"The tender dances you have shared with us

Will one day be gathered in heaven

And will fall as rain

And their mystery shall grow green and peaceful

Upon the warring earth"   -Rumi

 

"Holly" is the Bach flower remedy one takes to bring "openheartedness".  I endeavor to embody my namesake plant and think of myself as an openhearted person.  This past weekend, my heart was broken open even wider however dancing and working with 20 Jewish and Arab women from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, at Esalen. Co-sponsored by Esalen, and an Israeli non-profit called Beyond Words founded by my dear friend and colleague Nitsan Gordon, with whom I attended graduate school in Dance/Movement therapy, Beyond Words grew out of our involvement with "Beyond War" while at school together in Baltimore (which began in Palo Alto in the mid 80s). Nitsan originally integrated therapeutic movement work into a program for Arab and Jewish kindergarten teachers working with young children to promote tolerance and understanding. Working tirelessly on this coexistence project since we graduated 25 years ago, this is the third time that Nitsan, has raised funds to bring groups of Palestinian Arab and Jewish women together at Esalen to empower and train them in becoming agents of change. To qualify, each of the women has participated in at least one of the Beyond Words programs in Israel and has indicated an interest in becoming a leader in this work for peace and justice. Many are already leaders in their communities. One woman, Antionette who is 76, has brought over 700 Palestinian women to the north of Israel to meet their Jewish sisters. "I am not afraid" she tells me. "We must have peace. We women must get to know each other as mothers, grandmothers, sisters - this is the only way".

Beyond Words brings women together from both sides of the conflict, to dance and move, to laugh and talk, to cry and wail and to release some of pain they all share. They come together in their hurt and loss. Many have lost a loved one in the conflict. Their grief and anger unites them as women, as mothers, sisters and friends. From this common ground, empathy, compassion, comfort and ultimately love is born. 

I had the profound and powerful privilege of coming into their group to teach some Dances of Peace, after they had been spent a week doing intense Core Energetics work with Ann Bradney of Los Angeles.. In expressing and releasing some of their pain, they had made space within for something new. They were tired, cracked open and vulnerable, yet also willing. Restorative, grounding and integrating dances were what I was guided to share.

 It was a gorgeous sunny day at Esalen, so we danced outside to be enlivened by the natural elements around us.

To greet each other and to honor the native people's who originally identified Esalen as a sacred place, we danced "Ungala" a Chumash greeting dance (neighbors to the south of the native "Esaleen" peoples) . Next we danced "Wash Your Spirit Clean" acknowledging the healing power of water from the ocean and sulfur baths. The Cherokee chant "be grateful for the struggle, be thankful for the lessons", gently reminded us that our challenges give us immense growth opportunities.

With the simple meditative Zikr steps of  "Allah, Allah, Allah" we danced to re-member our oneness - the syllables "al, el and la" tracing our collective journey to the "unknowable mystery" back through Muslim, Judao-Christian, Sumerian, Celtic to neolithic times. The simple yet powerful steps  to the shanti mantra "Pradesh" (which means "may there be peace on earth-water-sky-trees-air-mind-body-and everything throughout the universe) recorded by Ravi Shankar in collaboration with Russian musicians at the Kremlin, served to remind these women that they are not alone in their work to create peace. As it is intended, the Bach flower remedy dance for "Larch" to the lively tumba music, served to re-energize and restore their confidence to continue on with this work. Dancing the dances works like taking the remedy.   

The Navaho "Beauty Way" dance was the one which  touched them most deeply however. Esalen was the perfect setting to re-intention that "our thoughts will all be beautiful, our words will all be beautiful, our actions will all be beautiful", as we walk our lives the "Beauty Way" - in service of peace and harmony and restoring balance to our world. Afterwards, one of the Israeli women Yasmine asked me for the words and steps saying "this will be the dance of our Beyond Words program". We closed with the Irish dance to  "She Beagh, She Mor" music, which reminds us that we are all just pilgrims on our path trying to find peace and happiness. We get "rocked" set back, when we meet a life challenge. We then come to the center, to our source, (God, Allah, the Divine, Great Spirit...) to retreat, reflect and ask for guidance as to how to proceed. While we would love to stay there at the source forever, we must take what we have learned out into the world and share it with our family, friends and others, as we walk out in our own circle with an outstretched, and upturned palm.

Coming to Esalen was clearly "sourcing" for these women. Gathering in the paradise-like beauty and freedom of this setting, without constant tension or "check-points" to cross, was immensely restorative. To   leave their families for two weeks, to come and do this work for peace is courageous and noble. The Beyond Words program is clearly making a difference in creating an optimal environment within these women where the seeds of peace and understanding planted on the sacred ground of Esalen, can take root and grow within their communities back in Israel. In spite of their daily challenges, they are so ready to move forward, to forgive, and to work for peace. 

While at Esalen, I reflected on my" luxury" of not being faced with their harsh realities everyday, and of forgetting that others do. All the more poignant as my son, Connor turns 18. Unlike the Israeli mothers in the group, I do not have to face the stress and inner conflict of having to send my son for three years of mandatory military service, which my values do not support as a resolution to the conflict. A son who might have to serve as a guard at a Palestinian check point, and stop and intimidate my new Palestinian "sister" I connected deeply with in a Beyond Words program.  Nor do I have to worry that my son might one day be taken by these young Israeli soldiers as he walks home from school with a friend , suspected of plotting against the Jewish state- no evidence is required other than being 18, Arab and male. Or worse yet, a son from either side who might be killed in the fighting. As one of the Israeli women resolved through her tears. "We women, we must wage peace".

As the Beauty Way dance reminds us, we can affect the balance of harmony/chaos in our world and the cosmos, through our thoughts, our words and our actions. Besides holding a vision for peace in daily meditation, practicing non-violent communication and forgiveness, dancing together in circle is a time honored way that we human beings can re-member our oneness in the circle community of humanity, and to shift the energetic vibration we emit in the world to one of wholeness, peace and harmony. As Trudi Schoop, a dance therapy pioneer after WWII invited,  "Won't You Join the Dance?"

In love and peace,

Holly

For a schedule of upcoming Sacred Circle Dance Gatherings in the SF Bay area, please contact Holly Burn-Crain at hbcingrace@yahoo.com

And the work continues... If anyone feels called to support the Beyond Words program, please do so at www.beyondwords.org.il  On-going funding is needed to support their programs in Israel. It is one of the longest running coexistence projects. For more information contact beyondwords@gmail.com