Episode Summary:
This is the first episode of the Spiritual Dance Podcast - a project that has been on my heart for several years now. Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about who I am, why I’m doing this, and what you can expect from future episodes.
Episode Transcript:
INTRO: Welcome to the Spiritual Dance Podcast, a virtual space for creative souls discovering how to move in sync with the rhythm of spirit. I'm your host, Carla White Crowe, also known as The Dancing Oracle. In this podcast, I share openly about my journey of weaving together my two primary passions spirituality and dance. My intention is to encourage and inspire spiritual seekers in pursuit of a more embodied form of spirituality, as well as provide insight and tools for those seeking to expand their creative edges in service to the world of spirit.
Welcome creative souls. I'm so glad you're here. This is the first episode of the Spiritual Dance Podcast, a project that has been on my heart for several years now.
Today, I'm going to tell you a little bit about who I am, why I'm doing this, and what you can expect from future episodes. So let's jump right in with a little bit about my background and who I am today.
I am a professional dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. I have more than two decades of experience as a producer, artistic director, and business owner. I graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2000 with a degree in dance performance and a minor in business. In 2000, I started a dance company called Fueled and Aflame. That company ran for 20 years. Our dancers traveled and performed throughout the eastern half of the United States. The company was a 501(c)3 nonprofit who also held workshops and conferences that provided technical dance training, as well as education on all sorts of topics that fell under the umbrella of spiritual dance.
In 2010, I expanded my career by opening a dance studio and a small dance boutique. The studio eventually became home to two youth performing companies in addition to my adult professional company. In 2019, some unexpected and rather difficult circumstances forced me to close the studio, followed shortly by shutting down my nonprofit and all of our dance companies in 2020. That is a whole story in and of itself, which I will save for a future episode.
In the beginning of the pandemic, I found a way to keep dancing by attending a weekly online class through an organization called Journey Dance. This weekly intuitive movement practice was a life raft to me during a very difficult time. It helped me to process and release all of the difficult emotions I was feeling due to leaving behind a 20 year dance career that I had worked so hard to build. In 2021, I was certified as a journey Dance facilitator, allowing me to share this powerful practice with others. Today, I'm a big advocate for using movement and dance to support mental and emotional well-being. These classes focus on guiding you through a whole body creative expression, in order to help you unlock and release stuck emotions and overcome mental roadblocks.
When it comes to spirituality, the label I'm most comfortable with is Mystic. I've been a spiritual seeker for as long as I can remember. I've also spent more than half of my life dedicated to the sacred arts and serving in a variety of spiritual leadership positions. My greatest joy and fulfillment, however, has been in the role of a dancing priestess, where I lead others into deeper connection with themselves and with the divine through spiritual dance practices, embodied rituals, and movement prayers. I've spent the last four years diving into educational programs and in-depth studies to become proficient in the arts of astrology and tarot. Today, I offer astrology and other intuitive readings that utilize tarot and oracle cards, as well as channeled movement transmissions.
Speaking of astrology, I am a Virgo Sun, Gemini Moon and a Sagittarius Rising with a Libra stellium in the 10th house. On a more personal level, I'm a mom to two incredible humans, one dog and four cats. I love gardening, organizing, interior painting projects, traveling, and just generally having fun. I also love entrepreneurship, and I'm passionate about supporting other entrepreneurs, specifically with business formation and filing bookkeeping, software and branding. I get especially giddy about helping business owners set up and learn to work with QuickBooks. I don't really speak about that publicly because in this season I'm spending so much energy on developing my own business. But I do hold space for 2 to 3 businesses at any given time, offering support and consulting services to help them launch, grow, or streamline their business processes. So if that's something you're interested in, please send me an email or a DM and I'll see if I can make space for you.
So now you know a little bit about who I am, let's move into why I wanted to start a podcast. Basically, I love learning, and my favorite way to consume educational content is through podcasts. I like audiobooks as well, but podcasts give me a bite sized chunk of information, which feels way less overwhelming. I do have a blog on my website and several social media platforms where I've been sharing my work for years. I'm also working on a book and an online course.
But podcasts are my favorite type of media, and the idea of having my own is a dream I've had for several years now. It's taken me a while to get over the fear of speaking and generally just putting myself out there, though. Also, my niche is quite unique, even for the spiritual dance world. I've spent the last 20 years looking for other people who interact with spirit in the same way that I do. Recently, I've just come to accept that I'm here to be a trailblazer in this lifetime. And although that feels scary and quite lonely at times, I also realize the importance of sharing my work with as many people as possible. And like me, there's a lot of people in this world who may never pick up a physical book, but they'll listen to podcasts all day long. Lastly, a podcast captures more than just my work. It captures my voice, my personality, my heart. It's a legacy that I can share with people long after I'm gone.
So let's move on to what you can expect from this podcast. I'm going to start off by sharing my journey with both spirituality and dance, so that you can understand my background and the things that shaped my spiritual and artistic development. I will talk about the evolution of my own spiritual path, and how dance has been a key component in shaping my personal beliefs. You can expect humorous and heartbreaking stories of everything I've been through to get me to where I am today. I will share my experiences in both mainstream and spiritual dance communities, as well as personal stories about the lessons I've learned from being in spiritual leadership and in navigating spiritual entrepreneurship.
I will also break down my own practices and philosophies concerning spiritual dance and movement practices. There will be in-depth episodes discussing the four main roles I embody as The Dancing Oracle. Which are a spiritual dance guide and an astrologer and intuitive reader, a dance divination educator, and a cosmic choreographer.
I'm not sure yet if this podcast will be an ongoing long term project. My immediate goal is just to share my life's work in a format that excites me, but I'm definitely open to expanding and continuing the conversation if it feels right. So please leave a comment and let me know if there are any topics you'd like me to cover, or if you have any specific questions for me. I'm really excited to share my life and experiences with you, and I hope it inspires you to deepen your connection with yourself, your body, and the world of spirit.
Catch you all next time.
OUTRO: Thank you for taking the time to listen to my podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, I would greatly appreciate a positive rating and review. This helps others find me so that I can support and inspire as many humans as possible. If you would like to learn more about my work, please visit wwww.thedancingoracle.com. There you can book an intuitive reading or embodied coaching session and find out about my upcoming events. You can also sign up for my mailing list to be notified of my upcoming course and book launches on the topic of dance divination. Until next time, be well friends and I will see you in the next episode.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
If you enjoyed this episode, I invite you to join my "Friends of the Spiritual Dance Podcast" on Patreon for behind-the-scenes content and member extras.
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