Spring 2020 Class Postponed Indefinitely

Classes for Spring 2020 are postponed due to COVID-19 (coronavirus). I plan to hold them soon after we all may go out and congregate in public again. Please send me an email at jim@chakradance.com if you are interested in classes once they resume. The hope is to have them Sunday evenings following the plan laid out here in the details below.

What? When? Where? Who? Why? Cost?

What? Nine-week Chakradance course facilitated by Jim Macdonald

When? Most Sundays starting POSTPONED: Express interest by emailing Jim.

Where? Montana Ballet Company (at the Verge Theater building on 2304 N. 7th Ave. in Bozeman)

Who? Anyone interested who is open personal growth (no experience required!)

Why? Dance is its own reward, but also greater inner balance, healing, and help reaching our own personal potential

Cost? $15 per class or $100 for the entire course. If class is not full, drop-ins who reserve a spot pay $15. (If you cannot afford the prices, we can make arrangements. No one will be turned away because of money).

More questions? Contact Jim and read below

Registration Form

You can fill in this PDF Registration Form and email to Jim (jim@chakradance.com), print and bring it to class, or come to class and fill it out there. However, be sure to reserve your spot first by email so that Jim has an idea of numbers. Class size is limited!

An Invitation to Chakradance

I invite you, starting on Sundays in late March or early April at the Montana Ballet Company (over at the Verge on 2304 N. 7th), to dance with me on a beautiful nine-week course in Chakradance.

Chakradance has been for me a life-changing dance modality. You are not required to learn a single dance move in order to dance it. All you need to be is present and open to the power of dance to uplift, heal, or help you work on whatever it is in you that needs working out. Chakradance focuses on seven energy centers that ancient people identified in our bodies that represent physical, emotional, and psychological functions within us. By moving to, around, and with that energy, you can unravel blocked energy and deepen your connection with yourself.

A class involves both still and moving meditation, a little sharing, some exercises to get us grounded into our bodies, and even some work with mandala art. None of it requires any experience with dance, art, or chakras. Really, all it takes is presence, an open heart, and a commitment to complete every step of the course. For seven of the nine weeks, we will also dance and work on a particular chakra.

You will dance with your eyes closed or gaze lowered, and so this truly will be – though in a shared space – your own dance and your own process in a judgment-free environment.

What Is Required?

If you are interested in taking this nine-week dance journey, the biggest thing I need from you is a commitment to the course. We may not be meeting every week, and so anticipate the actual course to be complete just before the start of summer. The time between classes is important because a lot tends to come up in the classes, and the real work is often the integration we do on our own throughout the week. More importantly, chakra work is about achieving balance throughout our chakra system. Your energy system will receive the most benefit from completing the full program and may feel imbalanced if it is only completed partially (much like getting a massage on one arm and not the other!) Therefore, a commitment to the full nine-week process is recommended and the only way to confirm placement in the course. This is an intimate space where we have a chance to bond and support each other, and there will be a cap on the number of people who can participate. If you cannot be at a class and are signed up for the whole course, please work with me to try and make up and class you miss. I will make special arrangements with you so that this can be possible.

To cement your commitment and the value we put into it for your time and my time, I ask that you pay $15 per course or a one-time registration of $100 by check (payable to Jim Macdonald) or by cash. If this is a hardship for you but you are truly committed, we can make arrangements.

I also ask that by agreeing to take the course, you take responsibility for your own safety. I will do everything I can to hold the space, and the dance tends to be gentle, but I am cognizant that accidents can happen. Therefore, I ask that we all take responsibility for ourselves through this.

Great, But What If I Am Still Unsure?

If you are unsure of whether Chakradance is for you or whether you want to make a commitment to it, besides talking with me, you may drop in to the first class and try that out. The first week is an introductory week. If it turns out that it is for you, then you can make the commitment during that week. Also, unlike the last course I did, we may have room for drop-ins. It really depends on course demand. If the class fills up with committed participants, then I will close the class. If we still have room, on a week-by-week basis, there may be room for you to join us. Please contact me to inquire and to reserve a spot as a drop-in. If any space is available, I will reserve your spot. If you are reserved, please show up! If you reserve a spot and are absent, that is a spot that might have been used by someone else.

If you end up needing other arrangements, please contact me separately to see if we can do one-on-one work or whether you might be available for the next cycle that I facilitate. Once the cycle gets going fully in week 2, we may not be able to add new people to the class.

I may, at times, offer some separate classes for those not in the nine-week cycle, or if you are part of a group (especially outside Bozeman) who wants to do a daylong or Friday-Saturday workshop, please contact me.

Okay, But if I Am Trusting You, Jim, What Is Your Background?

While you can read about me more here on my bio, let me say briefly here that I am a licensed Chakradance facilitator, having completed my facilitator training with the founder of Chakradance – Natalie Southgate – and also a nine-month deep dive course into Chakradance, also led by Natalie. Moreover, she has recently hired me to co-facilitate with her in this year’s online deep dive course (which is ongoing and I LOVE IT) and to help with future live trainings for Chakradance facilitators. Beyond that, I’m just a regular person who has lived in Bozeman for 12 years, with a day job as a proposal manager for a high tech firm, a father of a 12-year-old boy, an M.A. in philosophy, and who loves to camp and hike in Yellowstone. In addition to Chakradance, I dance 5Rhythms, and I also love to swing dance or just dance anywhere and everywhere. However, I am not a licensed therapist. That is not my role here. I am someone who simply facilitates you through the dance and helps hold the space for your journey.

I have numerous other interests we will surely discover as we get to know each other. If you are interested, please contact me.

Sure, But Any Testimonials?

Okay, here are a couple from my previous Chakradance class.

--I was surprised by the depth of inner work that this class allowed for me to access. I looked forward to each week and felt very supported by each member of the class, and Jim created a safe welcoming atmosphere that allowed space for a deeper opening of myself and tools to move through some difficult emotions. This class was very rewarding, fun, emotional and allowed a creative outlet to some difficult growth which I will always cherish and continue to pursue. Try it!! I learned so much about myself and chakra energy. Dance has always been a sacred part of my life and Jim led us through a beautiful journey that has incredible power to heal and connect to our true selves while sharing that experience with others.

--Great class! Dancing, mandalas, meditation and lovely people spiritual questing. A wonderful journey. Jim was an excellent facilitator throughout the process.