ABOUT ZULEIKHA

ZULEIKHA, Creator of TAKE A MINUTE® is an accomplished movement artist, educator, dancer and international performer. As a practitioner and teacher of movement awareness practices, she is renowned for creating TAKE A MINUTE® – Transformative Self-Care Exercises; RTHEP© – Relaxation Therapeutic Health Exercise Program© for palliative cancer patients, their families, and caregivers; 5 ENERGY GEMS – Everyday Self-Care; DANCE FOR GOOD – A Science of Moving Freely; and BODYLISTENING – Inner Movement Research.

She is also the Founder/Director of the US based international non-profit The Storydancer Project (TSP), working with girls, women and families with the mission to inspire positive change in the face of adversity through transformative movement and self-care practices that restore vitality and cultivate joy. “We hold a vision of rediscovery of the innate capacity of the human being to find healing and a renewed zest for life by moving, breathing and being in connection with others,” she says.

What’s inspiring about her creative life and work is the magnificent tapestry of movement, music, spirituality and philosophy she’s woven with the threads of her learning and experience. Her diverse background in movement and musical arts spans traditional Eastern and Western practices and forms with the unique opportunity to weave creativity through contemporary explorations. She is renowned for her “storydance” performances. Her creative collaborations with world musicians and poets feature such luminaries as poet and renowned translator of Rumi, Coleman Barks, poet Robert Bly, avant-garde composer performer Terry Riley, world percussionist Glen Velez, cellist David Darling, vocalist and instrumentalist Jai Uttal, electric violinist Tracy Silverman and other wonderful artists.

“Zuleikha not only walks her talk, she dances it. Through her artistry, she raises the integration of body, mind, and spirit to a new level. Her style and her teaching inspire individuals to achieve levels they were not aware they could reach. In Zuleikha, art and healing unite.” —Dr. Larry Dossey, MD, (Author of Reinventing Medicine and the Power of Premonitions, Executive Editor: Explore – The Journal of Science and Healing)

International performer through the art of Storydance and creator of Self-Care works, Zuleikha inspires dynamic creativity and rejuvenation. Innovator and educator, she shares the gift of movement medicine through simplicity of movement, expression and feeling, to engage an open heart and to live a life of well being.

As an award-winning pioneer, Zuleikha’s compassion and commitment to making others feel better pushes socio-cultural boundaries—her entering spaces and situations that are normally daunting, into the lives and homes of destitute, abused, and terminally ill. As the ambassador of TSP, she travels the world to provide her special brand of mind-body practices to those in need: Tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka; victims of domestic abuse in New Mexico; sex workers in Calcultta, cancer survivors and slum dwelling women in Delhi. In each setting, she introduces her transformative self-care program to girls, women and families.

Since its inception 13 years ago, Zuleikha’s work through her non-profit, The Storydancer Project and its success stories have mounted. Long-time associations with partners such as CanSupport and HOPE foundation have been consolidated. New opportunities to partner with humanitarian organizations have led to partnerships with domestic violence shelters in New Mexico, where Zuleikha now leads explorations into self-care practices with directors, advocates, surivors, and offenders. The TSP Rainbow Bridge Initiative works in Navajo Nation, New Mexico, to help build self-esteem and resilience in children, women, families and community leaders. Zuleikha has received numerous Humanitarian awards, including the Images and Voices of Hope Media Award for outstanding work in the world promoting positive personal and social change and others.

What’s inspiring about her life and work is how she formed her own style, a magnificent tapestry of rhythm, dance, music, spirit and philosophy—a free-flowing dance theater that mingles poetry, dramatic gestures, humor and spontaneity.

Zuleikha has been invited to bring TAKE A MINUTE®, awareness and Self-Care practices to participants and audiences in conferences and retreats with leaders from many traditions. From US Embassies to street groups, hospital workers and teachers, corporate employees and nursing colleges, many have felt the transforming effects of these effective and simple tools for resilience.

“The first time I saw Zuleikha was at a support group meeting in New Delhi, organized by CanSupport, a society that runs India’s largest free home based palliative care program for people with cancer. I was there in my capacity as a journalist, to gather personal accounts of cancer survivors for the Elle magazine cancer campaign. The last thing I expected was to step into a roomful of women raising their arms, rotating their wrists, and doing breathing exercises. I looked around for a place to hide, but before I could duck, Zuleikha had spotted me. Her smile was stunning, and beckoned me to participate.

So I put down my bag sheepishly, and raised my arms along with everyone else. The movements were designed to open the joints, and ease the breath. The impact was almost instant: my energy felt lighter, my neck muscles relaxed and my chest expanded. Twenty minutes later, I could sense the difference in the atmosphere of the room. Everyone sat down with a sigh. A decade later, the movement practices she shared that afternoon were consolidated in The Relaxation Therapeutic health exercise program (RTHEP©). In 2013, the RTHEP© program presented by Zuleikha was awarded the first prize in the Free Abstract category, at the Indian Association of Palliative Care Conference, and has gained popularity in other projects across the world.” *

—Ritu Bhatia freelance journalist for India Times

*This work in relaxation therapy, RTHEP© is now being undertaken in a research project for publication internationally in the coming year.

Parts of this biography have been excerpted from the writings of Ritu Bhatia, freelance journalist for India Times.

www.zuleikha.com