Lit Up by the Joy of Movement

As a kid I played by moving, I was always dancing, I rarely sat still.  I took ballet, tap and jazz and rhythmic gymnastics, but I always enjoyed just moving without having to perform it. I was never good at the moves as they were supposed to be, but I loved to move.

When I was about 12 an important adult in my life grabbed my face and said “Stop Moving”, as they were frustrated with where and how much I was moving. As an adult I understand this but as a child it had me stop freely moving.  About 12 years later, my best friend and I attended a personal development retreat at Nakoda Lodge, in Alberta.  It was called “Warrior camp”. It was designed to push us past our comfort zones by offering everything from ropes courses, intense hikes, sweat lodges, dyad work and even self defence classes. 

One of the mornings we rose at 6am for yoga for 30 mins, then it turned to a 5 Rhythms, a specific conscious dance practice (where Core Connexion has some roots). In my exhausted state feeling pressure for days, I came alive. I flowed through the room, and just let myself “Move” again. Somewhere in the dance of 500 people my best friend had witnessed me and at the end of the session she said, “I have never seen you light up like that before.” 

I didn’t notice but she was right, the feeling of being free in my body reminded me of when I was a child dancing in the basement to our record player. I knew then that I had to do this kind of dance! I felt so joyful and alive. At the time I never knew what this was or even where to find it.  When I got back to the city, I asked around and searched the internet. I found Mike Yaunish teaching Wednesday nights something called Core Connexion.

I found the classes, went and fell in love with the dance all over again.  After about 2 years of dancing I enrolled into the Core Connexion Workshop with Eva Vigran. I was amazed at her skill, knowledge and ability, plus she added art which I completely loved. Then I enrolled for the teacher training.

This wasn’t an easy process.

It took me a full year to get to a class, and a full year to regularly commit to going.  During that year I had fallen into a depression, life was a struggle I was working two jobs, I had an ill father and I was lonely. I had started to see a therapist and she asked, “what brings you joy?” I answered dancing, so she recommended that I do some things that bring me joy, and then we would see if medication was a good choice. But Voila, dance was enough. I committed to going regularly by volunteering to be the door greeter, and then I was able to really feel the benefits of a regular class. At the time my therapist and I decided medication wasn’t the best option. Although if I don’t dance at least once a week, even just on my own, I really notice a difference in my body, my emotions and my ability to deal with stress. There are many ways in which dance benefits my life, which I will journal here more about, but mostly I notice my nervous system can refresh itself. I function better, I am happier, I sleep better and much more grounded. 

Now I know “dancing is always a good idea for me.”