So. The Shivanauts call was crazy fun.
And my goodness, there were a ton of people on there. Hi guys!
And since we had thirty-seven questions sent in ahead of time …
And since most of those were actually three or four questions instead of one…
And since all of them were really interesting …
I’m turning some of the questions we couldn’t get to into a series of blog posts.
Today we’re starting with two questions that are, delightfully, about things I’m totally not qualified to answer but still have opinions on.
And, as always, assume the usual caveat that I’m not a doctor or a therapist, so (for the record) I’ll be all disclaimer-ey about that.
And before I say anything else, because Shiva Nata is complicated and pattern-centric and weird, you always want to focus on staying grounded, so you can be really present with both yourself and your stuff if it comes up.
And you want to notice what’s going on with you during the practice, so that you can stop or make adjustments if something doesn’t feel good.

“How might Shiva Nata help with Attention Deficit Disorder?”
Here’s how I see it.
Dance of Shiva engages multiple senses simultaneously, so it obliges you to make use of different channels of perception.
Watching the movements requires intense visual focus. You use your hearing to process the numbers and movements. You’re also using touch, in the sense that you are moving your feet against the floor in different patterns and your limbs through the air in different patterns.
Add to that the brain work of following the number sequences (or word sequences). And the simultaneous moving of your arms in different directions following different patterns, building neural connections all over your brain. Wow.
So in a way, it actually encourages you to focus.
And if you’re challenging yourself by making it hard, it should really be pretty impossible to think about anything other than what you’re doing.
Not to mention the heightened awareness of patterns thing, which can help you learn more about what tugs you out of yourself, and when — and it gives you information about what you can do to make your life work for you, given the circumstances you’re working on.
Seems to me that all or any of those things could be useful.
I would LOVE to see some serious research done on Dance of Shiva with ADD. And if people want to jump in with their experiences, or with their students’ experiences, that would be awesome.

“What about Dance of Shiva and bi-polar disorder? Is it okay?”
“I am not sure if this is a question you can answer: the 14 year old daughter of friends is visiting for a week so that I can revise her French classes with her because her grades have gone downhill.
I have thought of doing Shiva Nata in between with her to make revision a bit more fun. But: She was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder last year and is under medication. I am pretty sure that Shiva Nata won’t do her any harm but I still feel a bit reluctant. Do you know anything about conditions in which it is maybe advisable not to do it? Thanks!”
You’re right. I have no idea how to answer this.
In general, doing Dance of Shiva is really balancing, because it’s so systematic and it’s all about connections. Good for the body and good for the brain.
At the same time, it’s a really powerful practice, with powerful sensations.
And there is the emotional component too: whenever you do Shiva Nata with people, you want to make sure that they understand that the point is to do it wrong, so they don’t get overcome with frustration.
Some (most?) people get frustrated anyway. And when there is a lot of emotional stuff going on, sometimes the experience is of not fun. And other times, it’s really liberating to have permission to not have to get it right.
If you’re feeling anxious for any reason and want to play it safe, you might stick to just do something that breaks up the schoolwork, and maybe makes the memorization bits easier.
I might try doing just connections.
Like Horizontal-Vertical connections with numbers and/or words. And then giving her a break and seeing how it feels.

These answers are just starting points. For more questions, probably.
There are so many things to ask. So many things to notice. So many things to need.
The essential thing about using Dance of Shiva, in my experience, is turning everything into information that helps us have a more conscious, intentional relationship with ourselves.
We make sure that our main focus is safety. Grounding. Whatever we need to stay centered and in the process.
And then ..
- We notice things.
- We experiment.
- We take notes.
- We ask questions.
- We make a point of doing things differently next time.
If people in the call only took away one thing from the themes we played with — sovereignty and “Check your patterns!” — I hope it’s this:
“It’s your practice.
Which means that you get to experiment, mindfully.
And to test things. As long as your intention is to learn stuff about your patterns so that you can take better care of yourself, that’s going to help you figure out what needs to happen next.”
And for now, let’s leave it at that.
More guest posts coming up. More answering of questions-that-didn’t get answered.
And big love to all the Shivanauts, and people-who-might-eventually-be-Shivanauts and all the Lurker Mice.