or centuries, Gujaratis (those from the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat) have danced in concentric circles, clapping and twirling around an oil-lit lamp inside a clay pot as they dance the steps of Indian folk dance garba. Originating from the Sanskrit word garb meaning womb, garba is a folk dance layered in philosophy.

Circling the Center is a movement and mindfulness workshop where the social practice of garba, its spiritual roots, and meditation come together to connect us back to body, our inner light, and wisdom.

Heena Patel

Heena is a somatic empowerment coach and artist who supports creatives and women of the global majority in creating a neuro resilient life, both professional and personal, shaped by their desires. For nearly 15 years, she has been amplifying South Asian arts and culture in the mainstream performing arts sector as a producer, agent-manager, mentor, artist, consultant, and curator. She turned her disadvantages as a woman of the global majority in a predominantly white field into her superpower, while also going against expectations of her as a South Asian woman and child of immigrants.

Her life has been shaped by taking messy, imperfect action. She brings these experiences, as well as the lessons of unlearning cultural conditioning and being a former workaholic to her work as a coach.

Dancing garba, an ancestral Gujarati folk dance for the Goddess, since she could walk, Heena weaves together somatic practices, spirituality, mindfulness, and meditation, and Indian dance in her work as a dance teacher.

Indian Danced Storytelling