Freedom in 5Rhythms: What If It Isn't Doing Whatever We Want?

Over the years of teaching 5Rhythms and holding space, I have occasionally met a particular resistance.

"I don't want to be taught. I just want the music. I want to move freely."

And I've become increasingly curious about this — about what freedom in 5Rhythms actually means.

What do we actually mean by freedom?

Because perhaps doing exactly what we want, when we want, in the way we want, isn't always freedom. Sometimes it might simply be preference. Sometimes it might even be control.

Finding Freedom in 5Rhythms Through Guidance

A teacher's guidance isn't there to tell you how to dance. There is no right dance.

The invitation is to take you somewhere you might not automatically go.

Into your feet when you'd rather stay in your head. Into relationship when you'd rather remain alone. Into repetition when you're searching for the next thing. Into stillness when you'd rather keep moving. Into the unknown when you'd rather stay with what you know.

And that is where resistance becomes interesting.

Sitting With Resistance

Who is the part of me that doesn't want to be guided?

What happens inside me when somebody asks something of me?

What am I protecting?

Can I notice my resistance without immediately having to obey it?

Of course, sometimes we simply want to dance without guidance. There are beautiful spaces for that too. And not every teacher or invitation will be right for everybody.

A Practice, Not Just an Expression

But 5Rhythms is a practice.

We don't come only to express what we already know. We also come to discover what we don't know.

Perhaps there is a subtle but profound difference between being obedient and being teachable.

To be teachable doesn't mean surrendering your autonomy. It means becoming curious enough to allow yourself to be interrupted.

Meeting What Comes

Because if freedom only exists when everything happens according to our own preferences, perhaps that isn't quite freedom after all.

Perhaps freedom is discovering that we can meet what comes.

Even the invitation we didn't want.

Even the rhythm we'd rather avoid.

Even our own resistance.

And dance with that too.

Based in East Sussex, Emma Leech teaches weekly and monthly classes in St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings, as well as workshops nationally and internationally. [Explore upcoming classes and workshops →]