seriously, it’s a no brainer
It’s such a no brainer. Literally. When time comes for embodied practice, simply direct attention inward. To blood circling, circulating, circumnavigating. To bones, stalwart warriors, unfailingly ready to support, respond, accommodate. To nervous system, ever alert to send and receive, communicator extraordinaire, never a dull moment. To breath, life force carrier to each and every cell 24/7, utterly dependable, responsive.
When I say it’s a no brainer, it is not to denigrate thinking mind. Grateful right now for my mind, totally on line as I tap tap tap this keyboard. Amazing. When I say no brainer it’s to bestow well-deserved release from the tyranny of automatic pilot mind: obsessing, looping, judging, comparing, rehearsing, planning future, remembering past. I grant busy mind release from duty when I arrive on the cushion, surrender to the mat, grace the dance floor. And the only way I know to grant that release is to direct awareness inward.
Natural entry: attention to breath and sensation. Curiosity about this unique body in motion. Cultivating fascination about every emerging impulse. Ruminating mind pales in comparison, so boring. I have a box of Gabrielle Roth quotes; this one jumped in my hand this morning: “When you are lost in the dance, the beat will call to different parts of you, and if you have trained yourself to listen to and follow your body parts, you will hear and you will follow and you will be danced.”
I’ve been on the road. Way too long off the dance floor. It was with utter relief that I fell into the beat last night. Weight of bones, soles hugging wood, hips alive, heart pounding wildly. Within minutes “this is such a no brainer” emerged as a passing thought and I laughed. Pretty soon it was a slow build crescendo just encouraging me to follow the pleasure. If it felt good, I moved with it, relaxed into it, fleshed it out with breath. When it changed, I followed. When an instruction came, I took it on. Follow the pleasure, relax, breathe. Repeat. A total no brainer. What sweet relief.
The stars aligned in a way that had me teaching a lot this past month. In many different venues. I’m a clear-eyed witness to the transformative power of what I offer. And as this teaching moves through me from inside to out, it is reshaping me. Perhaps this has always been true. But right now it feels acutely alive, a powerful undercurrent is carrying me. In this next month I’ll be teaching in the bay and in the foothills but also right here in Sacramento.
Joyfully anticipating (really!) two days at Clara July 6 & 7 for the communal experience: Tending Your Dancing Body. This play-shop has the potential to optimize and anchor commitment to your own well-being. When we take time to sensitize to our internal experience, feel where tension is lodged we’re able to partner with body and breath to welcome release. Open to the possibility of pleasure.
Majica and I have decades of personal and clinical experience that inform and support this fluid combination of 5Rhythms dance and roller and ball release. Attunement to subtle core tone and the luxury of yin stretch. Let’s face it: self-care takes discipline. But when a practice feels good, when it’s playful and instinctively creative and fun, we’re drawn to it. And at the ripe age of 74 I can tell you that it makes all the difference. I would not be doing any of this practice and teaching if it were not for tending this dancing body. On the regular. I hope you can come sink in with us.
❤️Bella
P.S. This Sunday June 9 at Clara come for an impromptu free for all with the rollers and balls. Come when you can and then slide into the dance at 10:00. Feel the pleasure of this healing practice.