Shiva Nata: the Dance of ShivaWhat’s a Shivanaut?
Someone asked this on Twitter the other day and I was momentarily stymied.
Like with so many shivanautically-related questions, I suffer from Too Much Information Syndrome.
I’m so ridiculously close to the world of Shiva Nata that questions about it stop making sense. And I apologize for that.
Anyway. What is a Shivanaut?
Or really,
Who is a Shivanaut?
A Shivanaut is …
A Shivanaut is …
- Someone who practices Dance of Shiva.
- Like a cosmonaut, but more awesome.
- A word that I invented.
- A word that needed to come into existence because there wasn’t a way to describe people who shiva-nata it up, other than “practitioner” or “student”.
- Someone who is playful, silly, receptive, hilarious, willing to flail around and be wrong sometimes (or even most of the time).
- Someone who practices mindfulness and brain training, but without taking himself too seriously.
- Someone who is interested in the practice, intrigued by it, cares about it, thinks about it.
- Someone I like.
- Someone who dances with ducks. Possibly. Sometimes. Who knows?
Who gets to be a Shivanaut?
You do.
You don’t have to be any “good” at Shiva Nata (whatever that means, since we’re actually trying to do it wrong) to be a Shivanaut.
You don’t have to practice often to be a Shivanaut.
You don’t have to ever do it for more than a couple minutes at a time to be a Shivanaut.
You don’t magically become one when you learn how to do the legs or when you figure out Level 2.
If you have done Shiva Nata once…
If you have done Shiva Nata once…
And if you have done it badly and flailed around in confusion and made mistakes…
And if you have stepped into the chaos…
And if you have laughed or cried or wondered or tried…
You are a Shivanaut.
You are a Shivanaut.
You just are.
That’s all there is to it.
Dance it up. Mess around. Get it wrong. Get it more wrong. You’re a Shivanaut.
Twitter: kimianak
I couldn’t have said it any better! :)
Twitter: spiralsongkat
Yay!
One of the things I love and cherish and deeply appreciate about being a Shivanaut is that the permission to do it wrong extends not only to the actual arm and leg movements, but to the daily practice itself — whether I do it daily, whether I do it for ten minutes or ten seconds, whether I do it with my body or just collapse onto a couch and think the numbers. The very freedom to do it wrong has been such a great teacher and is doing so much to dissolve unwanted patterns, all by itself. And then there’s the physical practice of it, the playground of flailing — yes!
*deep sigh* Thank you, Havi, for all that you do.
Twitter: erinibbertson
Brilliant! This is a beautiful definition. *bookmarks for future reference to redirect the confused, the glassy-eyed and the wtf-you-are-on people*
Twitter: larisakoehn
Yay! I’m a shivanaut! Yay! (again).
Larisa´s last blog ..The Hardest Thing in the World
Twitter: EleanorWragg
I’m a Shivanaut!
It’s my favourite way of describing myself.
And it totally rocks. Especially the permission to make a big mess of it, laugh at yourself, and feel safe and loved at the same time.
Havi, you are amazing. Thankyou.
Eleanor Wragg´s last blog ..Madness!
Twitter: havi
@Kat – what a beautiful way of putting it. The playground of flailing. Yes. Absolutely. Sometimes I think that even if Shiva Nata *didn’t* deliver mind-blowing epiphanies on a regular basis, it would be worth it just for that lesson of play and willingness to be wrong.
@Erin – oh, good. I know a lot of all of those people. :)
@Larisa and Josiane – kiss!
Twitter: mantrapreneur
Who is a Shivanaut? As of 2 minutes ago…that would be me.
I just purchased the kit after many weeks of putzing around your site (enjoying every minute), and I couldn’t be more excited.
Here’s why I’m doing it:
The promise of hot-buttered epiphanies is a huge, HUGE side-benefit for me. The actual hook for me is two-fold:
1) I need to strengthen my Mental Roller Derby skills. That is to say, I want to be able to navigate within spaces, so that I’m not easily knocked down by the lovely chaos that is life in the world.
I want to stay myself.
2) This is huge, and I’ve never heard it mentioned: I want to maintain my brain health into old age (Okay, not as sexy a reason but profoundly important, nonetheless). I have an aunt with Alzheimer’s, I’m 43 and it’s something I’m starting to think about.
I realize that you might not be able to mention such a benefit directly for legal reasons, but based on what modern science now knows about the subject, it behooves me to do what I can, now, to strengthen my brain.
I want to stay myself.
For me, that’s means reading music, learning a language, eating plenty of colorful, anti-oxidant rich foods and now practicing Shiva Nata.
Thank you, Havi, for providing such a multi-purpose tool!
xo
Rupa´s last blog ..A Monk and His Unicorn
Twitter: williehewes
Yes, yes, whee!
I am a shivanaut! It’s like being a pirate. You just are.
Rupa, your second reason is a big one, and yes, it makes much sense. Perfect sense. Very senseful. I’m a bit younger yet, and it’s not as much of a concern for me, but if I were to guess at things you could do to keep your brain agile, this would be one of them.
For me, it’s worth it just to have a brain that works properly. The mad fun of it is gravy.
Willie Hewes´s last blog ..Why would I want to talk to the ugly parts of my psyche
Twitter: casey_cole
@Rupa
I absolutely believe that improved brain function is a benefit of Shivanata. I had a stroke at 40 years old. I started doing Shivanata – only a couple times a week at first. My balance improved, my reflexes and mental acuity improved, and I was able to stop using most of the drugs they’d put me on. The brain is an amazing organ, and the way that Shivanata helps rewire the connections between the two sides clearly supports current neuroplasticity theories. I really believe that Shivanata is helping me do an end-run around the damaged parts of my brain. It’s helped me regain a lot of me, so I’ll bet it will help you to stay you. And probably more – it’s cool like that.
Welcome to the shivanuttery!
Twitter: elizabethhalt
I’m a Shivanaut! Wheeeee!
I very much appreciate the permission to do it badly. Or really, the permission to do it *however*. I think it helps me extend the same permission to other areas of my life.
Also, I love the balance and the muscle-y arms + legs.
Elizabeth´s last blog ..why reiki is like the cheshire cat
Twitter: clover
It’s so good to be so wrong sometimes… whew.
Shannon´s last blog ..The Menorah in my Freezer
“If you have done Shiva Nata once…”
Well, then I guess I’m a Shivanaut, too! I got the DVD and I watched the introductory stuff and I followed with the Level 1 practice in slow-mo, then watched the regular speed and went “Oh my god! I’m gonna need to memorize this thing if I want to do it the regular speed!” So I watched the Level 1 theory up to the legs part. All of that happened throughout 3 days? And I haven’t touched it since. That was about a week ago. So I did physically do the Dance one time. Twice if you count the looped arm positions at the end of the introductions, where I did them for almost 15 minutes before I realized he was never gonna stop until I stop the DVD or forward it to the next segment, haha…
A couple of days ago, as I was watching TV, I stood up and started randomly moving my arms around. Pretending to do the Dance in real speed. Not even having them in any type of right position, just moving my arms and legs through the space around me. It was fun. Not totally useless, I don’t think. I may have nudged some neurons here and there.
I plan to do it again. With the DVD, for real. It’s in my thoughts. Sweetly and tenderly.
Elisa´s last blog ..Do What You Know- Let the Rest Be
[...] my Shivanaut [...]
I love being a Shivanaut, even when I start getting genuinely pissed because I can’t match my movements to his. Because that man is moving so damn fast during the arms/legs sequence, and I look like a llama having a seizure, and I am going to be stuck at Level One forever!!
*tantrum over*
Ahem. Despite the sunspots of anger and the occasional sense of Inowanna, I just get the feeling that I’m doing something that’s really good for me. Like when you make yourself work out even though you don’t want to; afterward, you’re really glad you did.
@Rupa, I’m so right there with you, hon.