I release a lot of my emotions through dance.
I have been doing that without even knowing since I was 5 years old. Whenever I felt something I could not express or didn’t know how to process as a kid, you’d find me in my room just moving to music.
I get a sense of freedom and power from letting my body be in charge and in sync with the music or my dance partners.
I get lost in the moment and all my problems and emotions fade away.
A lot of cultures and religious laws would frown upon that. They have portrayed the body as just a means for humans to be present on earth and in some cases as a sin, but tell that to any dancer or artist and they will laugh at you.
We view the body as sacred and as a main expression and representation of we are.
We can look at someone and see just hips, shoulders, weight and height or we can see the scars that have been shaped by their experiences, the wrinkles left by the years they’ve lived and the little stories their smile and tears tell.
New research into embodiment has shown that our muscles register emotional experiences and contract in the same way every time our bodies perceive any similar situation.
Some of these contractions may be outdated but our bodies and brains can’t always tell the difference so they react accordingly. A lot of my clients come to me saying “Logically, I know this makes no sense but I still react this way when…..”
We are beings driven by emotions, instincts and our bodies so logic and the brain matter so little in moments when our bodies are “perceiving” harm and trying to protect us.
The more we ignore those signals, the harder it will be to create the life we want. We will be governed by our previous experiences and our upbringing. We will be falling through life instead or writing our own destiny.
I know it’s scary to start that journey, It’s such a vulnerable and sacred experience to feel and understand our every movement and contraction and then be able to move through them.
But to me it is worth it. I have experienced it and I have seen it change my clients’ lives.
They have unleashed any unfelt emotions and let go of deeply rooted muscle contractions.
They have learned to breath and notice their bodies before lashing out on a colleague or shying down from giving their opinions or feeling the need to constantly interrupt others and speak.
It is a scary journey into the unknown and it takes a lot of courage but it will definitely change your life.
So here is my advice on how to start
1-Take a minute each day, scan your body and take notice of temperature, contractions, etc. and just breath through it
2- Pick up any hobby that involves body movement (sports, martial arts, dance…)
3- Read “Your body is your brain” by Amanda Blake
After a few weeks, take note of what you have learned about your body and what you have noticed and then we’ll go from there and take bigger steps towards change.
Voice Within 