practice: relentlessly revelatory....6-21-21
Before I dive in to this uber-dance related narrative let me reach out to you yogis. Are you ready to touch in to LIVE practice? Feel it out? Breath and move and feel indoors with like-hearted practitioners? Please join me this Saturday at Clara for Essential Recharge. Plenty of physical distancing space, masks optional and (maybe for last time), vaccination required. Two hours of pleasure: guided rolling, subtle core, asana, stretch. Focus on the sending and receiving nervous system: spinal cord, nerves, brain. Let’s be together.
On to the uber-dance narrative:
Not long after I began holding space for dancers I wondered to myself….why are they coming out to do this? Over the next year I point-blank asked many people. Curiosity motivated me to catalogue an ever-evolving list. But at that early juncture, I have to admit, I imagined I could serve with more accuracy if I knew why people came. It took about a year to grok this faulty reasoning. The truth was that all I could do was stay clear about why I showed up. Meet people where they were and consistently offer up the authentically alive in me. People would come that resonated with that.
I never waivered from that basic guideline. At times trusting the support of that internal well is a dubious miracle. If I patiently wait and listen, it never seems to come up empty. But my curiosity about why people come to dance never declined. A few weeks ago I named the ever-evolving list in class. Guided an investigation to clarify personal reasons for showing up. The closing circle was rich with offerings of subtle variations I hadn’t considered.
Here’s what I sense: we all come for many reasons. And one or two rise to the top like cream. Here’s the current state of the ever evolving list, gathered after many years out there with you. Don’t see your creamy version? Please drop me a note for my curiosity catalogue. These are in no particular order, though I did put my numero uno at the start:
5Rhythms medicine is practice for the other 24/7: It’s just so relentlessly revelatory. A guided music wave amps my awareness of what’s currently arising in me. And then challenges me to maintain that awareness when I’m with you. Or with the group field. Or both. So on the dance floor, so in life. The way I connect to myself and how I behave in the world is quite different than twenty years ago. In part thanks to this practice.
Love to dance/ love music: This is such a huge reason for me as well. They all are!
Meditation: 5Rhythms is simply a moving meditation. I sit on a cushion most days, but dance is much more akin to real life. If I'm able to dance-meditate, stay present with eyes open, music going, people all around…then presence is possible anywhere!
Refuge, sanctuary: For some, the dance floor is a safe haven. I get that, I respect that AND this reason…not so high on my list. I’m not a space holder who goes out of her way to insure absolute safety. Actually more a believer that we learn on our edges. Prime example of why someone may decide not to show up in space I hold. They might not resonate with that edginess. And that’s OK.
Community, sense of belonging: I know this is cream for many. And I consciously create space that fosters this sensibility in a variety of ways. After July 4 Sweat Your Prayers we’re having a community picnic. Please come!
Healing, transformation, growth: This is totally connected to #1 for me, almost inseparable. For some this reason is primary and 5Rhythms practice is not necessarily the route they are taking.
Authentic self-expression: How often have I heard a version of this? “This is the one place I can come and truly be myself.” Many, many times.
Prayer, connection to spirit: It’s all a prayer. When we dial it in, spirit is ever-palpable. The wave-induced delivery to the fifth rhythm is, for some, the primary reason they come to dance.
Fun, play, pleasure, joy: For one year pre-pandemic, at practice end, a moment generally ripe with intimate insight, my experience instead was one of pure and simple pleasure. The joy of feeling my body in effortless motion. Go figure. Feel like that one is on the rise for me again.
Bliss seeking, transcendence: Never something I sought, just a sometimes outcome, especially the first few years of practice. Usually when multiple workshop days produced this form of magic. Bliss can be super-seductive. I won’t turn it down, but I’m actually more grateful for a down-in-the-trenches transformative experience. For me bliss just doesn’t equate with insight. To each his own!
Well, so there you have it. Curious if you have additions, subtractions, observations. And then Zoom came along and created a whole new playing field, re-arranging all these reasons in interesting ways. Two things about Zoom and dance for you to consider. For now, we are done Zoom-ing on Sunday and Wednesday. This format has potential though, and Montreal’s Erik Iversen and I had so much fun Zoom collaborating in May that we’re doing it again August 7 for Release in the Rhythms.
We are two embodied peas in a pod and once again we’ll go back and forth during the three hour stretch: me guiding quiet body awareness, fascia release foam rolling. Erik moving us in the dance. A playful informative practice exploring the rich default story of the shapes and patterns we inhabit. The unconscious accumulation---structural, emotional, mental---of a lifetime. How, where, why do I hold on to stress? This is expertise garnered over two long lives offering long-term health both on and off dance floor. All in the comfort of your home space. Please consider joining us.
Practice: relentlessly revelatory. There is one small catch however. Favorite Woody Allen quote...."80% of success is showing up." Let's just keep showing up together....❤️Bella