The Story of Zelia Pye

From early childhood I had a love for nature and a passion for dance, growing up in rural England gave me the privilege of spending most of my spare time playing in the woods and dancing in fields, I can remember the special connection and feeling of oneness these activities gave me.

However during ‘growing up’ and facing some challenging experiences and traumas, I was lead ‘for a time’ to forget the magical inner and outer world of my early years.

It was a great turning point in my life the day when I was given the tools to liberate myself, to an existence that was no longer nourishing. I had not fully appreciated the extent to which my low self-esteem was imprisoning me.

This was my best-kept secret, and it was only when I started to listen, open up and actually communicate with people that I TRUSTED, that I learnt to my astonishment that many others felt pretty much the same about themselves and their lives.

It was easy for me to see the positive qualities in people who themselves felt they had a low self-esteem, and it made me examine the negative beliefs that I had about myself and raise the question that my own perception of myself may be in error.

I began an intimate personal journey that changed my life where I allowed myself to explore gently where I was heading and was empowered to make a new decision, that would help me navigate towards a life that more fully reflected who I really am.

In my quest I studied and trained in Integrative Psychotherapy and Transactional Analysis that provided me with great tools to have insight into myself, but I found that healing at the level of the soul was missing.

It was only when I journeyed into nature that I was really able to reconnect with the real rhythms of life – rhythms that I found to exist within myself and gradually I was able to heal the fractures that had disconnected my heart and my soul from playing an active and creative role in my existence.

In my twentieth year, I left my small village in Devon and journeyed to India where a five-year love affair with the majestic Himalayan Mountains began. During this time I lived in caves, a mountain shack, trekked the breathtaking mountains and learnt many survival skills.

This journey deepened my relationship with nature and gave me a huge appreciation and respect for the natural world. It was in the vast silence of these mountains that I was able to listen really to myself for the first time and in that environment my mind became still of its own accord, creating the space for a new experience and a growing awareness of other dimensions of myself.

I discovered that within me was a still quiet part that had almost fallen asleep, frightened and subdued. It was also the part that carried with it the dreams and aspirations that I had once held for my life but had almost forgotten.

However, not everyone can just take off to the Himalayas, and it was on my return to the West that I became acquainted with a simple technique, to remove oneself from the distractions of chaotic existence and generate conditions safely to explore the inner reaches of one’s self.

Placing a blindfold over one’s eyes and allowing our bodies to move with the rhythm of the music, quickly creates a physical and psychic state that naturally unifies our senses to focus within…

A great misunderstanding exists in public perception about the actual nature of trance dance, which was widely regarded as some drug-induced craze. The reality is that most of us are living in a trance induced by the environment we inhabit, our minds are silently programmed by our personal pain, our sense of limitation and the expectations and conditioning of our society.

The process of regaining connection to this precious part of the self-became the key to waking myself from the trance and re-engaging with the voice of my heart, and wisdom of my soul, giving me a new desire to fulfill a sense of life purpose.

Shamanic Trance Dance allows even inexperienced searchers to reconnect with themselves swiftly. I appreciated that this technique offers a simple and efficient method that with the universal application can provide access for anyone, in an age when so many are searching for greater meaning.

In a world of growing crisis, many agree that it has never been more important to re-establish our connection to nature, to ourselves and the relationship to the soul. It was certainly a crucial step in my own development, and I feel a strong desire to share my experience, knowledge and learning, with people from all walks of life, cultures and backgrounds who feels they might benefit.

To share is to Grow! Aho ! 💜

Read about Zelia’s mission…