The Mantra Made Of Steps

Have you ever stood in a circle with women you don’t know? Felt the energy, the fear, the excitement and the anticipation that lives in that shared space before anything has begun?

There is a quiet moment of noticing — who is here, where do I stand, will I get this right? All the usual things our subconscious mind begins to introduce when it is an event we have not experienced before. And then the music starts.

As the steps form, they move in a wavelike motion around the circle, carrying each person with them. What began as self-awareness slowly softens into shared rhythm, emotions shift, and vibration lifts almost without effort.

In seated meditation, when using a mantra, our voice is heard through prayer and silence. A mantra is simply a sacred sound that is repeated during meditation. It can encourage peace, goodwill, improved energy and health, but most of all it helps us concentrate and stay in the moment.

In circle dancing, our message is heard through movement, release, and presence. The body speaks what words often cannot.

Every facilitator has their own way of working with movement. I always like to explain why we are taking the steps the way we are, so that everyone understands the intention behind the dance rather than simply copying shapes. When meaning is felt, participation becomes easier and more wholehearted.

Keeping it super simple is, in my experience, the best way forward. Simple steps allow people to relax into the experience, to learn without pressure, and to trust their bodies without fear of getting it wrong.

As the dance repeats, something subtle begins to happen. The steps become familiar. Thinking quietens—attention shifts from remembering what comes next to simply being inside the movement. The dance becomes a kind of mantra — spoken not in words but through feet meeting the earth again and again.

The repeated pattern begins to feel like a mantra made of movement: familiar, rhythmic, and quietly settling for the mind. Each return to the step is a return to the present moment, held not individually but within the gentle support of the circle.

And perhaps this is where the magic of circle dancing lives — in the discovery that meditation does not always ask us to be still. Sometimes it invites us to move, together, repeating simple steps until we remember that presence can be felt not only in silence, but in shared rhythm. The collective consciousness is working for the good of all.

I often notice those who at first find it uncomfortable, uneasy and sometimes embarrassing, to allow themselves to go with the flow of the music and the chant, but I see shoulders dropping, cautious eyes softening and laughter entering the space, where nervousness once resided.

Circle dancing is part of our programme during our Soul Wellness Retreat this year, August 9^th-13^th. In my opinion, retreats should be simple, easy and flowing, but most of all memorable, all for the best possible reasons.

If you would like to explore movement and dance, meditation, gentle kundalini yoga, chanting, wholesome vegetarian food, beautiful en-suite accommodation, sunshine, silence and peace, then here is the link for the brochure. Join me, Regina and Mags, my colleague, on a Soul Wellness Retreat to Portugal this August and give yourself the experience of a lifetime. https://tr.ee/SaXfYu