Happy Fall Equinox to you ( if you are on my side of the world)!
and Happy spring if you are over there! It is a glorious day here, and I was out walking my dogs with the beautiful sunrise… a glorious way to start the Fall!
I’m thinking about Freedom today — freedom in and with my body…
As a dancer, I love to move, and I want to move freely, with ease. I’ve had a few injuries lately, and I always have to maintain my body, since it is my tool, and my temple!
Those are two of my CDFs, my Core Desired Feelings, ala the Desire Map process (by Danielle LaPorte)! I use part of this process in the work I’ve been doing with my dancers over the past few years. Getting down to how you want to feel!
Ease
Freedom
And that is how I want to feel, how I want to live, and how I want my body to move…
There is that great saying, I don’t know who said it, but the premise was, “…to not let the body stand in the way of the soul!” And that is how I want my dance to flow, through me, without obstacles. And that is how I want to be in the world.
To move forward from the heart, with intention. If you have ever taken a class or workshop with me, I say this all the time. It is about being in the moment, being present, opening the heart, and allowing!
Another word for me this year —
Allow
See, I just love my words!
A loooooong time ago, in one of my Gypsy Caravan Tribal Bellydance classes, I was actually doing some trance dance work, and I had a few students who were not able to move their bodies freely. They were great tribal bellydancers, meaning, they had mastered the technique of my style and moves, got the format styling, loved it, and danced it so well, but when I asked them to do something different, a different type of movement, they froze. They were stuck in their box. Can you relate to that?
OK, how do I get them unstuck?
As their teacher I wanted to see each of them become a fully realized and true dancer, a dancer of dance and a dancer of life, not just a bellydancer (meaning only one style. To really use the body as the tool, the medium with which to create from, to live from. To know what it will do and what it won’t do, through body type, age, injuries, etc. So that you can move with freedom and confidence and joy!
And that was the beginning of so many of my dance experiences and courses (Dance As Ritual, Tribal Bliss, Tribal Trance Dance). Having been a dancer all my life, and a practioneer of many styles of movement — bellydance, trance and moving meditations (my specialty), yoga, pilates, zumba, rock n’ roll, ballet, jazz, country line dancing, kick-boxing, etc etc…–I LOVE to move my body! And I want my body to move with me. I have incorporated many experiments of movement, with body, heart, and soul, and combined that with writing about it, how it FEELS…. see, there we go, back to how we want to feel!
I constantly work with my body and soul to find out what works and what doesn’t, and having worked with thousands of dancers around the world, I love to see how my work fits with your body. Everyone is so different, and what works for me, doesn’t always work for you, but to see you shine through, break down the walls, bust through the obstacles, live in a healthier body that allows you the freedom to move forward and dance and stretch and and do what you are meant to do. And feel freaking great! To enjoy your body and celebrate who you are right now, plus find the tools to assist you in feeling even better! That just about sums it up for me!
Ahhhh… that is glorious…that is my reason and my reward…
And I thank you for being on that journey with me!
Do you want some of that?
I have this new offering where we do just that, and so much more. I would love to have you join this online course:
Dance and Desire: From the Body to the Page
with lots of tools and inspirations to get you finding your groove, to feel good in your body, to share the words and listen to others too, in our private group! Ahhh, so good. It is an online course, where you get an email sent to you every Sunday, full of videos to watch and work out with, audios to listen to, questions to ponder and journal about, and other delicious women who have their goodness to share ( I’ll tell you about them later this week!).
And this is for every woman, no dance experience necessary, no age limits, and you can do it all on your own time, no pressure, just tools for fun and celebration of self!
check it out here, and get registered while we still have an early price discount ( Only $139 now, will go up to $165 Oct. 1st!)
Want to watch a short video?
with great gobs of gratitude and a freely hip shaking body! Do come and dance with me!
Make sure to sign up for my mailing list! And I would be grateful if you would share me and this course with your friendsand anyone who would love it and needs it… thanks for that!
