I have just spent 2 weeks immersed in movement. From the Open Floor to Movement Medicine, Tango, Soul Motion and Somatic Experiencing, the gift of allowing myself to absorb and be absorbed by the dance is the vibrant sense of being wildly AWAKE. My perceptions are heightened, my body awareness enlivened, my sensitivity to space and ability to both activate and settle my own nervous system balanced and attuned. All of this - ALL OF THIS - informs my life and transforms my living in profound ways.
The more I dance and inhabit my body, the greater my capacity to stay present to life Just As It Is, free of judgement and open to possibilities. The more I soften into the ease of movement and allow the dance to flow through me, the more adept and comfortable I become with change, the more accepting I am of ALL that arises regardless of its quality or tone, its role as obstacle, illusion or guide. Faith and trust deepen. Life becomes a vast living co-creative field of which I am an active, receptive, responsive part.
Movement, for me, is an act of creating and sustaining inner peace. There is no practice more compelling than anchoring IN my body to ground and attune to my inner landscape - to connect to the truth of my experience and the sense of well being that arises when I awaken to and integrate the full spectrum of my life. I root to rise, centering into the wisdom of my body, a consistently safe and peaceful haven, and from this place open to other(s), noting and celebrating each interaction as a opportunity to dance our shared dance and discover the inner peace in our hearts while exploring ways to dynamically express and create peace in the world. Everything is relationship. Every opportunity informs. Every dance guides us to know, in the depths of our being, our great capacity to CHOOSE...how we move, how we interact, how we create our lives one dance at a time.
Take a moment, right now, to pause. Receive this practice offered by K'Lea Andreas at Sanctuary: Finding Inner Peace, a Soul Motion and Somatic Experiencing workshop.
Inhale. Exhale. Look around and notice what you see. What are you drawn to? Allow your eyes to settle onto something that brings you peace. Feel the sense of calm that washes over your body.
Close your eyes. Gaze within. Notice how your body settles with each breath, how the potential for inner peace arises with Every.Conscious.Breath, within the sacred container of your One.Miraculous.Body.
When you're ready, open your eyes once again, taking in the space(s) around you. Pay FULL attention. What are you aware of now? What do you choose to align with.
This practice was one of many tools that we came back to, again and again, throughout our weekend together. It is an invaluable tool for life - to orient to space just as it is - to acknowledge what is happening HERE...NOW. To pause and reflect on what we choose to align with, whether that be peace, beauty, joy, pleasure. It is all available - within every moment, regardless of circumstances, when we take the time to pause and orient. What we focus on, what we orient to, will expand.
I have continued this practice daily, recognizing and honoring all that reveals itself to me while simultaneously choosing to orient, again and again, toward that which brings me peace - the trees moving in the wind, the breeze caressing my skin, the scent of a lilac filling the air. I have filled every free moment with my hands in the dirt, being nurtured by my garden, filling the earth with my love, grounding and rooting to the present moment. Life challenges and obstacles continue to arise and grasp for attention. I observe them, feel them, even name them, but I do not indulge them. Instead I feel the rich soil in my hands, I revere the plants that will one day nourish me with their fruit, I sip the homemade Ginger Switchel that my dear friend made, feeling gratitude for her love, sensing the sweet calm that unfolds after quenching my thirst. Inhale, exhale, this is how I orient toward well being. This is how the dance continues to inform and transform my life, one practice, one dance, one wide-awake realization at at time. Peace begins within me. And you. For the benefit of ALL beings.
Love, Teresa