Defying age by dancing

Conventional dancing involves specific sets of steps, rules, and combinations, where each flick of the hand, each movement of the feet, each sway of the hips follows a structured rhythm to express a thought or an emotion.

The case is different in Chi' dance, a form of dancing developed by Joanne Floresta sometime in 2007.

An aerobics instructor, Floresta has been in the wellness industry since 2006 and has been conducting Chi' dance classes in her own fitness and wellness center in Las Piñas in Metro Manila. Before she ventured into the wellness scene, she was a former member of the dance group Powerdance.

Unlike traditional dances like flamenco, jazz, and hip hop; Chi' dance does not follow any choreography. Instead, the body flows, moves, acts on its own, following the person's inner energy.

"The Chi' dance is a transcendental dance, a transcendental gift. It incorporates dancing and mind and body healing," Floresta explained.

She developed the dance by accident, after she became aware of aerobics and "energy healing" in 2006. While doing her work-out, she was surprised that she started to move using the energies inside her body. Her body moved as if of its own will, not hers, and she said she felt light after the dance.

Chi literally means air, and the whole concept of the Chi' dance is to flow unabated and unrestricted like air.

Belly breathing

The dance starts with meditation and "belly breathing". Participants are asked to stand up, close their eyes, and analyze how they breathe.

According to Floresta, normal breathing should come from the stomach. If the chest constricts, she calls it "stress-breathing." It is unhealthy, she told the participants of the 1st Lifeshop Seminar conducted by the Abundance Corporation on Wednesday.

"We should use the life force in our stomach when we breathe," she explained. "Women always complain that they have big stomachs, that's because they don't use the life force here (stomach)."

With closed eyes, the participants were asked to focus on the energy in their mid-navels and move the energy to the feet, then to the head. "Channel your energy to the earth," she instructed when the energy reached the feet. She then asked everyone to lift their hands and channel the energy to the sky.

"Tap every part of your body," she continued after she asked everyone to open their eyes slowly, "Your body wants to be touched."

After the meditation, Floresta asked everyone to close their eyes again. This is where the magic of the Chi' dance begins.

One with the world

The Chi' dance does not follow any steps or require a lot of flexibility. Chi' dancers are asked to let the energy of the earth flow through their bodies and move with it.

"When you close your eyes, you will feel your body and your body will say, 'Move this way, move this way'. Once you follow, or flow with your energy your body dictated, whether you're a dancer or not, help healing now comes in," Floresta told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

According to Floresta, dancers experience a state of "Satori," a moment of "no mind and total presence," where the feelings take the driver's wheel and thinking takes a backseat.

"Beauty comes in the stillnes of your presence. You are present in your body and you feel enlightenment. Presence is needed to become aware of your beauty," she said.

The Chi' dance enhances the unnamed "inner beauty" and as it is enhanced, it will eventually shine through to the physical body, Floresta said. "When you start exuding the beauty inside, it will now exude to the outer. It will not retain itself there, it will come out."

Timeless beauty

Floresta also pointed out that the Chi' dance has the capability to delay ageing, an interesting concept for most participants.

When a dancer experiences "stillness," the cells undergo self-renewal faster. "If you think too much of the past and future, it impairs the cells' capacity for self-renewal. If you think of the past and future, your cells' renewal will slow down, accelerating your ageing cells," she explained.

Floresta noted that the cells has a different "ageing process" than the biological age. The ageing cells inside the body has nothing to do with the biological age, she added, as the biological age is based on a person's birthday.

"Being present creates awareness in the physical realm thus the slowing down of the physical body," Floresta explained. She also added that being more conscious of the body's molecular structure makes the physical body dense, lessening the possibility of sagging due to gravity.

As people grow old, they have a tendency to absorb unnecessary energies that makes them appear older. Chi' dance can flush out these unwanted energies.

Trusting your body

Tapping the inner energy is not easy for first-timers, said Floresta, especially if they are not sensitive to the flow of energy in their system. But it becomes easier to tap the energy again once a person was able to unleash it once.

"It is definitely easier to tap energy again because you have already unleashed it, so it would be easy for you now to feel it. Once you feel the energy, you start to move with the music. It's not simply copying the steps. We just move what we want and our bodies say so," Floresta said.

The energy has diferent forms too. Some feel a tingling effect while some feel something hot or cold. But despite the differences, Floresta assured dancers that the body knows what energy to keep and what to release.

"Doing the Chi' dance allows you to release the negative energy and replenish it with new energy. Your body will never leave you astray," she said confidently.

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Joanne Floresta conducts fitness and wellness classes in her center VoxDei Circle in Las Pinas. You can contact her through 09228187573 or 09282614523 or email joannefloresta@yahoo.com or voxdeicircle@yahoo.com. Abundance's Lifeshop seminar is an annual workshop that focuses on woman and beauty. Read the original article here.