Have you heard of the latest dance-yoga combo yet? Nope? Neither did I, till yesterday. This combination is especially close to my heart, since I am deeply in love with yoga and have a strong connection with Africa and its culture as well. African dancing is an energetic, fun, powerful work-out and I always felt so much better after having danced and connected with my fellow dancers. As if I left all my worries behind and arrived back in the moment.
Leslie Salmon Jones, a professional dancer, holistic personal trainer, yoga instructor, wellness coach and public speaker founded Afro Flow Yoga in 2008. Her inspiration was her connection with African spirituality, yogic principals, the intrinsic expression of movement through nature’s elements and a transformational journey throughout Africa and the Caribbean.
Her Afro Flow Yoga classes usually start with meditation and breathing like many yoga classes. After that Afro Flow Yoga takes a different unique approach, you begin to dance in ‘moving meditation’ to the beat of African drums. Your focus is on your breath and mindfulness as in a vinyasa yoga class or a walking meditation. The use of African drums represents the heartbeat; and African dance enhances the feeling of being rooted to the earth. Leslie Salmon Jones:
“We’re all different, and Afro Flow Yoga celebrates those differences. We’re not separate either. We’re all here on this earth together.”
The good news is you don’t have to have a dancing background to be able to participate in a Afro Flow Yoga session. It is about being comfortable in your own skin and letting go of judgment about yourself and others.
“It is about find liberation and freedom, and then moving it off the mat”.
I am so excited to learn about this new movement! 🙂 I hope you are enthusiastic too to deeply connect with the soulful rhythmic drums, energize your chakras, gain strength and flexibility and rejoice in the bliss of feeling renewed, grounded an peaceful! For now, I will do a happy dance in my living room and realize that the world is an interesting place, ever-evolving, ever changing.