Movement as a way into the body
Moving with awareness is a way to feel and release your inner sensations without having to go through the resistance of the mind.
The word ’dancing’ has been highjacked by the mind. It has created beliefs of what ’dance’ is, how it should look and feel like, and claims there´s a right and wrong way to do it. But when I changed the word dance into movement, a whole new world opened up.
Dance is something you do from the mind, moving is something that happens within your body. The body knows how to move itself and if we can give it space in an accepting and allowing container- it will fill it with it swirling movements.
There are endless ways we can move our bodies. But the experience will be completely different depending on if you are experiencing it from the mind or through the body. You can move yourself with the mind directing your body or you can experiencing movement through the body, and invite your mind to join in on the journey. When you are allowing your body to do the moving, the feeling within your body will guide it. Hold space for your body to freely express itself, follow it where it wants to move and see where it will take you. When you are bringing your awareness into the movement something else takes over. Your mind is no longer in charge and your body´s wisdom is leading the dance.
Moving your body is also a beautiful way to get direct access to your stored emotions. Throughout your entire body you have neuropeptides (small protein-like molecules) that are affecting every cell in your body with their messages of how you are feeling. Memories and suppressed emotions can be stored in your cells and affect the cells and tissue throughout your entire body. We don´t necessarily need our mind to find our memories or past events, we can access them through cell memory, using the body´s wisdom. Just by moving or shaking your body you can bring up stored emotions you’ve been trying to reach through your mind.
You can start by following an emotion and move with it or you can start moving and an emotion can pop up. Moving your body with awareness brings you into the body and connects you to your inner world. It´s a great tool to meet and release suppressed emotions without having to go through the resistance of the mind.
Exploration
Explore moving from the body and let the emotion in your body guide you. For this exploration you want to make sure that you have 10 minutes of undisturbed time with yourself.
1. Feel into your emotional body, what feeling is present within you right now?
2. Pick a song that matches your feeling and put it on in your headphones or through your speakers.
3. Close your eyes and connect to the emotion you are feeling in your body and ask it how it would like to move to this song.
4. Slowly let your body start moving itself to the music while being present with the emotion.
Let the body and emotion show you how it wants to move itself. Your focus is to stay out of the way and allow the body to freely move.
5. Let your body move you in all the ways it wants to throughout the song. Small movements, big movements, jumping, shaking, bouncing, spinning, crawling, stretching or flailing. Practice holding space and fully allow your emotion to express through movement.
6. When the music stops, slowly come back to standing upright and send gratitude to your body and it´s movements.
Journal or share about your experience in the comments.
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