My life would not be the same without dance. Dance always brings me back to myself when I am out of my center. When life throws curve balls and I get stuck in limiting beliefs about myself, or am discouraged by whatever is going on, there is a huge before and after in my perspective and sense of possibility when I give myself a chance to dance it out.
I start moving to the music, and instantly I am back in my body where, somehow, time stops, and I can connect with something inside me that is eternal and vast and powerful- even, unaffected by what is going on around me. Call it Spirit, Soul, Essence, whatever- it is THERE and just waiting for me to reconnect with myself. I feel joy there, and playfulness. I have FUN.
There’s just this pure joy I experience from hearing music and rhythm and responding to it with the movement my body wants to happen.
Dance helps me step outside of linear thought, and to connect with the experience of my body, and that allows me to just be, and breathe, and move freely.
Once I can get out of my thinking mind, perspective gently descends from above and wraps itself around me like a soothing balm. I emerge from the dance with a sense of okayness, like things will be alright, somehow.
Oftentimes, I just feel pure joy from having moved my body and played around a bit to music, simple as that. It’s a joy and sense of wellbeing feels like… me. Like my essence. Like, I am THAT. I am grateful for this glimpse. I take that joy with me into the day, and it makes a big difference in how I feel overall and how I respond to whatever the day brings. It also helps me at the end of the day, to let go of whatever I need to let go of, and I can end my day with a sense of release, and the peace that that brings.
Dance has also inspired me to do things I never would have thought I’d ever feel comfortable doing- like performing on stage or dancing in the middle of a circle of total strangers, or going to a club not knowing a soul but leaving with new friends who smile when they see me, or entering a dance battle.
Whereas it might be normal for one to be gripped with fear of inadequacy or embarrassment and not do such things as dancing for all to see, dance offers the opportunity to practice taking embodied action of self-acceptance and love: of saying, “Here I am! This is what I got, and I’m okay with that! I belong, too!!”.
To be seen, heard, and received among other dance friends in these spaces, to face fear and come out the other side – alive and well and kicking…well, for me it’s a thrill like no other, and it puts me in touch with possibilities outside of rational thought and reason. And it’s just plain FUN.
I’m all for therapy as a vehicle for transformation, healing and overcoming past hurts so you can live the life you want to. It’s why I am a therapist and am a regular therapy client myself. But I have also found it helps to have a variety of different ways that help you find your way back to yourself. Healing happens in so many different ways. Dance happens to be one of the most therapeutic things I’ve ever experienced.
