Feel your way
“Everytime I dance I find myself.”
~ Sarah-Jayne Grace
Our ancestors danced – so when did we stop? This may not be the easiest question to answer, but hear me out.
How many of you remember dancing as though no one was watching when you were a child? Liberated, free, and fully expressed? A song came on, and you began to move to the beat. You just have to watch children to know that dancing is inherent in us all.
Over time, many of us begin to suppress this primal joy and form of expression, locking ourselves away in a spiral of shame. We deem moving as feels good or how we want as somehow ‘wrong.’ We sit down and stop making a spectacle of ourselves. Slowly, over time, we stifle our creativity and soul.
I remember sitting in a restaurant with my dad at age 21. He asked me, ‘What are you going to do with your life?’ I replied, ‘If I had my time again, I would dance,’ thinking that meant ballet or something similar, and knowing I was ‘too old.’
For years, when I heard a song, I would imagine how I would move. Rather than get up and dance, I would only dream. Fast forward a few years: living in London, I had a breakdown. It was through starting some training that my teacher said to me…
‘Sarah-Jayne, you are a dancer. GO DANCE!’
I can honestly say DANCE SAVED ME.
Finding a conscious movement class gave me permission to move with all that I had and all that I am. It gave me a freedom that I had never known. I found a way to express myself, to release, to heal my head and my heart.
In 2019, Kelsey Laird, PhD, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher, undertook a clinical survey of 1,000 conscious dancers. The study participants were 70% female and 30% male. Of these, 81% self-reported a stress-related health condition such as chronic pain, depression, anxiety, history of substance abuse/addiction, or history of trauma. Remarkably, 98% reported that dancing improved their mood and their capability to cope with stress. It also enhanced their confidence and compassion for others. The majority reported that conscious dance helped them cope with their condition, ranging from 88% among those with a history of addiction to 96% for participants with anxiety or depression.
You don’t need to find a class, but I thoroughly recommend you do. The community and mirroring of fully embodied people is a therapeutic salve in itself.
Some basic ideas that may help:
- Find some music you love.
- Take off your shoes and socks – connect to the ground, get outside if you can.
- Become aware of your breath.
- Feel your way – follow the impulses and let your body move to the beat.
- Follow what feels good; get curious about what feels numb.
- Give yourself permission to move, to explore, to be you.
Disclaimer: You might just love it.
Main – Photo by Khadeeja Yasser on Unsplash
