Dancing at full moon

It is the highlight of the month. A gathering of women, from all walks of life, dancing non-stop for two hours at the time of the full moon. The moon is a very important influence on women's psyche and also biology, according to traditional Chinese medicine, and marking the full moon phase with a celebratory dance is a powerful age old ritual, performed in many cultures around the world and now performed in a contemporary urban setting in the west.
It is heartening to see  more and more women taking part in this ritual.
I go to these gatherings on a regular basis and truly love them. I always look forward to them. As the doors open, women of all ages, of all shapes and sizes, pour in. We quickly  take our work clothes off  and change into something comfortable, we warm up and we dance.  We sweat, we bond. No men are around and the energy is totally different. We dance because we want to.  The facilitator of these sessions is a Five Rhythms practitioner and together we weave the evening's magic.
I go to the full moon celebration held in Vauxhall, in South London.  I know the women who go there, I have danced with them many times already. I dont necessarily know their names or what they do when they do not dance. But  having been with them, dancing to our heart's content,  dancing till we feel tears of joy streaming down our cheeks, laughing together and holding hands, I know our embodied relationship is strong. Every time I go, I recognise them and when we dance we continue the conversation we have started, non-verbally. It is absolutely wonderful.
The venue where the dance takes place  is a church which usually hosts dance and music events. I also go there for  ecstatic dance sessions with live music, which are events open to both sexes. I love these sessions too, I love the mix of dance with active meditation. I used to be 'banned' from attending these particular gatherings, I unfortunately had a fall out with one of the drummers and for many months he stopped me from going, not hesitating to use intimidatory tactics (not in tune with the community spirit of the events he played for, but human beings are full of contradictions and some are more enlightened than others). It was a ludicruous situation, yet it caused me much distress.  But he abruptly left over a month ago (never underestimate the power of my curses, I say), so I was free to rejoin  the dancers, which I promptly did, the moment I heard he had gone, wishing strongly he should never come back.

As I said, the energy has a different feel and is  more special, when all the women gather  to be with other women.
Dance is a prominent activity in my life at the moment, more than it's ever been in a long time. I have started my movement based clinical practice again, working this time with adults suffering from chronic mental illness - I am in my second year of my course now. I have also, in my spare time,  joined contemporary technique classes as  I felt the need to practise some structured movement for myself.
The last year has been amazing for me, as it afforded me an opportunity to rediscover the body, my body,  and its power of expression. I have become more aware of the importance of emotion and how this can impact our  state of being. I have learnt about distinguishing between emotional pain and chronic dysfunctional bad feelings, between overcontrolled anger and underregulated rage, more mindful of  every change and shift  in the people around me as also within me.
I  regard myself as fortunate for being able to access this information and find strategies to apply this knowledge in my everyday life. Dance and expression through the body has been  the tool  that has enabled me to tap into the energy of emotion.
Dance is therapeutic. Just reiterating it, in case you did not know.

( Photo by Caroline Michael , modelled by Alex B. )