embodying GRATITUDE

“Thank you DANCE, for the little things I can’t seem to put into words.”

How can we embody GRATITUDE?

Many of the self-help gurus out there invite and urge us to espouse gratitude, for a number of reasons. However, the mistake many well-intentioned teachers make when it comes to feelings is that they assume it is easily done top-down. In other words, our beautiful minds and brains can send instructions down to the heart to start pumping our feelings. And although this does work in a minority of instances, the truth is that feeling is a bottom-up process.

Our emotions originate through physiological changes in our bodies. They are felt experiences, not abstract ideas, or imaginings. Emotion is deeply visceral. It is only after we have physically felt an emotional change in our body, that we ascribe an interpretation and say, “I feel this, or I feel that.” Many visceral changes can be similar for various emotions. The quickening of the heart is present, in anger, excitement, and love!

If we would like to induce feelings, what better way to connect than through the body? And of course, dance is extremely good at this. The combination of music, designed to evoke emotion, and the expressive movements that accompany these, are the key to creating a feeling. Coming back to gratitude; if I would like to experience this, what better way than to connect with the miracle that is my body, the pleasure that resides in the movement, and the magic it evokes when I lose myself in the dance?

As we dance our way to the end of the year – the humble invitation is to connect and embody GRATITUDE – by dancing!

_Christos Daskalakos

DANCED - ENRICHED

“To Dance is to be out of yourself larger more beautiful, more powerful.”

_Agnes De Mille

Focus they keep telling us.

Usually, this means bringing attention to what you are doing so that you can do it better, quicker, or more accurately. This is the kind of ‘focus’ they want to teach us at school so that we can carry it into the workplace and become efficient cogs in the system. This type of focus also usually implies a very still body and heavy concentration.

However, there is another kind of value in the idea of focus. Often our attention is scattered as we stressfully try to multitask our way through life. Our poor brains were never designed for this and so as attention flits around there is hardly any time to appreciate the finer details of our experiences. When we focus our attention on what we are doing we find a greater connection and deeper appreciation for that activity. And, it’s definitely not a mind game!

Focus and attention mean that we bring the totality of ourselves into the present. We notice our thoughts and creative imagination, we notice the subtle movements and actions of our body, and we notice the feeling we are having in that moment. This full attention and focus enriches our experience of life in extraordinary ways.

This is exactly what we practice when we dance. Our body moving through space, our in-the-moment creative action, and the beautiful feelings we activate through our heart. When we lack focus, we miss out on the richness of life. Dancing helps us to strengthen our ability to be present, to focus on what we are doing, and to connect to the pleasure of the experience. Dance has the power to keep us from being distracted – we cannot dance and not be present with both body and mind. As we connect to our dances, our attention becomes so focused in the present that eventually we let go in such a way that life, the dance, and life are beautifully enriched.

_Christos Daskalakos

dance = JOY

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

_Gene Kelly

We often speak of connecting to Joy through our dance but do we really know what this means, or how it happens? So often we characterize Joy as a 'soft-feel good' emotion and so miss out on the opportunity to see it as part of our development both as humans and our spiritual path. We think that to progress on either of these we need really serious and deep experiences. We seek the teachers and mystics that can take us on some self-denying, intense, and maybe agonizing experience. However, there is a deeper truth, one which is recognized by mystics around the world, that Joy feeds us on every level, from body to mind to soul.

Joy keeps our batteries charged, our focus open, and our experiences fluid. The more under stress and pressure we are the more we need our connection to Joy as an alternative that offers new possibilities. Joy allows us to heal those parts of us that keep us locked in tension and isolation. Paradoxically, it is the lightness of Joy that gives us a solid inner foundation to have a healthy relationship with life.

The three ways in which we can cultivate inner peace and connect with Joy are firstly by connecting with our inner self to find freedom and peace so that we do not re-act to life but are pro-active coming from our authenticity. Secondly, to recognize our connection to everything around us, people and nature. Here we move from a 'victim' role where everything-is-happening-to-me consciousness to one of being a co-creator. And thirdly, following on from the two previous, we connect with unconditional love. We build an affective relationship with ourselves that is supportive - not self-destructive. And once we have experienced love for ourselves it is easier to do so for others and the world around us.

Dance is not based on language and words. You may have read the above and it makes sense to you. That is just your mind saying, good, let’s tick this one off. To truly live these words we need to embody them so that they are felt in every cell of our being. Dance can take these three ways of connecting with Joy from the words to the felt experience and hopefully then into practice. Dance is powerful as it connects the physical, the mental, and the emotional. There is no escaping the powerful impact this could have. When Joy is the prize then maybe a dance or two is worth the risk?

_Christos Daskalakos

UNCOVERING - dancing the self

I am still finding
The real me
Whom I lost
under the pile of sacrifices

_ Shivangi Priya


Who are you being today? Subpersonalities are personality modes that we create in relation to various situations in life. Have you ever felt that the person you are at work is not the same person you are at home? Do you sometimes find you use a different voice when speaking to your parents than the one you use for your friends? Does your language change? The answer to a certain degree is yes to all of these. The more integrated we are, the less variance there is between our subpersonalities. The truth is that however subtle these variations may be, they are also translated into our body postures and movements. Do we stand up straight in one situation only to find that we are hunched over in another?


So, when we dance, who is present? Or more specifically in light of the previous discussion, what is our dance subpersonality? Actually, it all depends on who and what we bring into the dance. It is pure magic to witness the transformation in people as they continue to dance week after week. Sometimes the subpersonality that arrives, in the beginning, is the somewhat shy and reserved one, that we bring out in strange and uncomfortable situations. However, as the weeks pass by and the connection to the dance through the body and movements is strengthened, there is a change. Slowly the subpersonalities are melted away and there is a beautiful uncovering of that delightful person underneath that is full of vitality, fabulously creative, and totally connected to experiencing life at its fullest?

Is it just another subpersonality called “dancing-me”? Who knows, but it sure feels a little bit closer to the person who lives deep within our hearts and simply yearns to emerge into the world in every magnificent expression of life – our true self.

_Christos Daskalakos

DANCE, the art of living

“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

_Henry Ellis

Living is a creative act. Creativity is not always about having to do something to be creative – an action. Often it is more about allowing the natural flow of our own expression. We can be creative in many ways, creating work, art, or even relationships. The expression of ourselves is related to our identity. When we are in touch with our truth we are naturally creative. However, when we allow the world around us to influence or distort our identity by instilling beliefs, dictating rules, and setting up expectations – we lose our creativity and that is when we stop allowing the natural flow of our own expression.

Dance is a creative act that takes place in the here and now. It connects us to our identity, as a sense of who we are, and so strengthens our own self-image. We are then able through the dance to give this sense of ‘me’ expression. It is an expression that flows naturally from our body, and our feeling, and in response to our environment, be it the music, or the other dancers. In the dance, there is only the moment of creating, something emerging out of nothing without any considerations or expectations. In this way, dance gives us the freedom to express our authentic selves.

There is no need to make a big creative statement. We don’t have to choreograph epic stories, Just as each and every act in our lives, the smile, the look, the movement, are all acts of creation, so is the simplest of our dances. Each gentle movement, each gesture of connection, and each sensation are the things that make up who I am. Through the dance, we can learn that life too can flow with ease and be an uninhibited expression of our magnificent selves.

_Christos Daskalakos