Do you remember how it was like to dance when you were a child? Wild and free and without any restrictions. You just moved your body however you liked to the rhythm of the beat, flowing in every second, fully letting go of control and surrendering to the moment and the music. Your whole body was radiating with joy and light. Sounds beautiful, right?
Well, you can (and should) still dance like this, even if you’re a grown-up now. Of course, if you just start dancing around like crazy in the supermarket, your fellow humans will probably think you are bonkers and might call the police. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t deprive yourself of the many pleasures and benefits of ecstatic dance. We are always told to be serious in our western society, but maybe what we really need is to let our inner child out and embrace our purest self without judgment.
What is ecstatic dance?
Ecstatic dance is a free-form movement and type of dance form, often practiced without a fixed choreography. The idea of ecstatic dance is to completely lend yourself and your body to the rhythm of the music. In ecstatic dance, you move freely through the space leading to a state of trance and ecstasy (hence the name ecstatic). In trance, many dancers find that ecstatic dance brings them into a deep meditative state. In ecstatic dance, one is fully and devotedly in the body and therefore also fully in the present moment.
The effects of ecstatic dance are many and are varying depending on the dancer. A lot of dancers report a feeling of bliss and happiness, due to the ecstatic state of being. Ecstatic dance can also be extremely therapeutic, healing trauma, old wounds and limiting beliefs on a physical level. Many dancers also feel more connected to their peers and their own emotions.
Ecstatic dance is by no means a contemporary New Age practice. It is around since ancient times and has been practiced for centuries. Already in classical Greek times, the maenads, followers of Dionysus, the god of wine and - how could it be any different - religious ecstasy, practiced ecstatic dance. In shamanism practiced throughout the world, ecstatic dance combined with rhythmic drumming are spiritual practices was intended to alter states of consciousness in the individual.
Also, the Sufi whirling, a religious ritual and active meditation where one spins the body in repetitive cycles that were traditionally practiced by the Sufi dervishes is a form of ecstatic dance.
Modern ecstatic dance made a revival in the 1970s with the help of Gabrielle Roth and her 5Rhythms practice. 5Rhythms is a soul journey that connects individuals through their inner and outer worlds by moving the body, freeing the mind and releasing the heart.
Today ecstatic dance is found in many different varieties and traditions throughout the whole world. Many compare modern ecstatic dance to a rave-like setting, but without drugs, alcohol or a nightclub.
How to dance ecstatically?
First of all, there is no right or wrong when it comes to ecstatic dance. While some forms like the Sufi whirling or Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms consist of specific movements and motion sequences, other forms don’t follow any rules at all. The most important thing is to go in with an open mind and without any expectations. Drop your conscious mind at the entrance and just be present in the body.
You can dance as wild and expressive as you want, shake your whole body, jump, make sounds, crawl around the floor, cuddle, scream, make a headstand, joggle your head or just be still - whatever you prefer. The motto of ecstatic dance is dance as if nobody’s watching!
The benefits of ecstatic dance
For most people to get so heavily out of their routine and do something that is considered as „crazy“ in regular western society, there need to be great benefits for physical, mental and emotional health. And there are!
In various studies, dancing has been proven to increase happiness at all levels, and ecstatic dance is not an exception there - it actually might be the dance technique that boosts the feel-good hormone endorphin the most, which says a lot considering that dancing as such is already known to boost the release of endorphins like no other exercise.
Needless to say that ecstatic dance is beneficial for your physical health, as you move your whole body and it can make you sweat within minutes. It also reduces stress on a physiological and mental level. Being completely in the body and moving freely and without thought or restrictions while listening to the music grounds you back into the present moment, lowers the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol and gets you out of the fight-flight mode and into a state of bliss and contentment. You can really shake out all your stress and worries.
During the dance, we disconnect from the beta brain waves that are active in our everyday life and problem-solving skills and connect to a deeper and trance-like state of theta brain waves. Theta brain waves are normally only present in states of sleep or deep meditation but are also activated during ecstatic dance. Theta brain waves are known to enhance creativity, intuition, memory, and learning.
Ecstatic dance is being used more and more today in a therapeutic setting as well. It can help the dancer let go of emotions, process problems from the perspective of the body and not of the conscious mind and heal the inner child, by giving him or her love and attention through the dance. A regular ecstatic dance practice has even been proven to be successful in the treatment against anxiety and depression.
After the dance many participants feel a deep inner bliss, calmness, serenity and deep connection with oneself and surroundings.
Should you try ecstatic dance?
Everyone that loves to move and get unstuck and out of the boring day-to-day routine should try ecstatic dance and let their inner wild soul out. It could be your cure for a more blissful life, especially if you’re the ‘I-cannot meditate-because-I-cannot-sit-still‘-type. Plus, it is extremely bonding and community strengthening, so a great exercise to practice together.
Written by Clara Malzer