Dance and Music, painting & sculpture are artistic faculties whereas academics such as physics, maths, chemistry are considered the intellectual faculties of man. Today we know that the two halves of our brain are specifically dedicated to carry out these functions, the right hemisphere for the artistic functions and the left hemisphere for intellectual functions. The left brain is the analytical brain which finds answers to ‘how and why’ and solves problems by focusing the attention on a topic. The right brain does its functions by a look at the totality of the picture and nurtures the emotional faculty. For example when you see a flower, the right brain appreciates the shape and form and enjoys the beauty whereas the left brain can find out the family and the species of the flower by analyzing the details of the arrangement of petals, calyx, stamen and pistil etc. A harmonious growth of both faculties are essential for a healthy living.
Dance is a wonderful tool which uses the body language to express the emotions and cultures the right brain. The perfection in movements, synchronization to the rhythm and arithmetic involved in keeping to the rhythm are useful in developing the left brain and the expressions involved in communicating the emotions through the delicacy of movements of limbs, face and eyes require the right brain.
A good dancer is one who gets absorbed in the mood of the song which he is enacting after perfecting the movements. This is the state of total harmony.
Integrated yoga practices which are designed to provide deep rest to each and every cell of the body through different postures, breathing practices, meditation and notional correction to get the right perspectives of happy living can be of great help dancers.
The dancers tend to have hyper-extensibility (very good back bending) of spine through their usual dance practices and hence the set of yoga postures to be selected are those which increase the forward flexibility of the spine such as Padahastasana, Prasarita Padahastasana, Parivritta tirkonasana, from standing set; Paschimottanasana, Janusirsasana, Shasankasana and Yoga mudra from sitting set; and Pavanamuktasana kriya also improved stretching and flexibility of the hips can be acheived through Butterfly stretching and Badhkonasana. Pranayamas (Nadisudhi, seetkari, seetali) are very useful to maintain the harmony between body and mind.
Dance as Yoga
Emotion culture and meditation which are essential components of yoga for total health, stress reduction and professional excellence can be incorporated into the dance training program. While you concentrate and learn the limb and trunk movements for perfect synchronization, observe your own mind. Check if you are getting stressed up (anxious), tired or lazy. Then stop the practice for a few minutes (3 min.) come to lying down posture, do IRT and QRT with chanting AAA. Sit up, do Kapalabhati 60-100 strokes per minute and then get off to continue your practice session. Further, while you are in the movements, turn your awareness inwards as in cyclic medication, then the whole period becomes a yogic session.
Emotion culture in which you nurture the soft feelings of love is called Bhakti Yoga. The main theme for Dance is the expansion of love (from mundane to divine), apart from expressions of other emotions (Nava Vidha Bhavas). Even when you enact the angry mood, your inner being is enjoying it as an actor and this gives you the objectivity to handle the emotions in your real life. This is possible only if you have the awareness and knowledge of yoga.
Thus yoga practices would not only help you to be a better professional but would make you a healthier human being through harmony between the right and left brain.
Padangustha Dhanurasana
Pada means the foot. Angustha means the big toe and dhanu a bow. This is an intensified version of Dhanurasana.
Technique
- Lie flat on the floor on the stomach, face downwards.
- Put the palms on the floor on either side of the chest. Press them down and straightening the arms, raise the head and trunk off the floor as in Bhujangasana. Bend the knees and lift the feet up. Exhale, move the feet and head closer to each other and try to touch the head with the feet.
- Place one foot over the other. Then, putting greater weight on the hand on the one side, lift the other hand off the floor. With a fast and deep exhalation stretch the lifted arm from the shoulder over the head and catch the toes. Now lift the other hand off the floor with an exhalation and also grasp the toes. Maintain a firm grip on the toes and with the right hand catch the right big toe tightly and hold the left one with the left hand. Take a few breaths.
- Pull the feet down until the heels rest on the head. Gradually increase the tension so that the heels rest first on the forehead, then on the eyes and lastly on the lips.
- Still maintaining a firm grip on the toes, lower the feet until they touch the sides of the shoulders.
- Exhale and stretch the legs and arms up. Release the legs one by one, putting the hands down immediately on the floor, otherwise due to the recoil of the spine, one is likely to bang the face. Then rest on the floor and relax. Try to Breath normally through out the practice.
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