Dancing With Wu Tao - A New Healing Dance

Wu Tao dance is a healing dance, founded in Australia by Michelle Locke, that incorporates the five elements - air, water, wood, fire, and earth. Each element dance has a series of choreographed movements that you do to music that open up and stimulate the meridians of your human body (channels through which qi or energy flows). Performing these element dances on a regular basis helps increase the natural energy flow in the body.

When the energy flows freely through your body, and when there is no stagnant energy present, you will see an increase in stamina, vitality, and strength, and become more balanced emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The amount of stress will greatly decrease, leaving you filled with peace and positivity. The mind will become clearer and you will become inspired with new creative ideas and ways to make your life more meaningful.

The five element Wu Tao dances create stronger energy when danced in a group but they can be done in the comfort of your own home. You don't necessarily need to do these dances to music but it is best to have music because it blends in with each movement you do and enhances the healing process.

Wu Tao Dance has five different element dances, each one named for one of the five elements.These dances are: the air dance, the water dance, the wood dance, the fire dance, and the earth dance. Each dance works with a specific set of meridians and the energy that flows through them.

Each of the five element Wu Tao dances has its own usefulness and benefits.

The air dance is great for releasing the emotions of grief and sadness and for helping you to be able to let go of these emotions and not let them control you. This dance also helps strengthen your immune system and helps with lung related conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.

The water dance is great for releasing fear, building energy and improving your motivation and drive. If you find yourself lacking energy, feeling fatigued, and having insomnia this dance is the dance to focus on. Back and knee problems as well as kidney and bladder problems are also associated with this dance. If you are experiencing any of these definitely do the water dance on a regular basis.

The wood dance is great for balancing your emotions, especially anger and irritability. It is also great for releasing any blocked or stagnant energy in the liver and gallbladder meridians. The blood will flow freely through your body and your mind and body will become more flexible. Your creativity will spring forth and you will find yourself with a clear purpose and direction in living your life.

The fire dance is great for helping you remember your true self, developing a clearer mind, and getting rid of any suffering and pain that may be present in your life.

The earth dance is great for helping you stay grounded. In this dance you give thanks for everything you have in your life, for everything that lives inside you, and for what comes your way.

Learning and dancing the five element Wu Tao dances is a lot of fun. You get to express your creativity, bring your imagination and visualization to life, all the while helping to balance the energy flow in your body and making yourself be filled with peace and serenity.

How can you learn these dances?

One way to do this is to attend one of the Wu Tao dance classes. If you live in NYC or in the near tri-state area there are Wu Tao dance classes that you can attend. They are taught by Anna Brooke, who is certified in Wu Tao dance. I had the pleasure of learning and dancing these dances with her. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to take part in some of her Wu Tao dance classes in the near future.

If you find that there are no Wu Tao dance classes taught where you live you can always buy the DVD Dancing Yourself to Health With Wu Tao and learned the dances on your own. It includes all the five element Wu Tao dances, along with commentary on every movement present in each dance.

From personal experience, it may not be easy at first to remember and execute each choreographed movement, so do not get discouraged if it happens to you. Perfection is not the key here. They key is to let yourself go, get lost in the music, and visualize each movement you make while allowing your body and mind to express itself.

When dancing start off with the air dance followed by the water dance, then the wood dance, then the fire dance, and finally the earth dance to compete the cycle. It is best to do all the five dances one after the other, but if you don't have the time to do all five you can focus on the ones that you feel you need the most on that day.

If you want to learn more about Wu Tao, the five elements, and the five element Wu Tao dances, along with other useful and beneficial information related to energy and the human body check out the book written by Michelle Locke who is actually the founder of the Wu Tao way of healing. There you can also find the choreography of each dance with pictures of each specific movement along with a written description of each one.