What is biodanza and how to dance to recover the joy of living

Biodanza is a system of personal transformation Created in the 1960s by the anthropologist and psychologist Rolando Toro. His desire was to return to people their genuine ability to connect with themselves, with others and with the environment, thus recovering joy.

To achieve connection with oneself and with the environment, biodanza uses a proposal of movements accompanied by music that seek to promote a harmonious integration of body, mind and emotions.

The dance, along with the power of music, releases tensions and relieves pain and emotions that had not found a way out. And it is that during this meditation in movement, the character that imprisons us in daily life is diluted, because the most authentic self emerges when playing, exploring, feeling free.

“It is the same objective that other disciplines have, such as yoga, but hebiodanza includes the experience with the other and with the group, which brings affectivity into play, which allows exploring and expanding the way of relating to what is different, as well as discovering resources to achieve it”, explains Rossana Fuentes, Biodanza Chana facilitator.

This experience is called living and leads to a personal transformation.

Without a doubt, this is the greatest tool of biodanza, which favors this awakening of the “being” when dancing with the eyes closed or when the air is slowly caressed with the hands, recovering in a simple gesture the innate ability to marvel.

When Rolando Toro created biodanza, he joined the psycho-corporal current of his time and included in the biodanza the archetypes of the renowned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Thus, through dance, the “minotaur” is released, the archetype of oppressed instincts and fears, or one works with “the labyrinth”, the archetype that symbolizes the labyrinth that is our existence where we often get lost and we don’t know which path to choose.

What does a biodanza session consist of?

Session duration. A biodanza session lasts approximately two hours. In the first 30 minutes, each person in the group puts words to what they experienced during the last session. This will be the only moment in which language takes the leading role because, in the remaining hour and a half, the body, music, movement, sensations and the heart will be in charge of taking the floor through the different slogans. offered by the facilitator.A facilitator guides the session. It is about 12 or 14 movement proposals that consist of words, demonstrations and an existential link that allows connecting with life. This process of opening, little by little, the interior doors leads the person to express their uniqueness.A relationship dialogue is established. An example of a slogan would be: “Get in front of a person and experience how close you can allow yourself with her, how much you want her to get closer. Ask her if she wants you to hug her.” This dialogue is the one that is maintained in all types of relationships.It begins dancing alone and ends in a group. The most common is that the person begins the session dancing alone, to later do it with the other; then in a small group and finally with the whole group. “This is how I, you and everything work. And for each of the participants, ‘everything’ will have a different meaning: god, universe, life,” Chana Fuentes specifies.

Stages that are experienced during a biodanza session

The person will have some experiences in the session that will lead them to go through different stages to transcend and/or find herself. Known as the biodanza methodological curve, this path has three stops:

Identity. When there is an increase in the presence, of the self.trance-regression. When the dissolution of identity takes place to access a greater identity.Return. When it comes back to reality. In this inner journey, the person never leaves the same as they entered.

To carry out this experience, and after the initial round, soft music silences the mind to bring it to the present. The road to trance is started increasingly activating the body with music that grows in intensity, so that the person can connect with their vitality and reach their maximum self-awareness. Once this climax has been reached, it is time to reduce the intensity so that the dissolution of the intensity can take place.

“You begin to become aware of the importance of resting, of savoring a softer breath and of making slower and deeper movements. This is where the body begins to let go. And after this walk through existence, you return to reality with three or four more dynamics before finishing the session”, explains Chana Fuentes.

Healthy benefits of biodanza

Activate mirror neurons. Biodanza is applied to sick people, in wheelchairs and also to children, as emotional education, because it promotes empathy thanks to its ability to activate mirror neurons that lead to feeling and doing the same as the other. Knowing how to dance is not required.A method of total relaxation against stress. It works from pleasure, awakens creativity, improves self-esteem and helps develop assertiveness in interpersonal relationships. In addition, it is a good antidote against stress, because each session favors the rebalancing of the nervous system: intense music activates the sympathetic system and adrenaline discharges, while slower music activates the parasympathetic system and secretions. of acetylcholine, which leads to relaxation.

What kind of music is chosen

The facilitator chooses each song based on its “musical semantics”, that is to say, of the experience that he wants to propitiate. Some give vitality, others rest and others open to love. Each sound activates different motor, auditory and emotional areas in the brain, mobilizing body tissues and mood. You can dance from silence or in the company of the sound of leaves or the sea, but music is the trigger for awakening.

“It is quite an invitation to leave the anthropocentric vision to put ourselves at the service of life. We are facing an ecological and supportive practice where values ​​are experienced from the movement,” says Chana Fuentes. And it is that, as Rolando Toro said, the hug is the greatest political act that one can carry out in a lonely world, devoid of tenderness. Because ethics is born from affectivity.

Biodanza exercises to do at home

Each biodanza exercise leads to an experience. Below you will find some proposals (with the corresponding song) that you can experiment with yourself.

Awaken vitality. Walk through the space chosen to carry out this work following the rhythm set by the music. Move from the pelvis, where resides the ability to direct life and go where you want. Take the reins of your life at every step. Song: Hello Dolly, by Traditional Jazz Band.Connect with yourself. Slowly and continuously, with your eyes closed, move your hands and arms forward, as if you were caressing the air or simulating the dance of the waves of the sea. Later, she incorporates a movement of the arms and hands to the sides and tilts the trunk. With each movement, stretch and withdraw from the impulse that arises from within. Song: Isn’t it a pity, by George Harrison.Open up to creativity and sexuality. Lie down with your back on the floor, eyes closed, jaw slack, and mouth half-open. Then slowly and gently stretch and contract your body, playing with your own elasticity and making movements that are pleasurable to you. Finally, rest in the fetal position. Song: The quintescense, by Quincy Jones.Express gratitude. With your eyes closed, place your hands delicately over your heart as you dance revering life and giving thanks for the miracle of being alive with all that it entails. Show your gratitude to the heart that beats and nourishes you. Song: Thanks to the life of Violeta Parra.

Biodanza exercises to do in a group

The experiences of affectivity are one of the pillars of biodanza. In this way, the relationship we have with the other is deepened and tenderness is fostered. These are proposals for exercises and songs to practice biodanza in a group.

The pleasure of seeing the other. Stand each at one end of the room. Look at each other and, without losing connection, slowly get closer until you find yourself celebrating the fact that the other exists and is there. In the meeting, hold hands without taking your eyes off each other. Then separate gently, making a farewell greeting. Song: Addagio, by Albinioni.transcend. Stand in front of your partner, look at him and caress his feet as if you were washing them in an act of tenderness and deep communion. Song: Black is the color of my true love’s hair, by Hellen Merril.Welcome warmly. Lean your back against the wall with your legs parted so that your partner sits between them. Caress her head and face with your fingertips. Then gently place the palms of your hands on his forehead. Your partner will then slowly get up and you will switch roles. Song: Le petite fille de la mer, by Vangelis.Yes to life. Stand up, with your hands in the center of your chest, while your partner stands behind you and takes your hands to gently accompany you. You slowly extend your arms, opening yourself up, saying goodbye to everything difficult in that movement. By closing, you bring well-being to you, you open up to life. Song: Beautiful, by Christina Aguilera.