I kept getting stuck, and I mean like completely and totally, my brain has frozen, why am I stood here with my arms both in horizontal 1 stuck.  I was trying to work through the Level 3 arms – without the DVD, because that just annoys me by going either too slow or too fast depending on whether I’m in the flow or having to work out each step in turn.

My practice habits

I have a habit about how I practice! Yes, it’s a brand new habit, developed whilst I was practicing Shiva Nata – can you believe it!

I don’t say the numbers out loud, they tend to distract me because my arms can work out what they’re doing at Level 1 and 2 without my mouth getting involved.  It’s actually easier for me to do the arms (with or without legs) without saying anything for these.  But at Level 3 this habit failed me!

Trying something new

So, without realising about the habit thing at first, I started talking myself through it (that being another habit of mine – I think best out loud).  One-one, two-two, two-two, three-one, one-three, two-four, four-two, one-one, three-three, ….  Suddenly, the little mini-patterns appear in what I’m saying (even though my arms are convinced that the whole thing is just one great big long random jumble).  Sometimes I say one thing but my arms do another and I’m able to see where I’ve gone wrong because my arms don’t feel like two-four but my mouth knows that two-four is next.  Quick check and ah-yes, I’ve made a mistake, but I’ve spotted it!  I’m aware, I’m conscious of it – this is most excellent, because now I can choose what to do next instead.  (Oh the symmetry!)

The idea for when you’re in a sticky patch

If you find yourself getting stuck and not getting past where you are try changing around whether you do one or both of the moving and the talking.  So if you tend to do one of the following, try another:

• Just do the arms in silence (or with music)
• Talk your way through the sequence moving your arms at the same time
• Just talk through the sequence without moving

What have you tried when you’ve got stuck, and did it help?  Are you stuck now – can you give this a try and let us know how it went for you?

The absolute minimum that you need to get started with Shiva Nata (also known as Dance of Shiva) is just two things:

• A space in which you can move your arms around
• The rules in which to move your arms

However, for those of us with a less ascetic bent, you can be a whole lot easier on yourself.  In fact, I’d totally recommend that you are because that way you can spend more time and effort on getting into your practice rather than worrying about what the heck you’re supposed to be doing.

If you’re a software geek (or you’ve just used enough software to recognise the difference between “I want to smash this stupid program through a wall” and “I didn’t even notice the program I was using”), think of it like a well-designed interface.  It makes it all about getting the job done rather than learning how to work the piece of software itself.  But I’d best not go on or I’ll start a rant about software interface design, and I have my other blog for that.

Second: The easy route to starting Shiva Nata

So, if you prefer the easier route then here’s 4 seriously easy steps to get you on your way:

1. Check out my review of the Shiva Nata Starter Kit from Havi – then go buy it!
2. Find a space where you can move your arms about without whacking furniture, light fittings or walls – or you can be like me and learn the hard way
3. [The trickiest for some.]  Make sure you have some time when you can do this on your own (or with others who are doing this with you).  Believe me, you will feel silly when you first start doing this.  It doesn’t take too long to get into it, but until you’re used to the movement you want to avoid anything putting you off practicing whenever you can.
4. Grab some paper and a pen.  You will want this to capture your thoughts and ideas.  Seriously.  Keep this with you at all times.  Or again, learn the hard way

Third: The extremely structured guide to starting Shiva Nata

Some of you may prefer a very structured approach (so not my style) so here’s a more structured version of the easy guide:

1. Check out my review of the Shiva Nata Starter Kit from Havi – then go buy it!
2. Set a time that you will work on this for 20 minutes every day.
3. Find a space with room to move your arms around where you can be alone.
4. Get a notebook or journal to record your thoughts (a quick guide is also included in the starter kit).

Have you any other tips for the shiva-curious?  Or are you shiva-curious yourself with a question?  Shout out in the comments section, I’d love to know what else has helped/would help.

About the creator

Havi Brooks, the #2 World Expert in Shiva Nata (Dance of Shiva), is the creator of the Dance of Shiva Starter Kit. Havi also runs FluentSelf.com, where she uses the amazing insights she got from Dance of Shiva to get us all destuckified and biggified. If you’re a creative person you will want to check her stuff out.

About the Starter Kit

If you’re even thinking about having a go at Shiva Nata then The Dance of Shiva Starter Kit is a great way to get a taste of this crazy, brain training, pattern-dissolving, epiphany producing practice. Even if you’re not sure you want to take it any further, the kit is cheap as chips and totally worth trying out!

Starter Kit = DVD + Downloads

The DVD is available on it’s own, but to be honest, you will want to upgrade to the Starter Kit given all the great stuff that Havi has thrown together for you. If you already have the DVD you can even get Havi’s stuff on its own (scroll to the bottom) – so either way, there’s no excuse!

The DVD

I found the theory part of the DVD a little difficult to understand until I got used to Andrey’s accent, though once you get used to his voice, it’s actually is very relaxing. There are a few times when what he’s saying pops up on the screen for clarity (e.g. “neural connections”) but it’s rare and to be honest, the guy’s lecturing in what is a foreign language to him – pretty darn impressive!

When it comes to the practice it’s set in a few different spots halfway up a Nepalese mountain and I couldn’t help but think about how cold his feet must be. I soon forgot about that when I started practising though. It’s actually quite helpful to see that (occasionally) Andrey himself stumbles or has had to record the sequence in more than one take. Even the master does not produce perfect work at the basic levels!

These different levels are broken up into stages so you can work your way up to a full understanding of the technique. This makes it a fairly simple process to get the balance right between total incomprehension and finding it too easy – particularly with the support of Havi’s work.

Havi’s information pack

It is Havi’s work that really makes the Dance of Shiva accessible through this starter kit. One of the best parts is that you can get it straight away (a big boon given that I’m in the UK and it took a while for the DVD to get over to me). So the first thing you will probably find yourself doing is going through Havi’s reports, worksheets & recording to familiarise yourself with the basic arm movements and prepare for your practice sessions.

The two reports serve to really set your expectations as to what is going to happen with your practice. So there’s no upset or disappointment when you get the DVD and don’t work through it all in one go. The amount of acquired knowledge condensed into these two reports makes them totally worth reading and re-reading before the DVD arrives to really get grounded in how to get the most out of your practice.

Havi’s wonderful destuckification techniques are also provided as part of the pack in the form of a recorded tele-seminar as well as an invitation to the next live one. The recording helps to ensure that any worries or concerns about having a daily practice are not going to get in the way of enjoying Dance of Shiva and getting the most out of it that you can. Havi is an expert at ‘meeting you where you are’ and this recording is excellent for getting the Dance of Shiva to come to you, rather than the other way around, for maximum benefits and progress. It’s called ‘Dust off the DVD’ but even after I started a regular practice I found advice, and questions from fellow Shivanauts, that helped me.

The last of the downloads is a couple of worksheets so you can have everything ready and prepared when you get the DVD. Of course, not everyone will but that’s ok – that’s what the recording is for! I did struggle to feel confident with the vertical arm positions from the worksheet, but as soon as the DVD came I was able to tweak my understanding and get started with the minimum of fuss – and that’s what this starter kit is all about.

Even more goodies

Last, but not least, are some of the bonuses that Havi has included in the starter kit as well. Havi is working on a Dance of Shiva manual, and anyone who’s bought the starter kit automatically will receive 15% off the book when it is finished! Also, shipping for the DVD is included in the price – so what you see is what you pay. As the final cherry on the icing on the cake it’s all covered by Havi’s “I’m a yoga teacher goshdarnit I always tell the truth” buy-back guarantee. Check out all the details on Havi’s website.

I made a note about the fact that my feet were cold when relaxing after practice – my favourite part.  I lie flat on the floor and completely relaxed (Yoga peeps will know this as Shavasana or corpse pose).  If you’ve ever seen a Bunny Flop you know what I mean.

Writing the note let an idea through…

My clever thought was this: wear some socks!  It sounds silly and obvious, but it was something I would never have considered if I hadn’t given my thought about my cold feet some attention (one of the reasons to keep a journal).  If you’re anything like me you won’t go and get a pair of socks now and put them where you practice/with your notebook/on the floor somewhere – but you might remember this post next time you realise your feet are freezing!

Which then led to me having a lovely warm feeling!

The next day as I lay down I suddenly remembered about the socks and got to have lovely warm feet – now that’s a result!

Writing things down does more than get ideas that are running lose in your head out and onto paper.  It gives them a tiny amount of undivided attention.  If you read productivity blogs you’ll know about the idea of focussing on one idea at a time, and even on a small level this seems to work wonders.  My theory is that they are looking for your attention and having got your focussed attention for just a few seconds your thoughts are happy to get to work generating ideas for you!

Do you have any little success stories from your journaling – or any other part of your practice – you can share?  I’d love to hear of anything that your proud of so we can celebrate your success!

I was so excited about getting started with Shiva Nata that I set up a little notebook in which to journal my daily habits, including practices and thoughts from Shiva Nata.  I set it up with a few guidelines in mind:

1. There are no rules – only suggestions to work with for now, I can change my mind later
2. What I am looking for in a daily routine is not rigid – work with how I’m feeling to find a daily routine that matches me real needs, not some imagined ideal that I’ve read about
3. It’s about making notes of how I felt about what happened and didn’t happen – not checking I’ve done what I’m ‘supposed to’.

I’ve found this really useful for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it helped me to clarify my thoughts and feelings on my practice.  When I commit a word to paper I can tell if it doesn’t feel write.  Often after writing an entry I will read it and find myself replacing the occasional word with one that matches better.  This way I get clearer results from my practice.

Secondly, it gave me an avenue to ‘share’ my reactions.  That’s why I started this blog too – I’ve had so many thoughts start coming through after starting my practice that I had to find a way to start sharing them with more people that just me and my notebook!

And it only takes a couple of minutes – a hassle it is not!

I need more info on keeping a journal…

I’ve adapted a guide on keeping a learning diary which I found thanks to the wonderful Nichelle of Dance Advantage

WHAT TO WRITE
What in particular went well or was difficult?  Remember – you want something to have tripped you up completely or you being too easy on yourself!
Habits that you have noticed in yourself.  It’s all about the habits!
How you feel about the way you are doing things.  Getting frustrated? That’s great! Acknowledge any associated feelings rather than push them away.
What have you achieved today?  It’s always nice to see the progress you are making.
Anything else that feels of importance to you – even though you may not understand the significance of it.

WHY DO IT?
It helps you to learn from your successes, as well as your mistakes
It makes it more likely that you will use what you have learnt next time
It gives you an opportunity to plan concisely what you want to do, what you want to change
It may help you feel more ‘in control’, more positive, deepen your understanding.

One final idea

I’m too lazy, but if you want you could keep a key dates calendar.  Basically, keep a separate note (stuck on the wall if you like) with dates when you’ve got to particular ‘milestones’.  E.g. Got through the Level 1 horizontal arm sequence.  Then did vertical as well.  Then done all the Level 1 arm moves.  Basically just keep a note whenever you feel proud!  That way, if you ever find yourself comparing how you’re doing with others, you can look at the sheet instead and remember how well you’re doing!

One question I wasn’t sure about was whether or not I needed to be very strict on myself in terms of daily practice.  I’m naturally inclined towards not forcing myself to do something when I don’t want to (not to be confused with waiting to feel like something before doing it) and if you are too then I’ve some good news for you…

I managed just fine with occasional practice

I started off just practicising every few days or so, when I had some time to look at the DVD or read some of Havi’s starter kit notes.  It gave me time to get used to the new movements involved.  I didn’t feel pressured to be progressing day on day.  I could give my brain a rest between sessions.  In short, it suited me down to the ground.

Of course, if you’re the kind of person that has a routine or schedule mapped out for their day then by all means plan away.  But if you’re more like me then fear not – you will still benefit from intermittent, scattered practices as and when you fit them in.

But having a morning routine is helpful sometimes

I have been trying to find a morning routine that fits my ‘flexible’ approach to life and have found from my little experiments that morning routines (and evening ones, heck any time of day I guess) can have certain benefits.

For me, the morning routine had a way of eliminating those times when I found I’d been staring at the wall for 15 minutes (usually when I’m running late, and now even later)!  When I have a set series of steps to work through I don’t have to think about what I’m doing or why, I just get through each of the steps whilst my brain is catching up with the whole oh-my-god-it’s-morning-already-what-am-I-doing-out-of-bed thing.  The odd part is that by doing this I’ve found myself getting more alert sooner as I’ve started to do some Shiva Nata (or pilates or stretching or, most importantly, eating) without having to plan what I’m doing next!

And now I actually WANT to practice every day!

I’m a few weeks down the line, but I’ve already had a number of epiphanies and that’s got me wanting more and more.  So now I’m hooked (in a totally good way, of course) and find that I don’t need to motivate myself to practice because I want to anyway!  It’s that good I set up this whole blog about it!

Now, that doesn’t mean that I actually fit in a practice everyday, the idea of a set routine is one that chills me to the bone, but I do tend to make time for it when I can and I write something in my diary every day.  Even if it’s just a comment as to why I didn’t make practice.  This in itself can help spot patterns.

But what if I don’t want to practice every day?!

Even if you don’t get as crazy addicted as me, you can go at a rhythm that suits you.  It’s certainly much more sustainable as a practice, so you’ll get more out of it than if you push yourself for a while and then give up because the pace is too hard.