The Healing Power of Movement

Dance of Liberation facilitator Parashakti brings
her unique fusion of Yoga and ritual dance to Austin

By Tracey Henry

As a young girl in her native Jerusalem, internationally acclaimed healer Parashakti discovered that she had two gifts to share with the world – the talent to dance and the ability to heal. It was through dance that Parashakti expressed herself and her passion for life. However, as a descendant from a long line of spiritual healers, she felt herself gravitating towards the healing arts. Feeling incomplete in pursuit of just one of her gifts, Parashakti merged the two into the exploration of the healing art of ritual dance.

Years of studying yoga and Native American Healing arts with the Shoshone and Lakota have led to the development of Dance of the Warrior, a unique program that melds ritual dance, shamanism, and the yogic arts. Featured at the Crossings on July 15 – 20, 2007, this 5 day workshop illustrates how body movement can be used as a way to manifest ones destiny. Daily asana practice, meditation, and breath work by Austin’s own Eleanor Harris prepares the participant for the fasting, deep personal exploration, and shamanic work leading to Parashakti’s Dance of Liberation - an inspiring celebration of movement designed to foster deep states of consciousness and the discovery of the true purpose of ones soul.

"My goal for this workshop is to allow people to feel the lightness of their being,” says Parashakti. "Everyone has issues that need correcting. Dance of the Warrior is about helping people let go of the luggage that has been holding them back both spiritually and physically so that they can enter a state of liberation.”

The word liberation is very important to Parashakti, who has developed an entire lifestyle program around the desire to free others from practices and belief systems that block the fulfillment of their potential. "To be liberated is to live in a greater, more energetic way,” says Parashakti. "That feeling is the outcome of having a soul that is fed through the practices of Dance of the Warrior and other programs that I have developed.”

As in any dance experience, music plays an important part. During the workshop, musicscapes by renowned DJ and festival producer Fabian Alsultany construct a musical environment that allows participants to journey into Shamanic states of consciousness. "Ritual music has been around since the beginning of time," says Alsultany, who has provided musical accompaniment to Parashakti’s rituals upon meeting her over four years ago. "What I do is bring both ancient and modern forms of music into a ceremonial setting as a soundtrack to a ritual."

Parashakti has traveled around the world and has led workshops and retreats at some of the world’s leading holistic living centers including The Tree of Life (Arizona), Esalen Institute (California), Jivamukti Yoga School and the Omega Institute (New York), Alexis Zorbas Retreat Center (Greece), Hamakom Retreat Center (Israel) and Hermecillo (Mexico), among others. She has worked with over 10,000 dancers from across the globe also facilitates major yoga and dance festivals throughout the world.

With a growing reputation among the healing community, her staggering abilities have contributed to life-transforming experiences for those in the growing community that has flowered around her and Alsultany’s exploration of yoga, ritual dance, and the power of prayer and intention. One woman fulfilled her dream and became pregnant several days after deep spiritual work with Parashakti. Another couple met and started a family after expressing separately to her during a fast that they hoped to meet their soulmate.

Parashakti and Alsultany were also a co-founders and facilitators of the legendary Body Temple - one of the most famous and successful holistic rave events in the United States. Currently, the two lead Liberation Lounge, a monthly ritual fusing dance, yoga, breath work, and contemporary shamanism offered monthly and exclusively at New York City’s renowned Jivamukti Yoga School. She is currently writing a book on her 5 day fast program due out in 2008 that will feature a forward by Dr. Gabriel Cousens.

"Dance of the Warrior is really about transformations,” says Parashakti. "I want to pass on the skills so people can transform their life’s intentions into conscious action. That’s saying YES to life."