Trance dance

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Felicitas Goodman, Nicholas E. Brink, Gabrielle Roth · 1977 · Santa Fe, New Mexico and New York, USA

What it is

A. Ritual body postures: Goodman's four-part session (Cuyamungue form)

Format

• A. Ritual body postures: Goodman's four-part session (Cuyamungue form)
• Opening the space. Goodman's Cuyamungue workshops open with ritual elements she adapted from Indigenous practice (e.g. smudging, calling the directions, an offering). They are named here only so clinicians recognise them. They are not given as procedure, because they derive from living Indigenous…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Progression: one workshop page recommends at least 15 hours of Waves classes before a workshop; the same page also says "no prerequisites". Teachers are trained and certified through 5Rhythms Global (founded 2013).
• What it is. (A) Goodman was an anthropologist who studied trance during speaking in tongues in Apostolic congregations in Mexico. From 1977 she tested a simplified ritual with students at Denison University. Participants hold a posture that she took from ancient and Indigenous art while a rattle or drum is played quickly. She described about 50 postures, each said to give the trance a different "direction" (healing,…
• Legal status. No substances are involved and no regulator licenses these practices. 5Rhythms and Cuyamungue run their own teacher certification. A clinician who uses these practices does so under their own professional licence and scope of practice.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• emotional after-effects between sessions.
• the client using the words with others between sessions.
• client curiosity as the cue that they are ready for more.
• steadier affect and better tolerance of difficult material.
• whether the client can name concrete supports to carry into daily life.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.