The Dance of Gratitude

Every dance I show up for I am grateful. Grateful that I showed up, grateful for my body and grateful for the dance.

Each dance reveals something to me. Whether it be a tired body, a more open heart and/or a more focused mind.

Sometimes it is the words that are shared after the dance that reveal something to me. Little bits of wisdom. On Monday, for example, a woman said "I can do this. I CAN move my body." While we move our bodies every day it is quite amazing to tune into our deeper knowing that we can move our body in new ways, in meditative and sacred ways. This simple conscious motion is powerful in ways we cannot imagine.

Another woman said she was able to trust the support of the Earth in her dance as well as her body. Today, as we continue to feel the changes of our planet it is amazing to feel all that continues to support us. We continue to be provided with water to drink, air to breathe, soil to grow our food and shelter to sleep under. Feeling the support of the Earth as well as our own body helps us move forward in positive action. Maybe the volcano and winds are creating air today with high levels of sulfuric acid but what can I do to shift my actions and take care of myself and those around me? I can move my body, I can drink lots of water, etc. Usually, some type of movement is required to receive support - whether it be from ourselves, another person or the planet.

And, finally, enjoying the light of children - whether or not we have physically given birth - is an eternal wisdom. Children are our future. Without them, there is no future for our species. And, there is undeniable light in the innocent child. This light reminds us of our humanity and the reasons we are alive. Being grateful for all children is essential. It could very well be the path to our survival as a species.

The Dance of Democracy

Last night I watched Michael Moore's latest creation, Capitalism - A Love Story. There were a number of amazing pieces that Michael pulled together in this film:

• the corruption of wall street, the banking industry and our federal reserve
• the 700 billion dollar bailout - a financial cous de ta
• the power of the people in a democratic political system - the power of the vote
  
• some of the solutions such as prospering democratically run companies
• and, my favorite, the idea of democracy as an economic system replacing capitalism
  

I'd never considered this idea or heard it mentioned in my many years of education - why not replace capitalism with democracy? When I was going to graduate school it was very clear that democracy was a political system - not an economic one. However, when I think about the potential for an economic democracy it seems to make sense. Why not promote universal access to common resources (no individual or government really does own the land, air or water anyway right)? Why not have a voting process in our banking institutions (credit unions do) and in our daily work? Why not vote on how we share and use the land, air and water? How is this idea different than the already existing models of capitalism and socialism?

While capitalism promotes private control of common resources (a few individuals owning and making decisions about land, air, and water) and socialism promotes state control (country of people owning and making decisions about land, air and water), a democratic economy seems it would promote small collectives of people (not tied to any larger governing body?) controlling and making decisions about the land, air, and water.

Democratically run families I get. Democratically run businesses I get. Democratically run cities I get. Democratically run countries I get. Democratically run money, resources and time...this is something to ponder in the very least.

I'm wondering why there are no economists tied to this socioeconomic theory? Why did I only first hear the idea from a filmmaker and then secondly from wikipedia? While I'm not really sure if democracy will work as an economic system, it is a curious idea and one I'm going to think about for awhile.

The Dance of Resistance

When you are feeling the limits of your physical, emotional and mental being - try on the dance of resistance. When you want to feel limitless - find the limits and dance the resistance to move beyond them.

Start with the resistance in your own two feet - move faster and then slower than your two feet wish to. Find the directions and motions your feet resist and dance them. Possibly your feet resist the dance of being grounded, or just as likely, they resist the dance of being ungrounded. So, dance grounded and dance ungrounded. Notice the limits you place on your feet and dance through them.

When you find a little more motion in your feet, move up to your knees and hips. Dance the motion that the hips resist - move them faster and then slower than they like. Move the hips in different directions than they are used to and find the motions the hips resist and dance them. Dance the angry hips, the courageous hips, the sad hips, funky hips, fearful hips and joyful hips. Notice which hips feel really really good and which hips feel really really resistant. Dance the resistant hips some more.

The first time I went to New York City to dance with Gabrielle Roth I was so disappointed when she started speaking about how she loves to shop. I immediately went into angry mode - I couldn't believe I'd traveled across the country to learn from and dance with someone who loves to shop. Angry Annie is one of many ego characters that I fall into whenever things aren't going as I expected. And, the meditations and dance practice allow me to fall less and less into this pattern with Angry Annie. The teaching becomes the reaction - do I let this anger stop my dance? Do I let it limit my dance and how? Can I dance the resistance and the anger? Can I dance through it to new motion and possibilities?

We can hold our jaw tight, our head stiff, our hips still and our feet can drag on the floor until finally we are so tired from resisting motion that we must release to motion. We let ourselves be danced.

And, as our energy rises and lightens we can feel the resistance to that lightness, the resistance to flight - we can feel gravity pulling us down (even though no one knows what it really is). We know that if we jump up we will come back down and it is due to this thing called gravity. So, we dance this dance - between flight and gravity - resisting flight, we drop into the weight and then release it to feel the lightness again. In this way we release limitations and expand our motion.

Slowing down, we find resistance to the pauses in our dance. Where does our body not want to pause? What shapes is it uncomfortable being in? Maybe we resist pausing in prayer, maybe we resist pausing in a big open shape and maybe we resist falling to the floor. Invite the motion of your body into these pauses. This is where we find our most expansive, limitless being.

The dance of resistance is something we all experience as we change and grow. Moving with and through the resistance allows us to feel in our physical, emotional and mental being the reality of the limitations we place on ourselves and thereby remove them (or at the very least be aware of them) to free ourselves to new and more motion.

Spiritual Showgirls

"Spiritual Showgirls"
by Laura Sharp Wilson

The paintings are an ode to amazing women Laura has met who follow a spiritual path, in one way or another, amidst these troubled times.

Contact Laura Sharp at sharplaura@mindspring.com

De-light in the Dark

The above picture is of night blooming flowers in my back yard. This picture reminds me of the juiciness right in our own hearts, bodies and minds. Right in our own backyards is where we find de-light in the dark. Our body is where we stir the pot of transformation. And, our hearts and minds are where we find the courage and strength to intentionally make the changes we have known we have needed to make for a long time. We show up, pay attention, help carry a bigger vision and change the world. One moment at a time, one meeting at a time, one Thanksgiving at at time...

Dance

i'm amazed, amazed, amazed
by the flight in these feet.
i will show up again and again and again
knowing there is a new dance
in the soles of my soul,
this movement is about LOVE.

these feet may be tired but
this body is filling with love
we are stretching toes in more directions,
stepping with attention on these two soles,

these hips may be aching but
this heart is moving love
we are opening the space inside,
stepping more fully into our dance,

this neck may be stiff but
this mind is giving in to love,
we are letting fingers spread more widely
than we ever dreamed, imagined, and thought possible,
stepping into soul,

i show up again and again and again for you...
dance.