dance SERENITY

“You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.”

_Gene Kelley

For many people dance serves as a form of meditation, helping people to cope with the stress of living, shift emotions, and attain serenity.

When we slow down the activities of everyday life, we inevitably release the hold of those things that create stress, anxiety, and fatigue for us. The perpetual motion and emotion of the stories in our life can sometimes wear us out. How often do we give ourselves a break? We go to sleep tired and wake up exhausted. Sleep is not enough, we need to balance our waking life too. The concept of Vitality in Biodanza is about balancing action and rest. We are not really designed to be constantly on the go! We need a balance. Our body needs a balance. Our mind needs a balance.

When we dance, we step out of the everyday and give ourselves an opportunity to shift gears. Whether we dance with exuberance or just calmly, we can surrender ourselves to the flow. In the dance, our mind finds a moment of rest. When we are immersed in the dance it's hard to keep the chattering mind going. Sometimes it's hard to let go, but a simple breath, a simple pulsating movement, or even an expanding reach out of our body very quickly can help to bring us back into the body – the experience of movement – the joy of dance.

Serenity is a beautiful word to describe our state of being when we release all custody of being into the dance. Enveloped by the beautiful music, the heart stirs, and inevitably our body expresses itself in movement. This connection from music through the heart into dance is what creates those dances most serene!

_Christos Daskalakos