About the Work

As a movement practice and a philosophical framework, the 5Rhythms is a spiral path. Each progressive map or layer of the work evokes, articulates and explores a different aspect of our Self and our human experience.

Although there is a natural progression from one level to the next - a basic grounding in previous maps prepares a practitioner for the teachings of the next one – this practice is not necessarily designed to be navigated in a linear fashion. Each map sheds light on all the others, and there is much to be gained by exploring and revisiting every aspect of the 5Rhythms work, whatever the order.

The Self is a dynamic system, and the body/heart/mind you bring with you today may be much different from the one who took the workshop last time. Over time, we bring new depths of experience and understanding to each level of the 5Rhythms practice, gaining a more intimate and profound, subtle and embodied relationship to our Self, and to the many layers of the 5Rhythms maps.

The OpenFloor.org Curriculum is organized according to Gabrielle Roth’s maps. Most of our Programs can be counted as prerequisites for more advanced 5Rhythms workshops with Gabrielle and other teachers, and as credit toward the 5Rhythms Teacher Training.

For a more in-depth description of these maps, please refer to Gabrielle’s book, Maps to Ecstasy.

Waves

In this first map, we explore the physical embodiment of each rhythm: how the rhythms naturally and habitually move through our body, and how we can use the essential qualities of Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness to bring our physical energy more fully into motion.

Heartbeat

When we move our bodies, our emotions also begin to move. The Heartbeat map explores the movement and rhythmic qualities of our past and present emotional life. By understanding emotion as energy-in-motion, and learning to track and move this energy through our bodies, we may begin to experience and express our emotions with fluidity, clarity, creativity, and grace.

Cycles

Our emotional worlds are deeply influenced by our history, and as we move our emotions we re-member our own personal stories. In Cycles, we see that each rhythm is a gateway to a particular developmental cycle or phase of life. We use the essential physical qualities of each rhythm to access and explore both the universal teachings and our personal relationship to each life cycle.

Mirrors

Our histories inform our beliefs and behavior. Very early on, we develop strategies to help us get our needs met in relation to our parents, the world, and the culture we grew up in. Over time, these strategies become habitual responses and ‘solidify’ in the shape of an ego or personality. This personality is often referred to as the false self: a self we designed, mostly unconsciously, in order to survive. In Mirrors, we track and articulate the ways that our false self moves; we develop a physical relationship with the ego, getting to know its habits, its shapes and its movements. We invite the physical practice of the 5Rhythms to open our awareness and widen our range of chosen behavior so we can relate more spontaneously, soulfully, and authentically to ourselves, to others, and to the wider world.

Advanced

These workshops and programs may include material from any or all levels of the 5Rhythms maps, drawing on many teachings and moving freely through different areas of the practice. A solid grounding in the various levels of the 5Rhythms practice prepares participants to navigate skillfully through Advanced level workshops.