Dances of ecstacy part 2
Many teachings about spirituality, particularly in the meditative tradition, focus on stillness. "Sit. Just sit. Watch your breath."
This is great. Particularly in busy times, we often need to slow down our bodies and minds in order to focus on the present. And I know from experience that sustained sitting practice can help one remain more present in all aspects of life.
But what about movement? Isn't there spirit in movement too? Of course! This is where dance becomes such a useful spiritual practice. One can meditate and dance at the same time.
When I first started to wake up, I quickly noticed that whenever I danced, my mind wasn't with the dance. If I was out dancing somewhere, I would start obsessing - looking for girls to pick up, thinking about what my friends were up to, feeling jealous that someone was better looking or more charming than me, or even wandering off to the problems of tomorrow.
So I started going to my ecstatic dance class with the attitude that the dance was a meditation. As best I could, I would bring my attention into the present as I danced, and focus on the music and my body.
Wow was I in for a shock! The rest of the world fell away. For the first time in my life, I was able to really feel my body, the way every corner of it moved, the way little patches of it would heat up and sweat, the way little burns of exhaustion would kick off endorphen rushes. It was as if I had never really been intimate with my body before, never made love to it, never allowed myself to bask in the pleasure of my cells vibrating. By doing this, the world began to brighten and my mood lifted right up. I became more mindful of my body moving through space, not only when I was dancing, but all the time. And I over time, I could more easily get in touch with the flow of prana, and gain more control over it.
What is happening here?
My intuition is that dancing, like sitting, is a peak time when we can more easily merge mind, spirit, and body. While sitting helps us settle, dancing helps us flow. Blocks preventing our thoughts from flowing easily without attachment are reflected in blocks preventing our limbs from dancing freely without reservation. Sitting helps us get in touch with what is really going on in our mind; dancing helps us get in touch with what is really going on in our body; and both help us see how each is a reflection of the other, while also manifesting spirit.
As we work to be more fully aware of both body and mind, we find that we can be more joyful and relaxed in both realms. Our thoughts and our movements become more uplifted and purposeful. We become more integrated beings.
So what are you waiting for - go boogie down and integrate yourself!
This is great. Particularly in busy times, we often need to slow down our bodies and minds in order to focus on the present. And I know from experience that sustained sitting practice can help one remain more present in all aspects of life.
But what about movement? Isn't there spirit in movement too? Of course! This is where dance becomes such a useful spiritual practice. One can meditate and dance at the same time.
When I first started to wake up, I quickly noticed that whenever I danced, my mind wasn't with the dance. If I was out dancing somewhere, I would start obsessing - looking for girls to pick up, thinking about what my friends were up to, feeling jealous that someone was better looking or more charming than me, or even wandering off to the problems of tomorrow.
So I started going to my ecstatic dance class with the attitude that the dance was a meditation. As best I could, I would bring my attention into the present as I danced, and focus on the music and my body.
Wow was I in for a shock! The rest of the world fell away. For the first time in my life, I was able to really feel my body, the way every corner of it moved, the way little patches of it would heat up and sweat, the way little burns of exhaustion would kick off endorphen rushes. It was as if I had never really been intimate with my body before, never made love to it, never allowed myself to bask in the pleasure of my cells vibrating. By doing this, the world began to brighten and my mood lifted right up. I became more mindful of my body moving through space, not only when I was dancing, but all the time. And I over time, I could more easily get in touch with the flow of prana, and gain more control over it.
What is happening here?
My intuition is that dancing, like sitting, is a peak time when we can more easily merge mind, spirit, and body. While sitting helps us settle, dancing helps us flow. Blocks preventing our thoughts from flowing easily without attachment are reflected in blocks preventing our limbs from dancing freely without reservation. Sitting helps us get in touch with what is really going on in our mind; dancing helps us get in touch with what is really going on in our body; and both help us see how each is a reflection of the other, while also manifesting spirit.
As we work to be more fully aware of both body and mind, we find that we can be more joyful and relaxed in both realms. Our thoughts and our movements become more uplifted and purposeful. We become more integrated beings.
So what are you waiting for - go boogie down and integrate yourself!
posted by Dr. J at 14:25
6 Comments:
When I was in high school, I began going to raves, and for two years, I went to "church" as many saturday nights as I could. There I found my body and my spirit and a place of beauty that was not in my life. At first the xtc helped the process, but eventually I went just to dance and connect.
Thanks for the motivation. I am quite interested in both dance and being present. Your post may help inspire me to be more present to my dancing.
I have noticed that thus far dancing has been one of the least favorable activities for being present, second only to clearing brush, which is another one of my favorite things to do.
Jocelyn,
I started going to raves a couple of years ago. I like the "retreat" raves best, where people camp out and bond during the day and then dance all night. It is a lot like church!! And I never do drugs there. No need.
I'm curious, why did you stop going?
Beard,
I'm afraid I can't say much about the spiritual virtues of clearing brush! But it's possible to be awake doing anything, at least in theory. I'm glad I inspired you to look at dancing in a new way.
Thanks for coming over to visit!
This post resonates with me. I try out small moments of meditation and would theoretically like to try more, but what is grounding and healing and joyful for me is dancing. I almost always dance very in touch with the music and my body. If I start worrying how I look, it becomes a noticably different state of mind that I don't enjoy, so my enjoyment is a good guage for where my awareness is. Is that state of mind a focused trance or is it being very conciously aware? I don't know, maybe undulating in and out of both. I've found the exercise form NIA to be a great one for getting me more conciously into my body.
Braidwood,
I like the way you put that: your enjoyment is a good gauge for where your awareness is! That could be said about all of life.
If you are into NIA and conscious movement, I'll bet you'd find meditation brings your experience of that to a whole new level. It's sure worked for me.
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