Article:
Meditation in Motion
by Rev. Sue Annabrooke Jones
Excerpted from an article appearing in the October-November 2005
issue of The Isis Scrolls. Copyrighted by the author.
In previous articles, we looked at a sampling of meditation methods that require stilling
the physical body. In this article we get moving — with diverse meditation methods that engage the whole
body as part of the meditative experience. Discussed below are two popular types of sacred dance and two forms of Chinese
movement meditation.
Sacred Dance
Dance movement is a way to communicate the divine ideal, to invoke the
Presence Within and to
celebrate our connection with the Divine Source. Various forms of sacred dance have been practiced in
every culture since earliest times in human history.
On an individual level, sacred dance can reunite body and soul, and open the mind for mystical
revelation and ecstasy, in a way that no other spiritual practice or form of worship can. Collectively,
sacred dance has the power to reunite the community in spirit and to affirm humanity's profound
connection with the natural world and the higher planes of reality.
Today we are seeing a tremendous resurgence of interest in sacred dance — a broad,
diverse category of movement meditation that includes such things as ecstatic dancing, trance dancing and liturgical
dance. Two forms of sacred dance, Sufi turning and Messianic dance, are discussed briefly here.
Sufi Turning
Sufism (SOOF-ism) is generally regarded as the mystical branch of Islam. The most striking
example of how the Sufi view differs from that of its traditional counterpart can be found in its
interpretation of the mantra la ilaha illa 'llah. This phrase, said to remain constantly on the lips of every
Muslim, is understood by nonSufi Muslims as, "There is no God but God." But Sufis interpret it to mean,
"There is nothing but God."
Sufism asserts the idea that the separation of the individual from God is merely conceptual and
illusory, so the goal of ritual dancing, like other Sufi practices, is to remove this illusory separation.
The Sufis are world famous for their whirling, or turning, as it iss better known, in which
participants chant and dance themselves into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Meditation on the dhikr
(pronounced zikr and often spelled that way), meaning "the remembrance of God," drives the whole
intoxicating experience.
One need not be a Sufi to practice this form of sacred dance. Classes and workshops in Sufi
turning are offered in major cities across North America.
Messianic Dance
Messianic Judaism is a loosely related body of religious movements, such as the well known
and controversial group, Jews for Jesus. Messianic Jews maintain their connection with Judaism but look to the New
Testament of the Bible as scripture and believe Jesus, or Yeshua, as they call him, to be their Messiah.
Messianic dance is a lively, high-spirited form of sacred dance that is rapidly growing in
popularity across North America, both among Messianic Jews and non-Jews. It combines traditional Jewish folk dance steps with
contemporary worship music, and it also contains some Israeli dances and songs of a spiritual nature.
Messianic dance provides a context for praise, worship, communal sharing,
musicality, physical exercise and the expression of spiritual joy.
Chinese Movement Meditation
Now we turn to two light and beautiful Chinese imports, t'ai chi and ba gua. These
are internal, or "soft-style" martial arts, which means they are practiced primarily as meditative art forms and for
fitness, rather than for self-defense.
Ta'i Chi Chu'an
Ta'i chi chu'an, better known as simply ta'i chi (ty-JEE) is possibly
the fastest growing form of exercise in the world. There are different types of ta'i chi, from short forms
of 24 movements to long forms of 108 movements.
The various dance like movements, which are based on plants, animals and elements of nature,
are performed in a slow, deliberate way, using the whole body as a unified force. When ta'i chi is performed correctly,
tradition holds, the various parts of the body "should be connected like pearls on a thread."
Ta'i chi emphasizes balance, flow, grace, concentration and peace, and its purpose is to anchor
those qualities in the practitioner, so that they extend into his or her life. Another of its goals is to help the
practitioner attune more fully to the universal interplay of yin and yang.
Ta'i chi is also said to produce balance, strength and calmness in the body, while training the
muscles and nerves. Additionally, research has shown it to reduce anxiety after stressful situations. Ta'i
chi also reduces stress in the moment, in an interesting way: When thoughts about how to proceed with
the pattern fill the mind, plaguing thoughts of problems and stressful situations are crowded out. This
demand for a here-and-now focus promotes psychological well being, while reinforcing the principle that the
goal and the process are one.
Ta'i chi is rooted in a much older system of healing known as qigong, or chi kung.
It is believed that ta'i chi first appeared as a martial art during the 10th Century but was perfected three centuries later
by a Taoist monk named Chang San-feng, who got the idea from watching a snake fight with a crane.
Ba Gua
Ba gua (also spelled bagua, or pa kua, all pronounced bah-GWA) meditation is based both on the
sport of boxing and on the eight trigrams of the 3,000-year-old metaphysical treatise, the I Ching, or
Book of Changes. It can be performed indoors or outdoors.
There are many different styles of ba gua, but all are performed by walking a circle with a low
stance facing the center, and periodically changing direction as by executing various forms and postures.
One who takes up the practice first learns flexibility through these exercises, then advances to more
complex forms and internal power dynamics.
Ba gua is practiced to cultivate the tao ("the way"), to achieve inner balance, to correctly apply
one's chi (spiritual energy) within the body and to experience the connection between the macrocosm and
the microcosm.
Motion meditation is just one of the more than 100 meditation
methods found in the Mental Yentl Database. To find out if motion meditation is recommended for you,
order a Mental Yentl
Reading.
|
