innerdance

click here to read my recently published article in the BACP journal for spiritual practice. ‘This article first appeared in the April 2024 issue of Thresholds, published by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/thresholds/

innerdance is a blended consciousness between waking and dreaming which is stimulated using ancient techniques of sound entrainment, current neuroscience and technology enabling body and mind to return to resonance and flow. The process is supported individually and in groups using carefully curated pre-recorded and live soundscapes which are purposefully sculpted to entrain brain waves to synchronise and mimic the oscillations they make during REM sleep cycles. Within this waking dream, we are lucid observers to the many stories, images, sensations, memories located inside of us. Being held in parasympathetic deep rest with enough sympathetic arousal required for healing and change to occur, we are able to face our fears without being scared, enabling us to return to a state of freedom and authenticity.

The traditional process is to lie down on your back with eyes closed and allow the soundscape to take you on an internal journey unique to who you are and how you are. I also hold space which incorporates art-making and meditative drawing practices; this invites creative flow to be experienced whilst supported with innerdance sounds and is a fascinating and equally powerful process.

Many people report seeing images unfold like a movie, or feel sensations in the body. It is not uncommon to have a preference of experience which limits our potential significantly and reinforces patterns, judgements and behaviours which enable continued avoidance of what needs our loving attention. Paradoxically, innerdance is an invitation to accept ourselves so that necessary change and transformation can occur. With practice, we can teach our bodies and minds to remember how to surrender to our innate self-healing capacities and cooperate with the infinite wisdom within, reclaiming trust and a deep sense of belonging to the world and the cosmos, which is our nature embodied. You are the source of your own healing and everything you need is inside of you, always.

The science:

With a carefully curated homemade playlist I create, designed to harmonise the electricity and magnetism within the body, purposefully organised to stimulate brain waves with intention to cloud the linear, reductive view, the brain can experience it's fuller potential as each lobe is awoken, enabling a generalised spread of electricity which repatterns the autonomic nervous system and can bring us back to unity, similar to that of the newborn baby where there is no separation (this happened to me and I had to go through the developmental tasks of baby to grow up, I am still in this process) Intuitive touch is offered as a stimulus to deepen and support your journey.

The process mimics an 8 hour REM sleep cycle with experiences similar to lucid dreaming. You may experience synesthesia, imagery, emotion, sensation, release, time changes, impulse to move or sound.

Many people feel a strong impulse to move, or sound out and this is welcomed and supported. You are invited to trust and allow the innate wisdom of the body to express itself in movement. Others sink deep into trance states and rest in sacred stillness as they journey, perhaps for the whole session. Every time is different and the experience varies with the individual. The innerdance continues after the soundscape ends and you may experience vivid dreams, grief as old stories fall away, clarity and transformation.

I am a highly experienced and skilled innerdance facilitator and trainer. I facilitate projects in a number of different contexts including schools and other community settings. I offer weekly innerdance online and groups throughout Scotland including Dundee, Perth, Glasgow and Aberdeen. I also provided individual innerdance sessions.

Innerdance is a way of life for me and I support myself through extensive personal studies of science, philosphy, the arts etc, ongoing intensive studies with the founder, pi and innerdance elders. I also engage in daily/weekly innerdances of my own which enable me to hold deep space for others to journey safely.

Please contact me for information on this powerful practice and to find out about upcoming events or if you would like me to visit your locality to hold timespace for innerdance, I will be delighted to accept your invitation.

Founded by pi in the Philippines, innerdance is a global phenomena currently being integrated within contexts ranging from local community centres to schools, health-care settings, prisons, addiction & recovery centres and during birth processes, evidencing consistently transformational results in individual & collective well-being, both anecdotally & through phenomenological & scientific research.

reported global long-term effects include:

repatterning of nervous system
improved sleep patterns
recovery from addiction
trauma healing
synesthesia & increased cerebral capacity
greater attention span
increase in focus & memory
less fear, more creativity
cellular healing/ancestral clearing
integration
renewed sense of purpose
heightened self-awareness
lucid dreaming

The innerdance continues after the soundscape ends and you may experience vivid dreams, grief as old stories fall away, clarity and transformation. You are encouraged to support your awakening and integration through journalling, creative expression, staying a curious observer to your experiences and to continue attending innerdance.

My understanding is that sound, be it music or noise, is the voice & vibration of consciousness itself & the greater range of layered sound I can be with simultaneously, the more at ease I am.

Prior to innerdance, I suffered from acute hyperacusis which meant I experienced physical pain when exposed to most noise, this was also coupled with acute tinnitus. Since childhood, when listening to music, I have been able to somatically experience the underlying emotions of songwriters & composers which profoundly impacted me & for most of my adult life, I tried to avoid music, noise and sound, believing I needed a pure silence to feel well. Innerdance has shown me my unique synesthesia, that noise & sound are pathways home & my hyperacusis & tinnitus have healed. I still cry when I hear most music and I now embrace this gift of mine as how I know the world - it actually helps me to create the soundscapes I do!