, I don’t “only” teach anything. My yoga is a weaving together of all the movement forms (classical and not) that I have studied, love and embodied. My yoga is what helps MEunify my body, heart, mind and soul and that is the place in which I share from.
Peace, love, and smiles
~ Cristi