Be Well

Rhythm for Your Soul

Chakradance encourages personal growth and self-discovery.

BY AVA DIAZ

Amanda Boots

CREATING A DYNAMIC SPACE for individuals to discover themselves through active movement, Minnetonka Community Education’s (MCE) Moving Meditation with Chakradance program connects participants’ bodies to internal energies sourced from their aura, spirit, intellect and emotions.

With a goal of embodying the soul, Chakradance fuses ancient meditative wisdom with modern music to encourage healing and self-improvement through movement. As a healing movement practice, Chakradance encourages the body to spontaneously resonate and connect with different sounds. Using music that targets each of the seven chakras or energy points, individuals can rearrange their internal energy systems through individual interpretation.

“It is awakening the soul within oneself, that passion, that dream and that purpose for life,” says Amanda Boots, MCE Chakradance instructor. “It is really just a sense of coming home no matter where you go or what you do, you will always have that physical body as your home, and you can feel safe and secure in that body.”

Discovering it in 2016, Boots says this practice was exactly what she was longing for. As a child, she loved dancing, even sneaking out of her bedroom window on summer nights to embrace the serenity of freely moving her body under the stars. Allowing movement to take over, Boots found that this form of expression made her feel alive. Fast-forward to 2018, she became a Chakradance facilitator through a program by Natalie Southgate, an Australian, who developed Chakradance in 1998 and eventually brought the practice to Minnetonka.

“The beautiful thing about Chakradance is that it is about selfawareness and self-love, and I think that is so important right now,” says Mercedes Scott, MCE’s adult programs manager. “We are looking to give our community lots of options and things to help deal with life.”

The hour-and-a-half MCE class begins with group discussion, followed by indi-

Seven Chakra Journey Base Chakra: Earthy, tribal music that connects with instinctual self

Sacral Chakra: Sensual, flowing music that connects with nurturing, passionate self Solar Plexus Chakra: Fiery, fast-driving beats that connect with inner strength, will and confidence

Heart Chakra: Light, lyrical music that brings forth a sense of love, compassion and peace Throat Chakra: Subtle vibrations connecting with the inner truth and self-expression Third Eye Chakra: Trancing, hypnotic music that encourages the intuitive mind to surrender to guidance and solutions to personal conflicts Crown Chakra: High frequency, heavenly-sounding music connecting to the soul

viduals covering their eyes to encourage a fully immersive experience. Connecting with each chakra, class-goers freely move across the room, with guidance from the instructor, to each of the seven sounds. After going through each chakra, participants remove the eye coverings and color in a mandala with pastels as a way to anchor their experience and document their self-discovery.

MINNETONKA COMMUNITY EDUCATION 4584 Vine Hill Road, Deephaven; minnetonkaschools.org; chakradance.com @TonkaSchools Minnetonka Schools

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