Returning to Practices

Tags

Believing, commitment, Conscious Living, loving oneself, Movement, Running, Soul to Soul, swimming, time, training

I have been recently writing about my return to running and all that it has been doing for me energetically, physically and physiologically. There has been a tremendous return to a body in motion and this a reminder of how good movement makes, and always has, made me feel.

Today begins another return to a practice that speaks to my heart; and that is a return to swimming. Slicing water and moving with a buoyant resistance is another great reminder of what it means to move through many elements that bring great joy. This evening will see a return to a training practice of swimming and running which will shift my being for sure.

It has been a great feeling to fall back to a body in motion in other ways than just dance and EBAS. Moving in these new ways will undoubtedly expand my neural pathways and physiologically shift so many things within my body. I am looking to see how this will support both physical and emotional well being.

This return is also a reminder to really carve out time for oneself and to commit to oneself simply because we deserve it. We get lost in the doing and in the race to prove and succeed so much so that we lose a light and this lose ourselves. It is a challenge for sure and will be a clear struggle to see how to keep this moment especially upon returning to the systems of work.

I guess the thing we will really have to consider is what can I let go of and in what ways might I be able to become much more efficient and effective in my work? This will be a new journey of discovery as well. One that will challenge but also inform in ways I have not known before. Finding balance and harmony in life, love and work. A challenge for us all.

But, I do believe it is possible. I even think it will in a strange way enhance many aspects of the things I am doing and oddly increase productivity. Increase productivity but balance with the commitment of time. After all, what good is a productivity if in fact there is no other joy in one’s life.

Realizing The Element of Fire

Tags

becoming, beleif, Believing, chemical transformation, Conscious Living, courage, elements, Energy, faith, fire, healing, health, Movement, physical alchemy, physiology, Soul to Soul, well being, wellness

Fire is a time of great expression and activation. It is a time of letting your creative talents, your deepest truth and your greatest story move out into the world. The fire element is about complete realization and that time is now.

We are all in the season of fire and could very much use this energy to engage our warmth, maturity and expression of life. It is in tune with the emotion of happiness and joy. And despite the heat, this is a time of movement and release.

If you can, find time this season to get a move on and see how the energy in your life shifts. See how much the body responds to this movement and really gets all things in your life moving again. Small walks. Swimming. Dancing. Movement of any kind can immediately shift you into harmony regardless of what kind it is. In fact, turn up the sound in your life and turn up and burn up the dance floor.

As a person who lives with, in and from the body; the body craves movement and so does the soul. You are energy that needs to keep moving, vibrating and pulsing in, through and about space. Space is your friend and wants to be explored. Go on an adventure and an expedition for you. Go anywhere and move yourself into wellness and well-being. Slow and steady always wins the race they say.

So when you feel like all you wish to do is check out, check in with your body and realize the incredible wellness the fire element can offer you. Be congruent with the season and move yourself to goodness and glory. Your body will thank you by pumping up the volume of all the good chemicals and proteins it makes to make you well. Go on. Move into the new body and kind of you.

Running Into Love

Tags

allowing, becoming, Believing, Conscious Living, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, heart, heart path, inspiration, love, Mindful Action, Movement, Running, Soul to Soul, spirit, spirituality, universal heart, well being

I have recently committed to running again and just completed my fourth run into this new challenge. Since Covid and all the upheaval that came from all of that, I have found I needed to return to my body in a physical way outside of dance so that I could engage in a very different movement meditation than I am so used to. Running has always been that joy so I have decided it time tomorrow return to that love.

During my run today I found myself hearing this line which is the title of this post; running into love. I run without headphones and outside where I can be in nature and commune with the trees and animals to better drop into the meditative energy of what running does for me. Today was no exception and one of those download days.

When I heard running into love I immediately felt the profound connection as to what this commitment meant for me and why this return to joy was really about me running into the love of myself, my body and my spirit. Showing up for myself and letting my repetitive movement take me through space without the need to make, create or form movement for anyone rather than for myself is a huge shift for me. And that shift feels so good.

Taking the time to open my day so as to open my heart and release my legs through space has been so deeply satisfying and I can already feel the shifts both physiologically and physically in my form. Another reminder at just how quick we can transform ourselves in such little time with a simple commitment to loving ourselves in the ways that feel so very right for each and every one of us. Running just feels so right for me and reminds me that in all things, it must feel right and be in alignment with myself. If I am in that flow, transformative energy is engaged and the animation of spirit activated.

I am so grateful that I am simply showing up to run regardless of time, distance or ego. I begin and keep going until I feel like my body has done what it has needed to do. And undoubtedly, I have added distance and reduced the amount of time it takes to go those distances. Drop in, open the heart and let the magic flow. And like all things that are right for us, the good work happens right then and there. The good work of being exactly who you are, meant to be and in the act of love.

As I return to running I am invariably returning to the love of myself. Running into love is an act of rebellion in that it actively shifts mind and body to radically become the very best I can be in this moment. The very best of me loving myself, my body and this amazing life.

What are you “running” into?

Return To Practice

Tags

breath, Conscious Living, five elements, Movement, Soul to Soul, spirit, TCM

It has been some time since my last post and i have been missing my regular check in and expression of the heart and creativity that this platform offers. I have also missed the practice of writing as well. Since school has started i have simply been pulled in too many directions.

It’s time to refocus and give myself the time and space to get back into practice and use the writing as another form of focus, energy building and meditation. I fortunately have been doing other practice work and now need to fold this back into the rituals and routines of the day.

In the new ways of sharing my research with folks it has been such a pleasure to be able to return to the Conscious Happy Hour episodes with my creative colleague and Transcendental Adventurer, Keith Bell. Our Friday night event focused on the intersection of the Metal and Earth through the lens of LU 9 and LI 11. such a wonderful sharing of breath work and movement helping us all to prepare ourselves for the full expression of the Metal element we are moving through.

I just love this work and if your interested in joining us you can find us on Facebook in a group called the Transcendental Adventures. these events are free and we would love to share our work with you.

Thirty Days of Thoughts: Day 15

Tags

Believing, conscious body, Conscious Living, conscious movement, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, healing, love, momentum, Movement, movement meditation, moving forward, Soul to Soul, spirit, walking, walking into ourselves

6/16/21

Looks as though this is day fifteen of Thirty Days of Thoughts and I am tickled with all of the momentum that has been happening on many levels. I am giddy about the wonderful shifts that have been happening and grateful for the challenge. I believe this is also the longest streak I have had in a very long time. Much to celebrate indeed. 

Some of the wonderful things that have occurred are the focus, inspiration, dedication and follow through that is opening up some wonderful feelings of courage and confidence. In addition to this there is more balance that is happening in so many aspects of my life. 

One of the joys has been a sense of pulling out to see how much time there is in a day to accomplish so many wonderful and joy filled things. I have been walking more and more as well as for longer distances. Which the boys absolutely love. In addition I have added running back into my life that is fulfilling a great love and joy of movement but in a very different way than the ongoing EBAS practice which has also increased. 

On top of that my meditation practice has also increased and has become such a joy to focus on the breath and body in a very different way. It’s a joy to get back to the balance of body, mind and spirit while increasing energy and focus. Not to mention the creativity that is happening as well. 

It feels very much like a wonderful reboot or upgrade really. It’s also nice to know that it is never too late to begin again, reboot, reconfigure and remap your life in so many ways. Oddly, as I find myself aging I feel a strange sense of vitality much like I had when I was in my twenties. It’s as if a youthful and invigorating heart is awake and alive again with hope and the potential for opportunities. 

So I am grateful for all of the wonderful things that are coming from this practice in addition to the voice that is evolving and the skills that are becoming. This is a practice as I have mentioned before just as it is clear that one’s life is as well. Life as a practice seems so appropriate to give oneself the space one needs or deserves to live well with joy and with pleasure. 

Thank you for walking this far with me and I look forward to spending the next fifteen days with you. Let’s see where the sweet mysteries will take us. 

Thirty Days of Thoughts: Day 10

Tags

Ballet, Believing, choreography, conscious body, Conscious Living, conscious movement, contemporary ballet, contemporary dance, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, Dance, EBAS, inclusion, love, Movement, movement meditation, movement wellness, Soul to Soul, spirit

6/11/21

I am looking forward to presenting at the annual Corps de Ballet conference coming up at the beginning of July. I was invited to share my research with them through the lens of the Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS) connecting the work with their theme; Suspended in Grand Renversé: Embracing the “Big Upset” and Ballet’s Relationship to Liberatory Practices. 

I am excited about this particular sharing as I will be making the connection with The Five Element System of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and EBAS to the ballet form and how this time of return might be the right time for rewiring our practice and welcoming more folks into the form through a sensorial approach to the form rather than the traditional aesthetic approach which has isolated so many from the fold. 

In this sharing I will be turning our focus to the sensations and imagery the elements offer as a new window into the experiential discovery from the inside out, rather than the outside in. Since the five elements of: winter, spring, summer, late summer and fall correspond to yin and yang organs, emotions and energies; this shift will allow access to an internalized visioning as well as emotional connection and qualitative correlation to qualitative dynamics. 

By referencing the actions and movements in EBAS like the Spinal Awakening Series, we will be able to see how the kidneys are connected to the contraction as the first articulation and movement in awakening our practice in EBAS. Winter is the first element of the wheel just as the contraction is the first articulation of EBAS. Wonderfully, the plié is the first exercise in the ballet form as well. Looking at how the kidneys rise and fall or rather descend and ascend in the “waters” of the form, helps us to feel or sense the buoyancy of the floating vertical pelvic bowl and the animating of our backspace through the kidneys. 

This is just an example of the kind of information we will be swimming in as we explore how layering and weaving all these concepts through the somatic lens and the experiential body practice opens the floor to all bodies who wish to explore the movements of ballet through their own perspective and potential. The practice becomes one of internal connection rather than external manufacturing and manipulation. Imagine the freedom of sensing and then reflecting then ultimately radiating that imagery and energy through movement and spirit? 

Thirty Days of Thoughts: Day 3

Tags

choreography, creative energy, Creative Flow, creative process, Creativity, Dance, dance makers, dance making, dancers, dancing, energetic pathways, Energy, energy flow, joy, Movement, venation

6/3/21

After the last two days of sharing and taking you back to the intersection of creativity and spirituality I thought it might be fun to take a walk down memory lane and share a little about the first seeds of the abundant work that followed from my first professional work called Venation. 

I was so inspired by the Tao Te Ching, Qigong and energy work in general that I wanted to research energy more and pull together the eastern and western essence in this process. So off I went to look to science, specifically contemporary physics, to see what I could see. And there went the box to the lid that has still yet to be closed. 

I researched and researched from both a traditional and contemporary perspective using imagery and concepts from both to create a men’s quartet that would gain a lot of traction by premiering at a shared concert with some of my colleagues in the Chicago modern scene and danced by myself, Raven, Krenly and Troy. It was a powerhouse premier that ended up being performed in several venues and festivals throughout the next few years. 

It was my first taste of doing that kind of in depth research and work which carried me even further down the rabbit hole of inspiration. Oddly I continue the investigation as a way of explaining my belief that “choreography is the art of shaping energy in space”. This very simple belief system for myself was the best way I could explain how I made dances or more honestly how I see dances being manifested in space by how my eyes see time falling bodies organized in an artful and poetic way. 

I worked this way for several years before deciding to run off to graduate school where I would have to really justify my process, clarify the research and be able to qualitatively and quantitatively convince my thesis panel of my beliefs. I remember Donald McKayle expressing what a unique way of looking at dance making and the way I see energy as a way of making sense and the matter of dances. 

This would continue in this fashion until the premier of Amaranth Contemporary Dance in 2006 for a concert entitled Experiment in White. This title was a nod to the company I had in Chicago, Cerulean Dance Theater, and our major concert Experiment in Blue. It is very clear my need to connect the dots, pay homage and to remember where all of the work comes from. The heart has been the energy throughout this process and will always be the fire energy necessary for the art of making dances. That and the art of using conscious movement to heal ourselves physically, energetically and spiritually. Art is really from the heART. 

The photo is from a shoot to promote Venation. Photo Credit: William Frederking

Lifting Lines/Morphing Visions: Autumn 4

Tags

art, artist, Ballet, contemporary dance, creating, creative procss, creative spirit, Dance, life, meaning, Modern, Movement

As rare occurrence has shaped my life, I shape the movement of the dance space

As a physical language expresses the road I have traveled, I express the spectrum of emotion from my heart

As poetic imagery pools in the kinetic landscapes of my work, I remember my journey through metaphor

In a Silent Way

Tags

allowing, breathing, falling, health and well being, listening, listening to the body, meditation, Movement, movement meditation, Running, scanning, silence, whispers of health

In a silent way, I run. Quiet is the mind listening to the blood course through the highway of my veins. Breath beating freely within my lungs keeping time with my feet. Scanning my body to release tension while falling in freedom. This mysterious floating with the energy of the forest carries me more deeply into the meditation of this path.

At The Window

Tags

allowing, becoming, beleif, Believing, change, compassion, Conscious Living, courage, development, dreams, Energy, forgiveness, letting go, letting go of noise, Movement, shift, spirit, Vulnerable

In my chair at the window, I opened my eyes

Darkness was fading as light came from the east

I wondered, early in the morning

What is it that is waiting out there for me?

Silence of night raised many questions

Light might reveal answers in the time to come

Patiently, we let life unfold bringing what it will

Where is this place we call home?

When a tumultuous existence moves past our present

One breathes more easily throughout the day

Relief fills the space of our hearts

When is it time to let everything else go?