Learning mindfullness by dancing in Keash
WITH the hustle and bustle of everyday life meaning people are less likely to take a breather, the whole area of mindfulness is something that’s being spoken a lot lately.
Claire Knifton is the woman behind a new dance class being held in the Community Hall every Friday evening in Keash.
Titled Mindful Movement, the classes are aimed at encouraging people to look after their mental health and wellbeing in a fun environment.
Claire told the Sligo Champion that it’s important people look after their mental health.
She said: “I’m a dance facilitator and I’m just starting these classes on Friday evenings.
“I’m originally from the UK but moved to Ireland 17 years and I’m now here in Culfadda.
“The Mindful Movement classes are based around being fun and relaxing.
“There are no steps to learn and people don’t need to be dancers to do them.
“It’s more about getting out of your head and listening to your body.”
She said the reaction so far has been good with lots of enquiries about the classes,
“I’ve been getting quite a few enquiries and I think people like to stay in their comfort zone, they are more familiar with the likes of line dancing or jiving but these classes work differently to those.
“We dance to different types of music from world, classical and popular music.
“Some of the movements are very simple and it’s about making people more aware of their body, say for example when we’re walking we’re only using parts of the body and there’s parts we forget to use.
“A lot of it is to do with breathing exercises too, opening the chest up to breathe more freely.” The classes run on Fridays for an hour from 6.45pm and Claire, who worked as a counsellor for many year, also runs classes in the Sligo Pilates, Stephen St, on Saturday mornings and in Carrk- on- Shannon.