Pi organized a two-day offering during my brief “stopover” in Manila– giving me a chance to see the babies and catch up with him and his wife Daniw, to take a refresher course and see what new things he has been trying out with Energy School, and giving me time and space to stop and dance myself.

Though it’s only been a little over a year and a half since I last saw Pi Villaraza, the young Filipino healer, at the forefront of the Inner Dance movement, it felt like a lifetime since I saw him last.

At the heels of the much anticipated end of the Mayan calendar, December 21, 2012, we had just barely concluded a three-week free-flowing Inner Dance immersion/training, when Pi announced that he was going for a walk.

Now… the last time Pi went on walkabout, he disappeared for years from society at large. He lived as hermit on a remote island and drank only coconut water, emerging with the healing inner dance process, which he then began to share across the Philippines and South East Asia, and to the many global healers and seekers who have sought him out in Palawan, Philippines.

So as a group of us, who were at the Maia Earth Eco Village at the time of his departure, watched as he walked away, there was no knowing what to expect, other than things were changing. That was the only certainty. I didn’t feel sad exactly, seeing this dear friend go, but felt strongly that something was ending.

Inner Dance, the community as much as the process itself, was like a serpent, at this time. It was renewing itself, shedding its old skin in order to move forward with fluidity and grace, and, most of all, with a new lightness.

Pi returned. Much sooner than anyone might have anticipated. Some might have thought he was never to return. Life went on. But differently. Daniw, Pi’s wife, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Issa, growing their family.

Seeing Pi last weekend, I realize that he too has been giving birth to something new. How inner dance continues to evolve under his stewardship. How in essence the process is the same, if not more authentic than its ever been but also how the methodology is developing, how there is more logic in its form, particularly in its facilitation. And how more than ever it is a marriage of science and mysticism–and I only use the word “mysticism” for the lack of a better word to explain the presence of the divine in our lives that isn’t necessitated by a leap of faith but rather of actual experience.

The two days were a deep exploration on the ID process. It was exciting to see how the methodology is inspiring both deeper and more authentic results. I saw people swirling in movement, singing, crying, speaking in tongues, wriggling on the ground, releasing blockages by screaming–all kind of typical of the deep release work that happens with inner dance. What was new could be found in Pi’s facilitation. The ID process is finding a balance between form and fluidity, Yin and Yang, Shiva and Shakti.

It was also affirming to see how certain things have come to me during my own facilitation these two years, through the traveling, exposure to other tools, and through my own experience as a student of yoga and as a teacher, that are very much aligned with the direction that Pi is moving in. A testament, I think, to the great universality of Inner Dance; that it has It’s own energy, that It will move its practitioners in the direction It needs us to go.

Furthermore, it was a great to meet some of the Manila Inner Dance community. Having sought Pi out in Palawan and returning there often, I have never danced in Manila, though it is where I am from. So it was a great opportunity to connect with this segment of the community I have no experience with.

Lastly, I am so grateful to Pi for believing in me all these years–even when I had no belief in myself–for supporting me in my own process and for encouraging me to move forward in this work. I feel truly blessed to have this beautiful soul in my corner, reminding me who I am, lest I forget it again.

Food by Asha, Pi’s sister, who runs Dahon Kusina, a source for raw food products, raw food workshops, and a favorite at the Sunday Legaspi market.