In this series, participants will be introduced to mindful awareness and stress management tools that will ultimately help us become more in control and connected with our bodies, minds, and the world around us. Flow dance is considered a moving meditation, so warming up with breathing-focused exercises allows participants to shut out unwanted distractions and tune in to themselves.
 
What makes a hula hoop spin around a person’s waist? It comes down to a combination of several forces at work. After our breathe work, participants will be given a hula hoop and are asked to explore the movement of dance props. We will discuss and experiment with how prop dancing is based on several physical laws, such as gravity, rotation, torque forces, centripetal forces, friction, inertia or eccentric movements. [content difficulty adjustable for different grade levels].
 
Flow dance not only creates many happy memories, but also strengthens the cognitive function of your brain to enable you to recall them. By patiently, repetitively introducing new patterns and drawing new shapes with flow props, we are retraining and growing the plastic that is our brain. Participants will be given a song and guided as a group through different on and off body techniques with their flow prop. We will then finish the class by having each student choreograph their own flow dance to perform. [performance can be adjusted to be done by whole class, groups, or individually.]