When you think of ‘dance’ what do you think of? Choreography? Established/specific dance moves? What are your human experiences surrounding dance and movement? Did you know that no matter your prior experiences with dance, that you can come to a space that feels COMPLETELY liberated and confident dancing?! You may be wondering, howww does someone do that? The answer: by gaining awareness over the exact nature of your story with dance and transmuting that energy into something that IS liberated and confident! Sounds simple right? Well… it depends!
If there is ANY sense of insecurity/shame/fear around it, I urge you to read on!!
Open expression/ecstatic dance is a free form of dance movement. is one of the most freeing experiences we can have in this physical body. It can deliver us to transcendental states of consciousness and free up the most stagnant of energy.
If that’s true… what’s open expressions polar energy?
As above, so below. Energy that is, has polarity. If dance can be incredibly healing, freeing, therapeutic and ecstatic, what is the polar/opposing force for that idea? Dance can also be a great source of pain, shame, embarrassment, rigidity, contraction. Often, in the realm of healing, an opposing force, when presented to the wound site, serves as an antidote.
Before we get into the list, I want to ask you…
What is YOUR ‘Dance Story’?
Have you have any traumatizing, embarrassing moments with dance? Chances are, if you have an aversion to it, you have. The first thing necessary to shifting and moving energy is gaining crystalline awareness over the story/ies in as much detail you can. Take a moment and write some stories down. Then write how they impacted you. Then write how much that initial impact is influencing you now. Then… realize that you’ve been subconsciously choosing to carry this painful story with you, and that in any moment, you have the freedom to release it. Envision the ‘Dance Story’ as a little box, and imagine placing it on the floor. When you’ve done that, continue reading this article and have a Dance Moment. Then, assess how you feel, and compare it to how you felt just minutes before starting.
It’s ALWAYS your choice whether or not you pick the Pain Box back up. You don’t have to!
5 Reasons Why Dance Is The Grounding Medicine You Need Right Now (ESPECIALLY if it’s SUPER uncomfortable for you)
- Dancing has so many health benefits, for both the physical and energetic bodies. Dancing increases our heart rate, which helps blood circulate and move, increasing the function of our vital organs. For the days I feel like waking up FAST — I dance/jump/shake for 10 minutes straight. By the ends, I’m dripping with sweat and AWAKE— it’s like a cold shower, SO envigorating!
- Jumping + shaking is nature’s way to naturally release tension, anxiety, and trauma. Think of animals in their natural habitat (dogs, deer, ducks). After altercation or confrontation occurs, animals shake to release the pent up energy being stored inside themSelves, because… they don’t have the inclination to do anything else but release it, let it go, and move on with life. They don’t even think twice, only we do that. By releasing control over what has occurred and finding ways to LITERALLY transmute (I feel like words like ‘transform’ and ‘transmute’ get a ‘woo’ rep. YES- we’re talking about moving, unsticking and dislodging energy. YES— this is a topic of conversation that’s emerging and becoming more mainstream. NO— it doesn’t make it any less viable or potent to work with.) and LET IT GO!
- It feels good. When we don’t have veils of reason blinding us to what something is as its core nature, we are able to approach and engage with it, without preconceived notions or programs about it. For many people, THIS is the big one. For many reasons, we don’t do what feels good, even though we truly WANT to feel good in our lives! How backwards is that?! More and more time is being presented for us to dive fully into spaces of newness, to explore and embody new energy that’s freed up, spacious and liberated, so that we may pursue that which we desire to experience in this life.
- When you feel confident in your body, and truly accept/love the way it looks when it moves, the energy you radiate is MAGNETIC. We spoke about this in this week’s Sacred Sister Podcast episode, with Sacred Sensuality Teacher, Sofia Sundari. You become a MAGNET for opportunity and abundance. Your renewed energy radiates outward, in ways that you can’t even perceive, and gives others permission to do the same.
- Dance is a fantastic tool for presence + grounding. Tools like yoga, dance, self-pleasure, sex… What other activities require us to be fully present + embodied to fully enjoy the benefits of? The next time you notice that you’re spending a lot of time in your head (time that ISN’T beneficial, aka anxiety, fear of the future, etc.), break that energy flow by having a quick dance session. It only takes a few minutes to really shake things up.
These are the ways we can alchemize and transmute blocked energy within. By creating a safe space to reflect, create awareness over stories/traumas around dance, call in music medicine that will help us to dislodge the stickiness and surrendering to allow the body to literally FLOW.
My Dance Medicine Playlist:
For the One’s who love a calming, moody vibe to get down to.
If you want some moody music to listen to dance to, I’ve had these songs on repeat. And YES, two of them are my own creation. There’s no more powerful thing than actually USING the medicine you create for the Self!
Self Creation:
Alchemized (Live Jam with Pseudosimian + Arcane Groove)
Anothers Creation:
This live version of ‘Haseya’ by Ajeet Kaur, Dianna Lopez ‘Date with the Moon’
Ayla Nereo has also been doing live song share streams that I’ve been tuning into, on both Facebook and Instagram.
MY PROCESS:
As a child, I LOVED to dance. When a new Disney movie would come out, I’d learn the songs and my sister, Charity and I would choreograph a little performance to it. I remember distinctly when The Lion King came out, Charity and I held a little performance at our Grandparents’ house… it was SO MUCH FUN!
So… why did I stop?!
Like SO MANY OTHERS, when I got a little older and started taking dance classes (I remember 7th-grade dance class distinctly), I would see girls whispering to each other, pointing at me and laughing. Even impersonating an off-rhythm choreography attempt. This regular occurrence didn’t take long to enact serious insecurity around the way my body moved, and the way I looked when I was moving my body. In order to feel more accepted by my peers, I stopped dancing freely. My movement became smaller, more rigid, even MORE off-rhythm (because I was in my head and not allowing mySelf to FEEL the music).
WHEN IT ALL CHANGED:
In 2016, I was at Symbiosis Gathering, a transformative music festival with Curtis and some friends. Going in, I was incredibly uncomfortable (psychedelic drug-use was not something I was comfortable with being around/participating in), and very fearful. When we got our camp setup, I realized that carrying this energy for 4 full days would be exhausting and decided to surrender my fear and feel into what I was so afraid of.
IT WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID FOR MYSELF.
I realized that judgment I had for people who used psychedelics, and how much I DIDN’T KNOW about them, their effects, and most importantly, their medicine. There was a moment, one afternoon, I had taken 2 hits of LSD and was at the Dirtwire set on the main stage, looking around at everyone, seeing them dance and let loose and asked mySelf ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY DON’T YOU LET YOURSELF DANCE?’
I realized that my trauma from being watched and criticized as a child was restricting me from dancing— NEARLY 15 YEARS LATER.I began moving and through the duration of that set, was moved to a transcendent state, moving past the fear and feeling as if my body was spinning in a vortex that I perceived as literal de-programming and distinctly remember thinking ‘There is no one in the world I would rather be than mySelf.’
When we endure trauma and find ourSelves constricted in certain ways— there is a part of us that accepts that the change is forever. Which is TRUE, UNLESS we consciously decide NOT to let that happen and take ACTION to curate a reality that is not aligned with the outlook of restriction, contraction and wounded, in nature.
Let the Self be FREE!
You deserve it!
I hope this has been enlightening for you!