“Take Your Dance Meds!” will be a live virtual dance class for healing on the mind-body-spirit levels. Date and time TBA – check back for details – and it will be a livestream on Facebook.com/IraqisInPajamas. The class is open to and appropriate for people of all levels of ability and disability, including you, even if you think you “can’t dance.” To make the class safe for participants, it will draw from the Dancing with Pain® method for natural pain relief – which has been featured in top media including the New York Times, ABC News, and Fox News.
There is a requested contribution of $5-$20, to support the time and energy that has gone into developing, producing, promoting, and facilitating the class, and to honor the 15 years of experience, research, and knowledge that have gone into developing and teaching the Dancing with Pain® method. Contributions can be made on Venmo. No payment is required, however, so that everyone who needs the class can access it, regardless of financial circumstances.
Dancing with Pain® method founder Loolwa Khazzoom, who also is the founder of the Seattle-based band Iraqis in Pajamas, will facilitate this class. During the first half hour, Loolwa will share the story of how she healed from debilitating chronic pain through dance, then she will provide customized guidance for people currently living with chronic pain and physical limitations – teaching how to dance in a way that is safe and healing, whether from a bed, from a wheelchair, or standing. During the hour-long dance class, she will provide additional guidance and reminders. At the end of the dance class, select contributing musicians will share their experience of the class and tell the back story of their songs in the playlist.
The class is being offered in honor of Loolwa’s mother, visual artist EJ Khazzoom, who took her last breaths on July 16, 2019, as Loolwa held her tight. Fifteen years earler, when Loolwa discovered that she could heal chronic pain through dance, she had a hard time trusting her experience. Her mother, however, immediately recognized the power and potential of the method that Loolwa intuitively had created, and she regularly offered the refrain of encouragement, “Loolwa, dance!” Brainwashed by the medical system, however, and thinking she had to outsource her healthcare to the “experts,” Loolwa still had a hard time trusting herself, until her mother exclaimed one day, “Loolwa, you are the healer you have been seeking!” Following that, Loolwa began dancing every day, and sure enough, completely healed herself from chronic pain – to the point that she was able to bike up to 30 miles at a shot, pain-free.
The class playlist exclusively features original music by womxn musicians in the greater Seattle area – in particular, those who have healed themselves mentally, emotionally, and physically through music – and most of the songs were produced at Seattle studios as well. Below is the featured playlist, along with information about the artists and producers – including where to purchase the featured songs and how to tip the contributing musicians!
Song: Baruch Babeh
Artist: Iraqis in Pajamas
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Mother Rattler
Artist: Kanari432
Song: Raven
Artist: Beth Whitney
Producer: Brandon Bee
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: It Is Enough
Artist: Gina Belliveau
Producer: Brandon Bee
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Heart and Sky
Artist: Gretchen Yanover
Producer: Garrett Reynolds and Rachel Field
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: May You Be
Artist: Erika Lundahl
Producer: Dylan Fant and Issac Castillo
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Anxious
Artist: Scarlet Parke
Producer: Elan Wright and Nima Skeemz
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Dam Dam
Artist: KPH Canary Collective
Producer: Ryan Oxford and Amy Dragon (Oregon)
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Cancer Is My Engine
Artist: Iraqis in Pajamas
Producer: Sean Sebastian
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Spent
Artist: Iraqis in Pajamas
Producer: Michael Springer
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Time
Artist: La Fonda
Producer: Garrett Reynolds and Greg Calbi
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: On a Clear Day
Artist: Jean Lenke
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Mantra
Artist: Cynthia Alexander
Producer: Cynthia Alexander and Angelo Rozul (Phillipines)
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Love Notes from Heaven
Artist: Rachel Nisbet
Producer: Joseph DeNatale
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Pray for You
Artist: Branik
Producer: Trevor Jarvis and Hillary Reynolds (California)
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Undertow
Artist: KPH Canary Collective
Producer: Peter Larkin (Virgina)
Purchase Song
Tip Artist
Song: Yoducha Ra’ayonai
Artist: Iraqis in Pajamas
Purchase Song
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