DANCING and SHEDDING

 

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, 

so as to have the life that is waiting for us. 

 The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”

_Joseph Campbell

Shedding is such a strange word yet it has been on my mind for the past week. I have been paying attention to my actions, reactions, and emotional hooks around many aspects of everyday life. It has been interesting to see how many times automatic pilot kicks in without me even noticing. Thoughts feelings and actions seem to be spontaneous and appropriate until I come to notice with a strange feeling of uncomfortable familiarity, that I have been here before.

However, all is not lost. I have also been experimenting with movement and dance with very specific intentions. I noticed that when I felt an uncomfortable emotion that I am able to shift it simply by focusing my dance around my heart. It’s as if there is an entire conspiracy of muscle, skeleton and ligaments that hold the patterns of emotion – almost like a challenge to the psyche. I don’t think we should be repressing or avoiding our emotions and age-old stories but embracing them, acknowledging them, and letting them flow.

There has been many an evening in the stillness of my studio when I let the music gently stir the dance. Without directing the movement or having any preconceived idea, spontaneity emerges and the dance is created. In those moments I am able to physically feel the shift taking place in my body. My heart feels lighter, as it says goodbye to stories and emotions that had somehow been lodged there.

For me, these are shedding dances. Slowly and gently letting go of old patterns and allowing the creative force which is innate in us to lighten and free us into new adventures. As we commence our dance, there are always an infinite number of possibilities as to where it could go. If we are willing to shed a little of our habitual dances, magic occurs, delight emerges and new possibilities are formed.

_Christos Daskalakos