Rashi Bijlani Tandon: Asha Hai and The Dancing Bond
Psychology was Rashi’s calling from the beginning. She was fortunate
enough to gain admission into the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College for her
Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. It was here that she honed and developed her
skills. In her 3rd year one of Rashi’s professors sparked her
interest in the unique arena of Dance Therapy. Having been a classical
Bharatnatyam dancer, Rashi was the secretary of the Dance Society. The field of
Dance Therapy gave her the opportunity to combine her love for dancing with her
passion for psychology. By the time Rashi completed her Masters in Clinical
Psychology, she was actively seeking opportunities and avenues for Dance
Therapy. They explored various programs and found one which suited her at
Goldsmiths, University of London.
Looking back, Rashi believes that her reasons for coming up with a program on attuned parenting was because she saw, and continues to see how parents are interested in teaching their children skills rather than truly being with them through activities. She often hears parents tell their children in the classes - "look how she is doing", "we need to do how Ma'am is doing", "Aise nahin - Aise pakdo". Rashi strongly believes that in all of these instructions’ parents are losing out on their child and are only trying to make the child do something that they think is correct.
One of Rashi’s biggest challenges has been trying to change the mindset of parents vis-à-vis conventional parenting methods. Parents always ask her what she would be teaching their child in her classes. Rashi’s answer to this is that she is not conducting a teaching class, instead she provides a platform via a parenting session where parents get to create a space to be with their child; through activities and communication.
Asha Hai is an inclusive set up for children with extra needs that aims to integrate and encourage each and every child to enhance overall life skills, to develop intellectually, socially and emotionally and help them achieve a life full of self-reliance and confidence.
Their strength and potential is
tapped through Asha Hai’s team of Clinical
Psychologists, Counsellors, Dance Movement Psychotherapists, Developmental
Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Play and Language Therapists, Montessorians
and Special Educators who have come together to work with children towards their
holistic development. The mission of Asha Hai is to bring together all students under
the same roof in a shared community regardless of their strengths or weaknesses
in any area.
Asha was Rashi’s grandmother’s name. While looking for names she found it to be most appropriate for what Rashi was venturing into. Her grandmother loved children and Rashi grew up along with eight cousins all of whom flourished under her care. Asha Hai being a project close to Rashi’s heart, she hopes the name shall do justice to her grandmother’s memory.
The focus of The Dancing Bond is nurturing emotional bonds between the caregiver and the child and the impact it has on the neurological development of the child. The focus group is children ranging from the age group of 0 – 6 years. The study is going to be how attuning and bonding with your child helps in nurturing their growth and helping them achieve the goal with which they have come to in this world. As Tsabary says “you are raising a spirit throbbing with its own signature.”
The Dancing Bond helps Rashi and her qualified team learn the importance of creating a healthy attachment with a baby and how can they as adults help children form secure, healthy attachments.
The name Dancing Bond took a lot of thought. It came out of the amalgamation of
Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) and attachment styles. This formed the theoretical
basis of this enterprise. The Dancing Bond has movement-based activities and
techniques which are inspired from DMP to help build secure attachment between
the caregiver and child- this is where the ‘bond’ part came in.
Before Rashi became a mom, she was a professional Bharatnatyam dancer. She would dance every day after work. At present she uses music, art, reading and working out as forms of self-care. Rashi chants daily in the morning and evening and this helps keep her grounded and focused. She also holds the posts of Founding Board Member and General Secretary of the Indian Association of Dance Therapy.
She is mom to a delightful four-year-old who keeps Rashi on her toes! She is currently expecting her second baby and is looking forward to the new addition!
Follow her on
https://www.instagram.com/thedancingbond/
Comments
Post a Comment