Dance

I love dancing. Silly dancing. I move my body to the music and I don’t care what it looks like. Although it looks pretty good. But that’s not the point. The point is that I love music. Certain music. And when I hear those certain songs, they wake something up inside me, something very sad or something very happy or even ecstatic and I feel moved. And when I feel moved, I want to move! My body expresses inner emotions by spontaneously moving its different parts. My hips start going side to side and my head is bopping. If I allow it. If I feel safe enough in my own body to allow it to respond to the impulses of my emotions. And it’s a fantastic feeling of freedom and pure joy!

I have not always felt this freedom to move. I have spent most of my life in a frozen body state. I could not move my body in a way that was spontaneous and joyous. I was terrified. I remember a boy asked me to dance when I was around 15 years old. Absolute terror came over me. The fear of judgment. The fear of stepping on his foot or stepping on my own foot. Public dancing was torture. But even in private I could not let go, I could not relax and wiggle my body in joy. I did not feel safe in my body or with my body.

The journey to feeling comfortable in my own skin through the practice of yoga and dancing has been of tremendous value. Yes, it’s taken some time. Not only it increased my physical well-being, but also cultivated greater confidence, greater self-connection, and greater self-knowledge. I simply care less now about what people think about me. I am not afraid of judgment. I know I am worthy regardless of how silly my dance moves look. And life is too short to not enjoy it! DANCE my friends! Wiggle your beautiful parts!