Coming Home to Ourselves Somatic Dance-Yoga Practice is a somatic dance yoga practice that brings together movement as metaphor and the expanse of yoga with the intent to guide us to deeper embodiment beyond the yoga mat. This practice is about befriending your body and reuniting with it as a sacred beloved and noticing how your mind and body work together to create harmony in your life.
These classes include simple yoga postures in dance form, mindfulness prompts, various meditation practices, the application of mantra (in English and Sanskrit), mudras, and the weaving in of the rich and deep yoga philosophy that guides us into deeper levels of self-knowing. I am a graduate of the 300-hour Honor Yoga’s Roots Yoga Teacher Training with Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute.
If you are new to the language I have used above to describe class, here are some simple guiding definitions:
- What is Movement? For this class it is body postures in motion. We will take simple yoga asanas (poses) and embody them through a dance that blends fluidity and stillness.
- What is Mindfulness? A quality of focused awareness to the present moment and of our sensations that includes our body, mind, and emotions.
- What is Meditation? Various experiential practices and techniques that support mindfulness and focusing our mind and body.
- What is Mantra? A sound, word or group of words (such as affirmations) that aid in mindfulness, meditation and focusing the mind and body.
- What is Mudra? Hand and body gestures that both ground and move energy in the body.
These classes have evolved into Embodied Movement Explorations for Body Wisdom and Wellness.
Rent previously recorded classes:
You can also rent a recording of any previous class to move to at your own time. Recorded classes are 65-75 minutes long.
Simply make a donation and email me with the class(es) you want to rent. I will then send you the link and password.
Step 1:
Decide which class(es) recording(s) you’d like to experience. Descriptions of each dance are listed further below on this page.
- Home of your Body – The theme of this class is “coming home” to ourselves mindfully via the moving body, breath, sound, and symbol.
- Stability & Ease – The theme of this class is cultivating embodied stability and ease in the mind and body.
- Prana/Breath – The theme of this class is Prana, our life force energy. We explore the breadth and depth of our prana by connecting with the various ways we express our life force energy via breathing patterns synchronized with movement patterns.
- Space – The theme of this class is Space; creating the mind, body, heart and soul space to connect with ourselves
- Heart Lotus – The theme of this class is bringing mindful attention to the heart chakra center.
- Rest – The theme of this class is the art of moving our bodies from a place of rest and lovingkindness.
- Balance & Harmony – The theme of this class is cultivating harmony and balance within ourselves.
- Exploring the Air Element, version 1 – The theme of this class is exploring ways to ground our meandering minds and soothe anxious thoughts.
- Sattva: Cultivating Tranquility – The theme of this class is cultivating a tranquil mind.
- Blue Wave Community Care – The theme of this class is support during and after the election.
- Respect for the Soles of Our Feet – The theme of this class is bringing respect and regard to the soles of our feet.
- Presence in the Now – The theme of this class is presence in the now is a gateway to coming home to ourselves.
- Embodying Contentment/Santosha – The theme of this class is the practice of cultivating deep contentment from within.
- Turning Inward – The theme of this class turning inward to cultivate our inner light (Winter Solstice).
- Light of the Heart – The theme of this class is nurturing the heart (chakra) during the solstice and holiday season.
- Release – The theme of this class is release as ritual in letting go of 2020.
- Cultivating Spaciousness – The theme of this class is cultivating space and spaciousness in our body-mind so that we can access depth, width, height and dimensions of energetic boundlessness
- Embodying Length & Dignity – The theme of this class is allowing our bodies to rise in length to access greater height and lift from within as we cultivate self-respect, nobility and honor of our inherent worth.
- Awakening Fire (Agni) Within – The theme of this class is awakening fire (agni) within. In Ayurveda (and yoga), agni is the inner fire that fuels our vitality and light. We draw from our inner heat to rise up and out.
- Heart light, Passion and Devotion – The theme of this class is bringing mindful luminous attention to the heart chakra center and asking ourselves, what is worthy of our passion and devotion?
- Exploring the Gunas – The theme of this class is transitioning with self-awareness of our interior orientation of the three gunas (universal qualities in nature) of tamas, rajas and sattva.
- Metta In Motion – The theme of this class is consciously infusing each breath, asana (body posture), somatic dance prompt, and mudra, with lovingkindness – sending well wishes to our bodies.
- Bridge Between the Head and the Heart – The theme of this class is nurturing the bridge between the head and the heart: the neck and throat. With mindfulness, somatic movement, mudra, mantra and breath, we soften and bring relaxation to this area so that there can be ease of communication between the mind and heart
- Grounding Into Prithvi, the Earth Element – The theme of this class is an embodied exploration of the “earth” sensations and energies of stability, support, calm, grounding, compassionate steady care, nourishment, and tending with patience and compassion.
- Satyagraha/Truth Force – The theme of this class is an embodied exploration of peaceful power within and aligning firmly with our truth.
- Boundaries – The theme of this class is an embodied exploration of our relationship with three specific boundaries – soft, rigid and flexible.
- Embodying Our Internal Weather – The theme of this class is an embodied exploration of how our internal weather influences how we move our bodies, how we breathe, meditate, and ability to sustain a state of mindfulness.
- Honoring the Sun – The theme of this class is honoring the qualities of the sun by engaging our limbs (arms, legs and torso), our breath, and our inner light.
- Dancing Cranes – The theme of this class is refreshing, cooling, and recalibrating. We explore the rise of the phoenix, gentle soaring of large winged birds, crane, heron, and eagle.
- Embodying Los Pájaros (Birds) – The theme of this class is honoring my abuela’s 103rd birthday by exploring the qualities of birds and bird-like movements.
- Exploring the Air element, version 2 – The theme of this class is exploring the qualities of air and space: lightness, mobility, flexibility and spaciousness.
- Cultivating Courage – The theme of this class is embodying qualities associated with inner strength: courage, dignity, compassion, boundaries, confronting fear with kindness and curiosity, and cultivating brave tranquility.
- Parasympathetic Support 1 – The theme of this class is supporting our parasympathetic nervous system by learning ways to manage stress and restore your nervous system to a more regulated state.
- Parasympathetic Support 2 – The theme of this class is supporting our parasympathetic nervous system with breath, rotations, folding and unfolding, and touch.
- New Moon in Libra Harmonious Balance – The theme of this class is moving our bodies, breath, imaginations, and hearts to plant seeds of balance and harmony on this new moon in Libra.
- Discovering Harmonious Balance – The theme of this class is playing with various ways to come into physical balance while bringing awareness to an inner state of harmony.
- Honoring and Celebrating Our Beloved Ancestors – The theme of this class is honoring and celebrating beloveds who have crossed the veil by embodying a quality or characteristic in our yoga-dance practice.
- Exploring the Gunas, version 2 – The theme of this class is transitioning with self-awareness of our interior orientation as expressed through the three Gunas (from Ayurveda): Tamas as heaviness and withdrawal from experience, rajas as energy and engagement, and sattva as harmony and joy.
- Nurturing the Chest – The theme of this class is mobilizing the chest to facilitate softening, loosening, opening and deeper relaxation.
- Metta In Motion, version 2 – The theme of this class is consciously infusing each aspect of our practice with lovingkindness – sending well wishes and care to our bodies, ourselves, another person, and to the collective.
- Moving with Intention – The theme of this class is exploring how intention impacts not only how we move, but also influences our inner life – our mind, emotions and spirit.
- Nurturing our Kidneys with Gentleness – The theme of this class is bringing together QiGong, yoga practices, and somatic dance to nurture our kidneys and soothe the frequencies of fear, however it may be present in our body and nervous system as this time.
- Listening and Responding to Our Bodies – The theme of this class is listening to and responding to our bodies from a place of non-judgement, curiosity, and care.
- Supporting our Autonomic Nervous System: – The theme of this class is supporting our nervous system, especially constricted and narrowing states, by exploring fluidity and expansion with the intention to widen our physical frame, field of vision and options for expression.
Step 2:
Make a donation payment in exchange for the class recording. Donations range from $5-$15.
To make a payment:
Venmo: Jennifer-Lucero-Earle or https://venmo.com/jennifer-lucero-earle
PayPal: https://paypal.me/jenniferluceroearle
Credit Card (Square): https://my-site-105290-108786.square.site/
Step 3:
Email me (jennifer@jenniferluceroearle.com) with with the name of the class and confirmation of donation made.
Step 4:
I will reply to your email with the link and password to the recording.
Stretch and Fly, developed by me and Liziah Richards (www.liziahtherapies.com) in 2007, is a unique empowering
movement practice that combines simple dance moves and yoga. Experience original choreography that blends flowing movement and dynamic stillness.
Each Stretch and Fly class has a theme intended to evoke various expressions of our human experience. Some of these routines include: the Dance of the Warrior, Dance of the Heart, Dance of the Chakras, Dance of Radiant Light and Dance of Release.
The four invitations of Stretch and Fly are to cultivate a: 1. Strong and Flexible Body, 2. Calm and Focused Mind, 3. Receptive and Expressive Heart and 4. Confident and Joyful Spirit.
Watch a sample of Stretch and Fly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7-BwyUqCYU&feature=youtu.be
Liziah and I collaborate on offering Stretch & Fly classes whenever possible. During the pandemic, our classes are on pause.