The Class
When I enter the class at my local David Lloyd gym, there are four other women already in the room, barefoot, in their gym gear and eagerly waiting for something to happen… We start by slipping on a pair of headphones, the teacher explains we’ll hear the music, the beats and also her voice to guide us through the meditative dance – it’s akin to a silent rave. The class begins gently, we’re dotted around the room and on our feet, easing in with deep breaths and light meditation; the teacher tells us to close our eyes and begins to move our awareness to each body part, starting at our feet and working her way up to our facial muscles, with the aim of getting the whole body relaxed.
So far, so predictable.
Still standing, we’re then told to breathe more deeply and sway gently, slowly increasing the movement. The teacher walks us through the dance with instructions, affirmations, and words of encouragement; “Deep breaths, let that energy move”, “Where can you feel tension?”, “Can you loosen that..?”
The aim of the class is to feel into your body, let your inhibitions go and feel the ultimate freedom. Once I’ve found the rhythm in this slow movement, I began to move into a full-blown freestyle dance, encouraged and guided by the teacher, who begins shaking, moving and spinning around the room.
We’re swinging our arms, swaying our hips, bending the elbows, extending our arms, fingertips gliding through the air, our knees bent jerking forward and backward, eyes closed, with just a little peek now and then to check we’re not in each other’s space.
The teacher chants: “Can you go a little deeper?”, “Can you move a little more?”, “Don’t think, just move,” and if we weren’t moving, shaking and gyrating enough, we are now.
At first I feel silly, embarrassed, afraid of what the others in the class are thinking of my lunatic moves. But once I start to feel the rhythm and begin not to give a f*, the embarrassment or shame fades away and I melt into the moves. Eyes closed, eyes open, slow paced or fast paced, I weirdly feel like I’m in control, and have more power.
How does it make you feel?
Music has a huge effect on our mood and emotions, Spirit Dance taps into this through binaural frequencies (a type of music made up of two tones of different frequencies at the same time creating an illusion in the brain to promote relaxation, and meditative or creative states). The music of Spirit Dance consists of varied tempos, rhythms and melodic moods; deep percussion, tribal beats and animal sounds; like birdsong or primate sounds, created bespoke for the classes, by Ibizan artists from Six15am.
I enjoyed the music so much, I asked for the playlist.
Finally, after what feels like at least half an hour (who’s counting when you’re dancing like a maniac in a room full of strangers) we wind down into a spoken meditation by the instructor, to calm our energy and release any remaining tension. The aim of the dancing is to loosen up any stagnant energy, open the chakras to get this energy moving around your body and then let it all out, let it go, and feel a sense of relief and renewal.
The best part? Anyone can do it. Whether you’re young or old, coordinated or clumsy.
We end with a moment of silence with each of us taking a few calming breaths.
On leaving, I have mixed feelings but the overall one is a high, feeling like I’ve accomplished something good and been brave enough to come out of my shell and crazy-dance in front of complete strangers. My confidence and mood skyrocketed and I found myself smiling as I walked out onto Fulham Broadway.
Spirit Dance to me was empowering, freeing, and so much fun. I’ll definitely be back for another dose!
To find out about joining David Lloyd Clubs, please visit https://www.davidlloyd.co.uk/. *Membership required
