Wishing I had been there! The SMM was in New York state this year. The dance space is in The Mill and people stay in The Mansion. I have not been yet. Even though I had lost consciousness of the exact date it happened, after the fact I realized I had a compulsion to cook retreat-stye red lentil soup and eat it for dinner with a salad several days that week. I also cooked some kale and roasted roots. Then noticed it was SMM time. I tried to move a little more that week and was comforted in my personal practice when I would close my eyes during the slow movement and everyone was there with me.
Here is an excerpt from Dunya's blog post of June 29 called Summer Practice. She posted it after the SMM. I was so glad to have this! I know what all the practices are except for the one called "Fascia Body". Dunya always has new material, and it always takes me so deep.
From http://blog.dancemeditation.org/summer-practice/
Recommended Practices
from Dunya after Summer Movement Monastery
Use the momentum from the Monastery and keep good habits going! They will sustain the retreat's beautiful positivity and your free, released embodiment.
1. Get enough rest.
2. Keep your diet clean.
Diet and rest are very very important. If it means streamlining activities, do it. You must take care of yourself.
3. Practice
For your practice, a simple kitchen timer is very very helpful. Set it and keep going until it rings; this will allow you to forget the time and work. Here is the prescription of practices from the Monastery:
- Opening Sequence - 3 X per week
- Sand Tracing & Rocking Sequence - 3 X per week
- Perpetual Motion - 2 X per week (20 per session)
- Shadow & Light - 1 X per week (15 per side)
- Fascia Body - daily 10
- Chant with Movement - 2 x per week (20 per session)
- Always do proper sitting up
The practices outlined above are a balance between released & sustained movement activities, between unwinding and strengthening awareness, and between systemic stimulation and inner communion. Remember those two wonderful word pairs:
ingestion & digestion
excavation & integration
And here is an important final step: in your journal––which is now beautifully journal-crafted––reserve several pages as your practice log. Write down what practice you did and how long you did it.