The gift of Sacred Clowning by Rachel

posted 16 Apr 2020, 04:46 by Didier Danthois   [ updated 16 Apr 2020, 05:23 ]
The gift of Sacred Clowning

This article was written by one of Didier´s student Rachel. Rachel is a qualified art psychotherapist and the director of Alchemy, an organisation that offers Dramatherapy and counselling in Argyll and training and consultancy services throughout Scotland. In this article Rachel offers us her insights from her experience of the Sacred Clown approach and how it can support our personal journey. We added photos of special moments to illustrate it.  
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Didier Danthois offers Scared Clown retreats at Casa Saraswati in Tenerife. Didier’s teaching is from the heart, as a participant I

experienced deep care and containment for my personal process while I was there. The work is about connection, connection to one’s body, connection to one’s internal sense of being, connection to one another, connection to the earth, the elements, and a deep spiritual connection, to whatever that may be for you as an individual. We are reminded of coming home, to rest in a loving presence which can be found inside each and every one of us.

The core of Didier’s work is spiritual, this spiritualism resonates out to the world in compassion, acceptance and gratitude. Every moment became sacred, as I experienced the love emanating from Didier and his work. Challenges became opportunities for transformation. The physical clowning connects me to my body, my energy, my emotions, it is a very personal process, that happens in a group, so also becomes interpersonal. Didier works in a profoundly intuitive way, responding to each individual uniquely. The group is a microcosm of our world, it is the perfect place to see who we are, what roles we fall into, what roles we find more difficult to inhabit. When I reflect, I see myself in my family, or in other groups I am part of. This is not always comfortable or easy, the transformation can happen when I accept this discomfort, when I can silence my thoughts, my judgements and not let them inhibit, or frighten me. This is Didier’s aim, to help you return home to your true essence, which is pure and childlike. This essence is trusting and loving, compassionate, playful and non-judgemental.

Being in an environment like this, for eight days, with people you may not have met before, provides a levelling, an equality. It is an opportunity to practice this new way of being with yourself, and others. It is a safe haven, a safe place to try out approaching the world a little differently. After all, I think, each of us has found this place because of these feelings of discomfort, a sense of wanting to be with oneself (and others) with more ease. A searching for something more meaningful, or, trying to make sense of the world we live in, and for me, attempting to live in it, were all reasons I found Didier and Sacred Clowning.

This is my personal perspective, but research into psychology and neural physiology is confirming that physiological change takes place when humans experience love and compassion. And those that practice and receive love and compassion have been proven to have more developed areas of the brain, particularly the hippocampus. We now know how stress impacts on our physiology, it has a direct impact on our adrenal system, our hormone responses and our digestive system. The work that Didier does guiding us through spiritual meditation combined with physical clowning, enables a coming together of mind and body. The heart as an organ as well as the universal metaphor for love and compassion, are the tools of the work here. As we make our hearts bigger with compassionate practice and physical clowning we are also contributing to the health of our circulatory, endocrine and respiratory systems in a physiological way.

At this moment in time the world is facing the crisis of the Coronavirus, a global threat that is affecting everyone. Didier has responded by moving his courses on-line, and finding delight, wonder and challenges in equal measures, I suspect. I have been attending his guided meditations each morning, connecting with others over Europe in spiritual practice. This offering is making a deep impact, as we are alone, we are connected in our mission to transform fear into hope, to fill the universe with compassion and love, and to nurse our own bodies and minds with this most, beautiful, nourishing and accepting Clown Medicine.

Thank you Didier.

Rachel, Ardfern, Scotland. April 2020.

 

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