This week has been very busy with lots going on. Work goes well, my classes are going well but the fire is far from out and many houses are still in danger. The wind has picked up this evening as I write this post and that means the fire will spread even faster. Sadness, grief and loss seem to be sitting heavily in the valley here as we all wait to learn the fate of the many homes in the foothills. Waiting in this situation is not fun especially for those who have been evacuated.
On the way home from my office in Longmont this evening I was listening to a well known yoga teacher named Shiva Rea and her energy and enthusiasm was infectious. The ideas expressed in her interview on Sounds True was a reminder for me of the importance of keeping the body and mind alive by doing things that connect us to our essence which is water and energy. We are much more like waves of flow than solid and rigid figures. Just watch young children at play and you will remember more of your true nature.
Think of yourself as energy and information flowing from one moment to the next, flowing in and out of awareness, flowing enthusiastically or meandering slowly, rushing over a falls or stagnant like pond. The body wants to move; if you listen inward you will fill the urges especially around music and in nature.
This morning on my run I saw a guy dancing like he was in a musical with his headphones on and I felt both embarrassed and jealous for a moment. Embarrassed for him and embarrassed for my lack of courage to join him. Jealous he did what he did not worried about what others thought. Yes the urge to dance, to move with enthusiasm, to express with the body, to be alive with flair that is all the body wanting to be awakended, to be energized, to flow as the water it is made up of.
Find ways to move that are fluid, circular, expansive, enlivening, opening, and expressive. Leave the statue of who you are behind because there is enough rigidity in the world. Let your feet and legs interact with the ground in new and more fluid ways. Let your hands dance across the keyboard or around what you are doing. Keep the pelvis active in your walking. Let you belly bounce and your chest loosen. Feel the flexing of a spine engaged in non- ordinary movement. Join the dance of life instead of standing on the sidelines.
Your body can open up and move freely and your mind can open up and exploring new ways of thinking and being. There is so much more that can happen if we leave the rigid, familiar, habitual and past ways behind.
Note when you move today if you are standing strong, or bent, rigid or tired. What kind of energy is in your movement? Where in your body do you feel alive and where do you feel numb? Would you add extra movement that makes you feel more alive? You don’t have to dance down a busy street but you could around your house or move in subtle but creative ways.
Shall we dance, or will it be in the flow of a river or on the waves of the wind that lift us up and leave our past behind?