Bharat natyam and the art of not thinking

From the base of the spinal chord to the top of the head, let me tell you how bharat natyam dance does work out things for the one who practices.

The main position of the legs is that they have to be open with knees facing towards the outside: it is an initial position to understand the direction of the legs, between them an empty space of the shape of a diamond is formed. Why is this position good for the bottom of the spinal chord and all the pelvic area? Because it simply opens it up in a firm and controlled way. The hips infact do not move. This lower part is one block. The more this area, called mooladhara in sanskrit, does open the more fragrance of wisdom and joy will emerge into the personality of the student expressing thru the attitude and the shining eyes. This is a very basic principle of ayurveda and also sahaja yoga, the most modern/ancient yoga which is inspiring thousands of people in all different aspects of their life around the world.

Second let’s jump directly to the top of the head. Because there is a strong connection between mooladhara and sahasrara (top of the brain). The more the mooladhara is fixed and established in its own position the better it is for the inner energy (biologically located on it) to rise and reach the head influencing the activity of all the neurons. Now it comes the best part.

My teacher from Kazakistan says “dont think”. Meaning the more you think about the position and the step you want to achieve the worst it is because you’ll get stuck into the thinking and you will loose all the magic of the dance. Therefore this form of classical dance is a perfect catalizer to meditate and be in a thoughtless state of awareness. This dance cannot be learned by memorizing the steps in my experience. The more one try to make effort by memory the more will be disappointed and unhappy with the learning. This is purely a dance of thoughtless state of the person where she just enjoyes and becomes the joy itself duringthe practice. Next part will tell more about other many aspects of studying bharat natyam.