Dear all,

I can’t seem to write much at the moment apart for poems about dancing!!!

Having committed myself to 365 days of dancing this year, it feels appropriate. 🙂

I’m now 17 days in and loving it! Whether I move for a minute, an hour or become immersed in the dance for undefinable periods of time, I am loving being danced alive by all aspects of life.

Allowing my body to move , whether with music , to spoken word, or in intimate connection with the deep inner silence of my heart, I am emptied out and fuelled with inspiration, connection and clarity.

Alongside this free form movement, I am grounded through my daily yoga and meditation practice and am finding time to sing to the stars, planets, earth and sky (alongside everyone who walks past my house!!). I am loving the moments of sharing yoga therapy with others here, too, and am grateful for the beautiful spaces I have the opportunity to teach in.

These are a few of the things that bring me to life in the most intimate ways.

And I wonder, what brings you to life? And are you allowing yourself time to give those things to yourself, perhaps even share them with others? How could you shuffle things around a little to offer yourself that important soul food time?

If these questions bring up a sense of haplessness, I wonder if you can gently place your hands on your heart, your body, and lovingly breathe with those feelings for a moment. Allow yourself to ground and to, just for a moment, drop into a remembering of that which brings a smile, a feeling of inner strength, empowerment and peace… It could be a place in nature, an activity like painting, music, science… We all contain a deep inner knowing of our joys and our gifts…They are the things that come most naturally to us when we are connected to ourselves.

Once you have found this place, this feeling, notice the change in your bodymindheart. How do you feel now? Offer a simple, genuine, compassionate smile. It’s likely you are now back in this moment. 🙂

I know what it feels like to feel disconnected. I have felt the anguish of isolation, loneliness, fear and grief. And I have come to know that there is immense creativity available, even in those moments.

For me, the door to that creativity opens when I surrender. This does not mean becoming despondent, but truly surrendering into the experience.

From this place of holding that which is in loving embrace, I give myself full permission to feel it (not always easy!). Then it can move through me, like the dance, like the music, like life, and I am far more likely to respond consciously by giving my bodymindheart what it needs in that moment.

Free form dancing is, for me, not about trying to get somewhere, or to ‘bliss out’ (although it’s nice when that happens too), rather, to show up, as I am and to let my body move, as it is. Neither holding onto that experience, nor pushing it away.

In this way, the dance dances itself. The body flows effortlessly without over identifying with the experience. The mind embodies the body… And energy shifts shape, and flows, and opens, and changes as energy tends to like to do 🙂

So it doesn’t have to be about putting on a show, living up to what we believe others expect of us and, more likely, what we expect of ourselves. It’s simply about showing up and being real. It can be surprising how giving loving permission to ourselves to show up authentically tends to give others an unsaid permission to do the same.

Respecting, embracing and kindly communicating our boundaries and limitations, in the moments they arise, are part of being authentic. It’s not all about being completely ‘wide open’ all the time.

Perhaps we could explore redefining this spiritual idea of being ‘open’ as the ability to be genuine in every given moment whether the experience is one of expansion or contraction. And, furthermore, to be willing enough to bring that into relationship; with ourselves, with others, with life – whatever is appropriate in that moment.

Life is not always convenient, but it does always, and in all ways, bring us what we need and offer us fertile ground for loving what is and unfolding from there. All we have to do is turn towards it, embrace it and then let it move us… Like music, like the dance…

I’ll leave you with a poem I wrote this evening. Inspired by the contact improvisation jam I attended this afternoon.

Beyond Belief

I dance and
My body
My heart
My breath
Become inspired beyond belief.

The music moves through me,
And as it does,
It moves me.
I would be foolish to believe
I have control,

This dance
That dances me
From my soul,
To my hips, to
My finger tips

I empty out of all
I think I know,
And Stand there, naked,
Nowhere to go, but
Into myself and
Into You…

And there you are, again,
My sweet dancing friend.
Your eyes catch hold of mine and,
Together, we meet,
To surrender time.

To pulse, to flow, to glide, to fly,
To offer ourselves to
Ground and
Sky and to
Each other

You fall into me, and I
Melt into you.
And there, right there,
I need not know
The stories
That have woven you
To me

And nor need you know
The many paths
I have tread upon
To bring me
Here
To You.

This is a conversation
Beyond words,
Beyond stories,
Beyond beliefs…

We meet here,
Together in the dance,
As pure, raw,
Vulnerable beauty.

Breath of your breath,
My breath.
Beat of your heart,
My . Heart . Beating .

So completely interwoven
There Is no you,
Nor I.
So close, I cannot tell
Where you end
And I begin

Painting by Alex Grey http://alexgrey.com/art/