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Dear Bob and KDZ, It was so kind of you to take the time to discuss African Drumming and my “Kripalu experience” with me on the phone last week. One of the many things I loved about Kripalu was the genuine caring I found in the people who work there. To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect from my R&R weekend. I still haven’t found the words to express all that I felt and experienced there, but I know it was deep and authentic and healing. When I walked into the Danskinetic session, I didn’t know what was going on. I heard these drums and saw people dancing, but I thought it was going to be an aerobics class. I didn’t know what the drums were doing there. There was no way I was going to be able to dance like that and certainly not to drums.
Who dances to drums? Not ten minutes into the class I “got it”. It just clicked and I was moving all over the place, without effort or self-consciousness. I could feel the pulse of the drums, the pulse of the group and the pulse of my soul. It was there, expressing itself, freeing itself, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I ever had. Looking back on it I realized how incredibly skilled the drummers were to not only follow that pulse but to lead it as well. What a phenomenal accomplishment for you. You were as much a facilitator of movement as Megha was, maybe even more so (and Megha was great!) I’m sure the Danskinetics class with tapes is very good as well, but there was something about the drums that really touched me to my core, something primal and earthy and totally real. That feeling continued into the concert that night, and that was amazing too. You guys are really incredible. My body felt “awakened” and the songs kept me moving. I could literally feel my heart and soul lifting, straining to reach out of my body and merge with the music. It brought tears to my eyes, it touched me that deep. The reason this is all so amazing for me is because I have always been fairly self-conscious and self-contained. (A bit wacky, but a bit stiff and ‘proper’ too.) Not in a million years would I have seen myself moving in such a relaxed, connected way. It feels like a gift to be able to move this way now. I still feel it, too, still plugged in to my body and able to honor and express it by moving in a “free spirited’ way. I definitely feel less self-conscious, as well.
And it’s as if by relaxing my body I released my soul and now my soul is singing its own proud song, not caring who hears it, happy to share it with the world.And so I want to say thank you.
Thank you for whatever it is you do – all of you – with those drums to bring this about. Thank you for your experience and your talent. Thank you for being open and intuitive, and for sharing your own spirits in order for others to expand theirs. I think you must also have to open yourself up while you are playing to get to these places, where it all clicks, and I appreciate that. It is a gift, a wonderful, glorious gift, and I thank you for it. With warmest regards, Lisa [Links provided by KDZ ;]
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From Mona Anderson:
I first heard KDZ at Kripalu, quite some time before you put out a CD. So, when it came out I was very excited and brought it into work.
Well, I work in a college Counseling Center and the students in the waiting room loved it. On a quiet day when the students were gone and only we staff people were working, our administrative assistant came into my office saying, "I don't feel like working today and I've decided I'm not going to play any music in the waiting room either."
I said, "Why don't you put the KDZ CD in?"
She replied, "No way. Then I'd feel like working again!"
Thanks for the great energy your work gives us!
Mona Anderson
MA, LCMHC Counselor and Coordinator
Keene, NH
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From Judi Erickson:
I first heard KDZ on Thanksgiving weekend, 2003. It was my first trip to Kripalu, my first R&R weekend with my yogi husband, and I was already "in the zone". People who attend Kripalu can understand the zone I'm speaking about; the one where you feel as though you aren't really walking through the building or the grounds, but floating!
So, Saturday arrived ! I had just finished doing a Grace In Motion class with my "soul-sistah" Megha, and she says - "Now - DansKinetics at noon - with the drummers."
I walked into the large room, and watched as KDZ warmed up, positioned themselves and Megha got miked. Then, the most extraordinary sounds began to resonate thru the room. My body couldn't stop moving. Finally, I just succumbed to the grounding, revolving sounds of the beat. And I danced like I never have before. The end of the Saturday session, as you rest and resolve in Shavasana is entrancing. I left the room feeling moved, beyond words, feeling as though I had been changed, so positively.
Where did I go? To buy the CD. What did I do ? As we left Kripalu that Sunday, I told my husband that I would be enrolling for DansKinetics Training.
I have had the privilege of getting to know some members of KDZ, and understand so clearly that their drumming is also part of their spiritual practice. They have moved me to laughter, moved me to Second Chakra Queen, moved me to tears.
But they move me - just as they move others. You only need to watch how a Saturday crowd sways, hoops and hollars, and gyrates. I have used the KDZ CD in many classes of DansKinetics, and my students can't ever seem to get enough. Even those who are the most "shy" seem to come alive with their percussive persuasion.
And, icing on the cake, to watch my three year old grandson groove to the rhythms is what this yogini really digs !
Thanks KDZ - for the introduction, for the inspiration, and for allowing so many of us to share your sounds around our spiritual community.
Judi Erickson
aboard S/V Vahana
in South Portland, ME for the winter
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Dear KDZ,
I used to be a blind, lame, drug addict.
Seriously, I was drinking way too much
Caffeine. You name it, Red Bull, Triple
Espresso, I tried everything.
Then one day a friend invited me to
Kripalu Yoga Center. I used to hate those
kinds of places but I heard that recently
they installed one of those coffee
dispensers. I thought "It can't be that
bad."
Well, It was.
I mean the coffee was alright but everything
else was so...weird. Everybody sounded way
too happy and were saying "Hello" all the
time. I mean I was seriously FREAKED OUT!
Well, I had paid for the weekend and so I
decided to stay for the night at the very
least. I mean I didn't have to limp far
with my cane in the morning to get that
great bean juice. Anyway, that night I
was making my way back to the unnaturally
abundant food bar for the third time, when
I hear this beat. It was like somebody
knocked me in the kneecaps with a ball-peen
hammer. I am sure I clocked a few swamis
with my cane as I swung around immediately
and hobbled as fast as I could towards the
music!
Thats where the real story begins. I have
to tell you, what started as a little twitch
in my neck muscles, soon expanded throughout
my body and before long I was dancing like
Shiva himself. (Om Namo Narayana!) I didn't
even notice that I had lost my cane until
somebody tapped me on the shoulder and asked
if I was alright!
"Alright?" I cried. "Alright???...I CAN SEEE!"
And from that day forward I haven't even so
much as looked at a glass of iced tea or a
chocolate covered espresso bean.
By the way, the band was you guys. And I
listen to your CD almost every day. Send me
another one guys. I want to turn my friends
on!!!
Much Love,
Douglas "SPARKY" Saunders
Greenwich, CT
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