Dance it Out

I used to hate dancing. It made me feel vulnerable. Stupid. I utterly lack talent in this area--and I am not exactly known for enjoying things at which I am not the best. But in the most painful season of my life, this is exactly what my spirit encouraged me to do. Dance. Once I began, I couldn’t stop. And I learned to dance my way through the dark night of the soul. Mostly in my kitchen.

Before I went through my divorce, during the truly hard part, I was concerned about how the atmosphere of my house was affecting my very small children. I began to play whatever music my daughter and I felt like belting out that day, and she and I would twirl around the house in a frenzy of color and sound. In this way we not only shifted our external temperature, but also the posture of our own spirits. I was the thermostat. Not the thermometer. We would move, and my paralyzing fear and pain would move too.

What I didn’t realize in the beginning of this practice is that my spirit and body were actively moving out trauma. Our bodies store trauma--and it might lie there dormant for years, or plague us daily. There are endless options to intentionally clear these emotions and energies that are trapped, but this week--I find myself going to dance once again. When a new blow activates old triggers, it is a beautiful time to stop and move it out in whatever way feels most freeing to you--instead of suppressing or ignoring the discomfort. (Singing is also a great go-to--another area in which I am NOT the best by any stretch of the imagination. However, grief is stored in our lungs--and I have often found that what I need is to sing my truth at the top of my lungs in order to eradicate the grief stored there for so long.)

With so many tools at our disposal, sometimes it is hard to know where to start on our journey to healing. Yet, today, I remember the ancient tool that began it all for me--and I encourage those who need a first step to give it a go.