On a recent Saturday night, under the full moon, a friend and I went to our first ever 5Rhythms dance class. As much as I love a good kitchen dance, the thought of being in a roomful of strangers doing god-knows-what type of movement made me feel nervous.

What were we getting ourselves in for?

When we arrived I spoke with a couple of other newbies. We were all a little uncertain.

As the music started and the teacher guided our movements I felt awkward, my arms hanging down the side of my body like metal poles.

But the rhythm changed and slowly my body loosened and my mind quietened.

Slowly I let go of self-consciousness and focussed less on those around me. I closed my eyes and opened to the music.

As we moved through the 5Rhythms – Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness – I surrendered to the music and how my body wanted to move.

At the end, we sat in a circle and the teacher showed us her interpretation of the 5Rhythms. It was beautiful and mesmerising. But there was no pressure we should do anything other than what felt right for us.

What I thought was the end of the night was just the halfway point. We moved through the 5Rhythms again with a new set of music.

By now the sun had set and the room was dark.

The energy felt different and my body loved the shift. I dropped even deeper into the meditative space within.

If you’ve seen 5Rhythms classes before and been freaked by the whole idea, I hear you loud and clear. That’s how I felt.

But if you’re brave enough to move past that feeling and go to one class, I think you might find something quite surprising.