Combining the Science of Ayurveda with the Art of Yoga, Odissi Classical Indian Dance, and Flamenco is a Perfect Balance to Anyone's Lifestyle
by Kari Alba

There are blissful movements and energies that take us to enchanted places in our heads and in our hearts, but how do we access the bliss for better health and well-being?

Flamenco was always one of the places where adapting such feelings came naturally. The high vibrational LIVE music created by flamenco guitar, flamenco dancer, and cantor flamenco voice, never fails to send shivers up the spine.

Sharing the instant love of flamenco with family and friends was unavoidable, some even felt the same way I do, but others didn’t connect with that energy immediately. Ease of flow rushes when there is a strong connection with the art and the student, but the gap was still there to make this energy more accessible to more students. I wanted to find a way to fill that gap.

It goes without saying that the high vibrational music and dance that is flamenco art triggers an abundant surge of our energy system, but sometimes there are blockages that prevent this from happening. Focusing on the mirrors, too dependent on instant gratification stimulus, extreme competition goals, struggling with learning, worrying about other students, wondering if the public and peers embrace such an art, etc., these are just a few blockages that many students encounter during their flamenco practice.

As a flamenco teacher for over 20 years in Saskatoon, I had hit my highest level of blocks on my path to sharing the art in my community. It was 2016, and no sooner had I started to contemplate the options, when Odissi Classical Indian Dance and Ayurveda came knocking at my door...literally! It was Sheena Oliphant who needed studio space to rent for her classes. She came to me at a time that could not have been more perfect. She brought with her not only this joyous devotional dance that is Odissi, the powerful wellness qualities of Ayurveda and Yoga, but she also introduced me to two more teachers, Sage and Anna!

Like flamenco, the yoga-induced Odissi Classical Indian Dance is an energy-based art that stirs the soul and fills up the body, mind, spirit, and emotions to the highest degree. Ancient movements devoted to ancient energies that changed my body and my perspective, drove me deeper into finding more tools to boost the healing and strengthen dancers and non-dancers alike. As a bonus, this new Ayurveda lifestyle, that honours the digestion process, abhyanga self-massage, etc., only enhanced my journey into yoga, flamenco, and Odissi at the deepest level I had ever experienced.

A few years of practice and studies passed, and circumstances changed for my teachers, along with the arrival of COVID-19, so I had to do something to maintain this balance and new-found loves, that seemed to be just the techniques I was looking for to remove the blocks for students and myself.

The road ahead looked like a big challenge, but the desire to help students and the community in my home town with something so powerfully different for this location, that would dramatically transform the wellness of all, was a driving force, especially now with so many wellness concerns. I felt a call to keep alive what Sheena introduced to me, by offering a service that would benefit clients, as much as it had benefited me, with a higher quality of life.

Thanks to cyberspace, I was able to travel to India without leaving my home, and become certified as an Ayurveda Fundamentals Consultant, a Yin Yoga instructor, and I am also taking a teacher certificate from India in Odissi dance. Imagining my surroundings void of Odissi and Ayurveda was a massive driving force, so determination to supercharge these paths came with this new COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharing health-wealth with Ayurveda and healing the mental, physical, heart, spirit and emotional imbalances is a dream come true that is accessible to all clients and all students. Combining the science of Ayurveda with the art of Yoga, Odissi Classical Indian Dance and Flamenco is a perfect balance to anyone’s lifestyle.

An Ayurveda promotion is on right now, here is our offer: lower bacterial and viral infections; supercharge body immunity and mental health; improve digestion and strengthen the respiratory system; and meditations and restorative poses for regenerative purposes. The first five clients are FREE and include a gift bag containing items that are all locally sourced and all fresh straight from nature (non-smoking incense, non-burning energy clearing with respiratory enhancer, delicious digestive surprise, and healing crystal gemstone). Now that my certification for Ayurveda consultant is done, you can get on the free clients’ list as the practicum stage is still in motion. Fall/Winter clients can get on our FREE list today!—albaflamencos@gmail.com, 306-715-8309.

Kari Alba, one of Saskatoon’s pioneer flamenco dance artists, has been running her academy, Alma Flamenca, for over 20 years. She lived and trained in Spain cumulatively for over four years; attended the Teacher Specialization certification at La Fundacion Cristina Heeren Flamenco in Seville, Spain, and performed internationally and nationally with distinguished flamenco professionals such as Ricardo Diaz (SF USA/Spain), Mercedes Amaya (Mexico/Spain), Manuel Tañe (Spain), and Juan Martin (Spain). Since 2016, she has been training in the yoga-induced ancient Indian art of Odissi Classical Indian dance, and she became certified in Ayurveda Fundamentals and Yin Yoga with the India-based accredited school Arhanta Academy in 2020. Her holistic approach from her years of training are an integral part of all her classes, Ayurveda consulting, retreats, and events. For more information see the display ad on page 12 of the 26.2 November/December issue of the WHOLifE Journal.