TangoZen: Walking Dance Meditation
Can one dance Tango to meditate? Everybody knows meditation is a good thing. For example, Zen meditation, if practiced properly, may create balance, calmness, groundedness, centering, and harmony in mind and body. However, it is difficult to meditate for many reasons. Meditation is mainly practiced while sitting with legs crossed to support and ground one's body. Unfortunately this sitting posture can give uncomfortable feelings and even pains before you benefit from the meditation practice. In addition, despite the importance of practicing meditation regularly, it can be difficult to stick to it with regularity due to the hectic life style we run everyday.

Can one meditate while moving around instead of sitting down? Although it appears to be sedate and passive, Zen meditation can also be practiced in more active ways than the sitting posture. For example, walking meditation has been practiced among Buddhists since the Buddha himself practiced it. Other forms of Zen meditation in motion can also be found in sports and performing arts.

Tango is a walking dance -- a special gift from Argentina to the world. Unlike Tango images of sexy and provocative movements commonly featured in media, Tango is a social dance that should be danced while walking. Of course, one embraces the partner and listens to music while walking. Benefits of Tango dancing can be explained in many aspects including social, physical, and emotional; however, it is interesting to note that the effects and benefits of meditation are experienced and shared among avid Tango dancers.

Yes, one can dance Tango to meditate. As stated above, Zen is a meditation practice. Besides many associated benefits, its main goal is to discover and reconcile with one's own nature. To reach that goal, Zen teaches us to devote 100% of our attention to what we are doing Here Now. Tango is a dance of connection, uniting one and one's partner while walking and listening to music -- together. Tango can be fully enjoyed, as many Tango dancers experienced, only if one completely surrenders to and connects with one's partner, both physically and emotionally, while dancing. Therefore, once recognizing similarities and benefits between them, one can properly unite and practice Tango and Zen. In other words, one can meditate while dancing Tango, experiencing deeper appreciation of physical, emotional, and even spiritual aspect of inner-self. That is, one can practice TangoZen: Walking Dance Meditation.

The goal of the TangoZen workshops is to expose the participants to a number of exercises that may lead them to mindfulness, a state of full awareness of oneself, one's partner, and the surroundings.

The exercises, adapted from martial arts, meditation techniques and sports, involve participants' physical discipline as well as full attention. As a result, through the exercises repeated over time, tango dancers may acquire and/or increase their sensitivity to balance, connection, centering, groundedness, and weight shifting, all of which are known to be critical for tango dancing.

Tango Here Now,

Chan