Dive into the magical realm of Ecstatic Dance and Spirituality with the incredible Malaika MaVeena Darville! In Part 1 of our two-part episode, Malaika takes us on an extraordinary journey through her lifelong exploration of movement, ceremony, and embodiment. Malaika's credentials are nothing short of awe-inspiring—she's an International Movement Facilitator, Shamanic Practitioner, and Wisdom Keeper with over 30 years of experience. Join me as she shares her profound insights on dance as a sacred practice, its role in African ceremonies (hello, Gambia!), dancing through grief, and the powerful connection between movement and our ancestors. But that's just the beginning! In this episode, Malaika delves into her unique approach to working with individuals from non-rhythm-based cultures, navigating the depths of shame and guilt, and using ancient and modern dance cultures to spread joy and happiness worldwide. Malaika’s accreditations include being a qualified ISHTA yoga teacher, Qualified Water Dance Practitioner, Hawaiian Body Worker, Permaculturist, African Dance performer and teacher, Ecstatic Dance Dj, Ceremonialist, and Creatrix of 5Elements Dance Activation™ - a shamanic dynamic meditation dance journey embodying the five cardinal elements, earth, water, fire, air, and spirit. She is a Wisdom Keeper and inspirational facilitator who has been at the forefront of the global consciousness movement. Malaika is dedicated to creating sacred space through ritual, ceremony and embodiment to bring personal and planetary awakening, restoring balance to our distorted, over-civilized culture. Website: https://www.inmyelements.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/malaika.darville/ Let me know your thoughts by heading over to Instagram @spirituality.what or check it all out on www.spiritualitywhat.com. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5eJBlqKwCfNKjy33xrtwMl Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spirituality-what/id1724067743 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f6bf3881-6a8a-45a7-a4b6-296743d3ba77/spirituality-what YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFPNHtuzcp4k0_IfgJhhf1ps1TJxMPGdG See you next week! Welcome to the Spirituality, What? podcast, where we explore the mysteries, joys and challenges of being spiritual beings navigating our unpredictable Human experience we call life, here on planet earth. Intro music by Forestial.