Conscious Dance, Women, and Spirituality

The health benefits of conscious dance, holistic movement practices enhancing self-awareness, are now documented (e.g. Laird et al. 2021). More recently, however, social science studies (e.g. Kieft 2014; Hauw & Halafoff forthcoming) also explore its creative potential for spiritual wellbeing. With theories of lived religion (Ammerman 2013) and PhEmaterialisms (Barad 2007; Braidotti 2016), we critically observe these themes – dance, creativity and spiritual wellbeing - arising from interviews with 30 Australian women dancers in Hauw’s PhD fieldwork. Analysing these narratives as nested within women’s life stages, along with findings by Halafoff et al. (2023) concerning Australian spirituality as ‘relational’ and ‘down to earth’, we argue while inherently self-reflective, women’s conscious dance practice also engenders broader ecological impacts.