Free Audio: “Embodied Prayer” Interview on Soul-Directed Life Radio

I had the pleasure of attending Banafsheh's a performance at Kripalu Center in MA. In watching her dance, I knew I was witnessing a master performer in action. Banafsheh is the quintessential professional in her field not only as a dancer but as an artistic interpreter of Rumi and in explaining the brilliance of that renowned Sufi mystic.

Banafsheh is one of the greatest sacred dancers I have seen.

Banafsheh embodies and expresses the Divine Feminine in all that she does.

Banafsheh’s dance is a manifestation of Beauty, a taste of the divine through all the senses…both unearthly magic and a full incarnation of what only human beings can do - to speak of the Beloved in entirely new creative ways in each moment.

Banafsheh is the ambassador of peace, love, and oneness. She is also a healer who reconnects body and soul.

Banafsheh's teaching is vital to my recovery from corporate exhaustion. Since finding this amazing spiritual teacher at the beginning of the year, I have dedicated myself seriously to this study. She facilitates a sensuous, feminine, powerful embodiment of the soul, a spiritual path that I am dedicating myself to exploring. She holds a loving and vibrant energy for the room that enables me to go further than I could by myself.

Banafsheh's grace and beauty is rippling ever outward to encompass the world. Her sessions are a delight and fresh adventure into devotion for me. The dance is one of my favourite devotional practices and adding the Sama has enhanced this beautifully. The experiential nature was exactly what I had showed up for and received. I am very grateful to your creational light and to Tony Khalife's music to bring forth so much love in motion.

Dance of Oneness is far beyond what I expected. I attend many workshops of varied subjects, primarily focused on healing. This was such an amazing tapestry of knowledge and wisdom to touch all elements of the being; mind, body, spirit, emotion, heart. Such a graceful approach to creating a climate to embody the wisdom.

I appreciated the overarching sense of inclusion and kindness. I felt it and it seemed like others did too. I am grateful for the sense of community that many spoke of during our reflections, that only moving together in Spirit can create. This is such a magnificent practice Banafsheh has created. This weekend I discovered that I have been separating my mind from my body and myself from the world. I have felt the oneness. Now instead of being grateful for my stomach, I am grateful for me and my stomach as part of me, of my whole being, from light above to roots below.

Enlightening and energizing. I felt more open and surprisingly more energetic that I have in a long time. I was afraid I wouldn’t physically be up to the task of moving and stretching but that was not the case. Not only did Banafsheh allow for and encourage different levels of mobility and strength, but the movement she teaches is both gentle and flowing when taken together and mixed with music produce a joyous energy. I found it liberating to be encouraged to move freely to music that provides an (to me) intrinsically sacred and primal connection.

This is a profound body of work for a profound experience of embodiment! I have studied and searched for 35 years for this depth of love and illumination that Banafsheh brings to the sacred dance floor.

At every retreat of Dance of Oneness, I come in touch with a different yet profound healing layer of spirit level. Dancing the movements that were very grounded in tribal beats, I got in touch with the mother earth’s whispers and beats. As the beats got louder and stronger, I could hear the lineage of tribal dancers moving through me. Banafsheh’s direction to stay in touch with our steps and our souls and to the earth’s embrace, stepping with reverence, I hear her whispering stories of these powerful tribal steps and movers. I feel a deep gratitude for all my ancestors who passed these on. At this moment as I feel deeply into my steps, imitating them from the depth of my heart, she smiles, I cry.

Transformative! Banafsheh skillfully takes us step by step to an experience of dance that brings me deeper into my body, to a peace of feeling grounded and open to beauty and to love. Most importantly for me, the process brought me to experience a lovingness toward myself. I appreciate her presence of gentleness and fierce passion, and I’m inspired to bring my best self into my world.

My experience of the workshop was exactly what I need for my spiritual expansion. The pace was perfect for me. Banafsheh’s voice, pace, and care for the group was wonderful. I’m very excited to have found Banafsheh as a source of inspiration!

Beautiful experience. I was reminded of much that is eventual. To be free and love oneself deeply, and love others, this body, our temple and to explore its powers and extremities. As always, thank you Banafsheh for your beautiful guidance, teachings and poetry. Dancing on!

It is what I’ve been searching for deep inside… knowing that it existed somewhere, this embodiment of dancing my truth. Sacred dance allows for the expression of embracing the Divine through the bodies that we inhabit for a brief moment in time with deep gratitude.

It is what I’ve been searching for deep inside… knowing that it existed somewhere, this embodiment of dancing my truth. Sacred dance allows for the expression of embracing the Divine through the bodies that we inhabit for a brief moment in time with deep gratitude.

It was an amazing, intense and sometimes overwhelming experience. At one point, the combination of Sama, the dancing, astrological and Sufi teaching, readings and encounters overwhelmed me with a unifying message/experience leading to a spiritual/emotional/physiological shift. I returned home grounded, fully embracing my feminine power and equipped with the tools to do my part in living in unison with all of the Beloved’s creations.