A Path to Healing and Spirituality Through Sacred Dance with Karyne Daniels on the Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

have is dance. That’s my only profession that I’ve ever had. So, I have this really powerful playlist of music, very inspirational and spiritual. So, I lined up my playlist and I put it on, and I went in every morning, and I sought and I beckoned God and I prayed and I meditated, and this continued as my ritual, and I began slowly seeing the fruit of that come forward. And over time, I did start hearing things. I started, I started hearing Spirit lead me. First of all, Spirit gave me the name of my company, which is called Sacred Dance Path. I was like, Oh, okay. And that opened up my mind. And then I heard Spirit say to me, what you’re doing right now, for yourself, you’re doing dances that have meaning and purpose and have a message you’re going to teach other women, the same thing. So, long story short, it was born out of a crisis, and from that point on, I began choreographing these little dances, which are, I call little medicine dances, and I started teaching them around the island. And then I started teaching children’s classes and actually really doing the same thing, but for children, it’s upbeat, really good music that had a message, and the parents loved it, the moms loved it, and then they wanted it for themselves. Moms in there, and it’s just been snowballing. And now, what is it? It’s like 16 years later, and I’m still doing it. Now, I’m doing it online as well.

Manon Bolliger  06:59

Wow, that’s quite it’s quite a story. But it’s like, it just shows, you know, sometimes we just have to check in, you know, in and, you know, give ourselves that time. You know, whether it’s in prayer or in whatever, but open the space to receive information. You know, it’s like, it’s quite amazing that it, I mean, it’s not surprising, but it’s amazing that it came to you that way. Oh, interesting.

Karyne Daniels  07:29

I’ve always been a spiritual person. I remember at five years old, I believed in God. Now when my relatives, they were Puerto Ricans from New York, and they’d all sit around the table talking about God and church, and I would listen around the corner, and I was like, I was always fascinated when they spoke about God. And so it was always a subject that resonated with me. And I always kind of look deeper into things that would happen in my life, even in high school. I would say, Oh, that was God, you know, if something kind of synchronistic happened. So I’ve always been leaning in that direction. Then, of course, as an adult, living a very spiritual life, but in my classes, that’s what I try to inspire my students to do, is first, I always remind them why we’re here. It’s not just a dance class. It’s the dance is like an excuse, and then we use the dance to go deeper. So I think it’s really important that men and women take the time every day, even if it’s five minutes, just tune in and tap in and get instructions from…

Manon Bolliger  08:44

So, what do? What do you think movement actually? How does it play into all of this? Like, you know? I mean, because people can sit and meditate, um, thank God they came up with walking meditations because I’m going nuts.

Karyne Daniels  09:04

I do my walk every morning too.

Manon Bolliger  09:07

But, um, but what is it about movement that you feel connects?

Karyne Daniels  09:16

Well, I think God is moving. God is the earth, and God is movement. And when we lock step with the Spirit, then we are in the flow. I think there’s also a value as well to stillness. So you know, it’s both. But I say, you know, God is in the movement, and that’s number one. Number two, to stay healthy as individuals, we have to move energy through our body. It can get stuck in different parts, and it can fester, and, you know, disease can come out of that. So we really have to be built, built vigilant, to keep energy moving, cycling through and in that we can let go of things that don’t serve us and receive new energies and new ideas and new vibrations. So movement, on a practical level, it’s great for blood flow, clears the cobwebs. I know when I go to teach my class and my students come in too. Sometimes it’s after a long day of work, and they’re drudging up the stairs, and they’re like, Oh, I almost didn’t make it today. And I’m like, Just wait. And then after class, nobody wants to leave. It’s like they’re lit up. I can see a glow around their face, full energy changes. So there’s that, then there’s that meditative quality as you’re moving, if you put your prayer into the movement, it kind of activates your prayer. It gives life to it. I’ve gotten some of my best breakthroughs and resolutions and answers while dancing. Sometimes I’ll even write it down as a point of contact. I need an answer for something in my life. I’ll write it down, fold it up, and I’ll tuck it in and put it over my heart, and then dance with it as a point of contact, as a way of showing my faith and my intention of seeking an answer. That’s a wonderful practice. Does get best results.

Manon Bolliger  11:54

So the difference between dance and movement in your mind is what in the way that you I mean, not when you were doing choreographic dancing, and you know when people go, Okay, well, that’s a whole other level, but in the way that you’re talking now, what is the difference between? Because a lot of people will say, Oh, my God, I can’t dance. I’ve got two left feet. Then you say movement, and they seem like, yeah, okay, everyone’s going to move. So what is it for you? Is there…is there actually a difference between dance and movement?

Karyne Daniels  12:36

Well, I call it sacred dance. So that term, and it is universally used, and many cultures have their form of sacred dance. So sacred dance is dance that brings focus to God or creator or spirit. And so it’s with a completely different intention. So the intention with sacred dance is not to be flashy, not to be doing big executions of movement or technical things. It could be just a gesture. It could be just lifting the hands and swaying. But if your heart is posturing in prayer, you’re doing sacred dance. So that’s what my what I promote, is sacred dance. And it could be, as I said, just very simple movement to very what I do, Polynesian. So I do hula Tahitian. I weave in the indigenous form with contemporary form. But, and I always tell people, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and if you don’t get one step that I’m doing, as long as you’re in the vibe and you’re seeking, you’re going to receive so yeah. There’s worldly dance, you know, dance for fun at the nightclub, which I love doing too, where you just going to break a sweat and you’re going to move and groove. And then there’s sacred dance, which is intentional, which is meditative, which is prayerful, which goes deeper into the deeper layers, and really it helps build your connection to the Creator. That would describe the difference.

Manon Bolliger  14:31

Okay, and when you say, you would, you know, in this sacred dance, you’re praying. What does prayer…because, again, that has lots of meanings too. What do you understand by pray?

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Karyne Daniels  16:01

Well, I come from a Christian perspective, but my students are all faiths, so everyone is welcome in the class. And so really, it’s just communication with your maker. I mean, most people can gather around that we have a higher power, there’s a higher vibration. And so it’s consciously communicating with that. And for me, it’s talking to God through my dance, and sometimes even using each gesture as a word. What one of my quotes, because I have a series of dance quotes that I read, is “Dance like God is watching.” When you adopt that mindset, okay, my Creator, the source of life, the supply of my blessings, and my healings, and my needs is watching me. Would I dance? How would I show myself? How would I gesture? How would I communicate through movement to show my gratitude, my thankfulness for the gift of life? Sometimes we just do that. You know, I’ll just put on some beautiful inspirational music. And I’ll say we’re just going to do a love dance to God. We’re just going to communicate in your own way and tap in and as you’re dancing, listen, listen with the ear, your literal ear, and the ear in your heart. See what comes through it. It’s really powerful. It’s transformative. It’s very common to have my students just go into tears, right? And I say, keep going, keep going. That’s it. The spirit is coming upon you right now, stay in that, and I’ll direct them to stay in that, because the tears aren’t a bad thing. You know that getting closer and closer to the spirit and your soul is reacting. So everyone prays in a different way. I pray out loud. Sometimes I talk, so I have an audible sound. So there’s a power in the audible. Then you add movement, then you add emotion and feeling. So I try to include it, all spiritual, emotional, all elements happening at once. And sometimes you could go in with no intention. You just want to tap in. Sometimes you go into the dance with an intention, like I have a need. I need a healing, or, God help me with this? A job, a breakthrough in my work, or finances, or family restoration, it could be what any subject you can bring that. And I’ve seen healings happen as well, right in the middle of the dance.

Manon Bolliger  19:19

Yeah, I can see that. And the other thing too. And it brings the…it takes you out of your mind, the focus of thoughts, because now the body speaks its own language. So you’re naturally more creative if you allow your body to take you where it’s going to take you in the dance, you know. So I think that’s a different connection as well. And when you’re sitting and again, not to…I’m not saying it’s wrong to sit and meditate, but a big, consuming aspect of learning to meditate is to work with these thoughts, you know, and it’s like because they’re the predominant thing happening when nothing’s happening. I mean, there’s your breath, but I think when you’re moving, it’s almost like you take away that layer of complication, and then your body is free, if you allow it right. And then it’s like another layer that’s happening that makes it easier to communicate. And I think that’s why so many kids, they naturally dance, right? They, you know, they hear a sound or music or rhythm, and it’s in them, you know, and they, they’re free with that. And then, as we become adults, we, you know, we create all these boundaries.

Karyne Daniels  20:51

Yeah, we lose it, and we have to find it again.

Manon Bolliger  20:54

Yeah, I agree.

Karyne Daniels  20:56

I have my group of women that I teach here on Maui, we’re just like a bunch of little girls in the studio, just uninhibited, you know, just free, you know, let’s, you know. I always inspire them to just dance freely, and I call them divine daughters, as a divine daughter, dance. How does a divine daughter dance? You know, I kind of try to say things like that to get their mind around it, to set the tone. But yeah, there’s a child like a childlike quality, which is very powerful, because we do need to be like children. We see, though we age and we get older, we can still be childlike, and as a reflection of that

Manon Bolliger  21:54

I………………….nteresting. Okay, so is there anything else that, because I really don’t know your field, and you know, is there anything else that you think that is really important that people understand about this whole process, or, if people have, you know, conditions that you know, because this is the Healers Cafe, right? So people are often looking at, you know, what can this modality or that do for them? Where would you tell them to start with dance and with this form of connection, where…where do they start?

Karyne Daniels  22:46

Well, the first of all, this sacred dance is for everyone, even men, you know, men and women. And it’s really just at its simplest. It’s just moving naturally and so don’t think of any like I said earlier, big, dramatic dance moves. It could be swaying back and forth. It could be just pacing, you know, pacing in your living room and just lifting your hands, and before you know it, your hands are going to want to do something else. Then just…then they’re going to go to the right, and then they’re going to go to the left, and then one’s going to reach and then all of a sudden, you’re doing these moves, and you’re creating your own movement. So they could, first of all, just start naturally, just start with lifted hands and swaying, and then they’ll naturally go number two, pick a song or music that you love. So music is half, half the experience. So my classes that I teach are just the music is stellar. So music alone just leads the women into movement. So pick music that’s inspiring, maybe spiritual, maybe it’s a worship, maybe it’s, you know, some type of song, even an instrumental that moves you or that you’ve always loved. Or every time it comes on, you go, Oh, I love this song. Put that on and get your playlist going. Then just set an intention, whether it’s God, I want to hear you, or I have a healing that I need. If you have a healing, put your hand on that part of your body and dance. It’s a heart healing, your hips, your head, your shoulder. Just believe that the spirit is coming in and see that, see that part of your body renewed, restored back to its rightful state of health. Speak words of gratitude and love over that spot. And all of this is happening while you’re moving, while you’re swaying. So I do a practice in my classes called ho’oponopono. Have you heard of that?

Manon Bolliger  25:22

Yes, I have. Yeah.

Karyne Daniels  25:24

We do it in dance form. It’s very unique, and…

Manon Bolliger  25:29

Is it difficult to demonstrate it. Or do you find it’s hard sitting but…

Karyne Daniels  25:34

Um, well, it’s very simple. Okay, you know the whole ho’oponopono consists of four phrases. And the first phrase is, I’m sorry, and so this is the gesture for I’m sorry, and we’re just swaying, yeah. The next statement is, please forgive me, that we offer a cup of forgiveness as we’re swaying and breathing. The next phrase is, I love you, and I tell my students to create waves of love over their body or the area that needs healing. The final phrase is thank you, because we always end with gratitude, and then it repeats and it goes so we’re basically just swaying our hips. That’s where the hula comes in, very powerful to sway and use the core, and then we continue with those gestures. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I love you and thank you. I also invite my students to say it out loud as we’re dancing. So then they have that audible, the audible quality, quality, and then the movement, then the prayer, and by the end, where, you know, we could be crying. I mean, it’s just it’s very emotional. It’s a very heal experience and very beautiful but extremely transformative. So I believe that this way of looking at dance is the movement of the future. I believe, and because I work with women, I believe every woman should be moving sacredly intention, because it is what the world needs right now. I’m feminine. It’s time to rise up on the mountain top of her life and lead with love, power and truth. And it’s in the movement, because I believe God is not stagnant. God is moving in the tree, ocean, the flowers are blooming. Everything is alive. God is constantly in motion, and when the Divine Feminine taps into that, it’s we’re unstoppable, and we carry the medicine, not only for ourselves, but for our families, for our communities and out to the world.

Manon Bolliger  28:51

Yeah, beautifully said, it really feels like it’s integrated, you know, through the body all of those aspects, which is why I think it’s so powerful, you know, just feeling into how you’re explaining it anyway. But thank you so much for sharing all this, and if people are interested, because you have, you said you have some things online now. Or did I misunderstand?

Karyne Daniels  29:19

Well, I go in and out of it. I have little okay all the time, so I never know, but I try to do something every month, okay? But they can always find me at my website, which is sacreddancepath.org, and of course, I’m online. I’m on Facebook and Instagram and but, yeah, I have always a little something coming up, and I’ll post it on the first page of my website.

Manon Bolliger  29:48

So, okay, and do you have a list of, you know, songs or music you know that you recommend? I mean, everyone chooses the role. But do you have a list of you know, somebody who doesn’t know?

Karyne Daniels  30:04

I send out a playlist in my newsletters.

Manon Bolliger  30:07

Oh, Oh, wonderful.

Karyne Daniels  30:10

I, um, I felt inspired to put together a worship playlist so people could that place, yeah, in and they don’t have to search for music. So if they email me, you know, you could reach out to me and I’ll get you on my mailing list.

Manon Bolliger  30:28

Right. Okay.

Karyne Daniels  30:30

You know, with song selection, and I could even help design a sacred dance practice for people that weave into their personal life. So if you’re a prayer, a prayer person, or you do meditation or have devotional time, I can show them how to weave in this component into that time.

Manon Bolliger  30:53

Wonderful. Okay, well, thank you so much for your your knowledge and your share.

Karyne Daniels  31:01

Thank you.

Ending

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