I went to a dance event last week.
When was the last time you did that?
Go out dancing?
Anyway, one friend had been telling me about this weekly event for a long time and when another friend suddenly invited me, it just felt right.
So I went.
We arranged to meet there because I could only get there late.
"What do I wear to this?" I asked her.
"Comfortable clothing", she texted me. "People wear gym clothes and stuff like that".
When I arrived, in my comfortable clothing, my friend was nowhere to be seen so I paid my entrance fee and walked by myself into a large darkened hall full of dancing strangers.
Evocative music was playing - not doof-doof club music. The volume was loud but only enough to wrap you in it, not hurt your ears.
There was a disco ball on one end of the hall and one of those light projector things that changes shapes and colours lighting up the ceiling.
I still couldn't see my friend anywhere.
But I felt ok.
It felt somehow safe and intimate and inviting.
What?
Bet you didn’t think I was going to say that did you?
But it was.
Because this was a conscious dancing event.
Which means no-one there was smoking or drinking...
The floor and walls were clean, not grimy...
No-one was trying to pick anyone else up - well some were literally doing that, but more on that later…
Everyone was keeping a considerate distance from each other so that there was room to move as you felt like it.
The music was an emotional journey curated by the DJ to facilitate an internally reflective space, moving from slow to faster and then at the end of the session, to stillness.
And everyone was deeply involved in their own dance, their own rhythm, their own movement.
They were listening to their own body and moving in the way it called to them in that moment.
And some of those bodies were calling to be moved in really strange ways, let me tell you!
But nobody cared.
No-one minded.
Because it wasn’t about how it looked at all.
And while, yes, I do admit to looking around enough to notice people doing some wild moves, including rolling on the floor, or just standing still and rocking with closed eyes, or looking like professional contemporary dancers…
None of it was performative.
No-one was putting on a show for anyone else.
Many had their eyes closed as they moved.
They had all come for the joy of connecting to their own body by moving it.
To commune with it through movement.
And it felt sacred.
Weird, but special.
And so permissive!
It was permission to exist in movement.
And it made me think...
How often do we listen to our body intimately and allow it to move how it wants?
And when do we ever dance around in weird and wonderful ways even though a whole lot of strangers are around?
When do we ALLOW ourselves that sort of freedom?
And what does it do to your body, mind and spirit if you don't?
So this month in The Portal of Permission,, the members and I are beginning to heal the relationship we have with moving our bodies.
We are figuring out how to move with love for our self and our body.
It’s going to be gentle, and deep and SO good for your body and health.
If you want to reconnect with your truth through movement, join us.
Click HERE to find out more.
If you loved yourself, how would you move your body now?
