Our True Essence

Happy Summer Folks! Personally, it's been quite the whirlwind with a bunch of travel and my daughter's daycare having random days off this month so it's been a bit difficult to get in the flow.

This past weekend my husband and I had our first two nights away from our daughter. It was needed. The weekend wasn't about sleep or rest - it was about fun, connection, play, dance, music, spontaneity - things that seem to get lost in the day-to-day shuffle of responsibility. We do try to infuse as much of these things into our weeks but it's easy to lose sight of these very important themes when the day’s stresses pile up.

I know what I need to do to ease stress - go for a run, move my body, meditate, etc - but sometimes I just can't quite get there, I can't quite get out of my own way and then I spiral, even though I knooooow what tools I need to reach into my toolbox to get. Recently though I HAVE been getting much better about snapping myself out of a spiral and instead of turning to my phone or letting the ruminations run wild in my mind I will snap out of it by taking myself outside to lay in the grass or go for a walk. But I digress ...

So we went to Vegas to dabble in some adult fun and had the most incredible time. It was freeing - feeling connected to each other and reconnecting with myself. Reconnecting with my joy of letting my body move freely without judging it or thinking that other people were judging me.

When we move our bodies in instinctive ways, in ways we feel compelled to move, in ways where we CAN’T NOT move - we are VULNERABLE. In this modern society we've found ways to protect ourselves from being vulnerable hiding these kinds of movements where others could judge us for being silly, out of control, or God for bid bad at it ... but what I truly realized was how much joy our bodies emit through the freedom of dance and exploring movement in this way. I know I know - dance is all the rage right now with TikTok and whatever - but I am not talking about choreographed dance I am talking about the: you can’t help moving to a song that is eliciting joy and release and play and fun. You can’t help singing along or swaying your hips and you do not care who sees you - it’s primal!

And as I contemplated all of this this weekend - it goes hand in hand with how I feel about the movement sessions I create and how they elicit joy and how movement can stoke the fire within someone to create more joy in their lives. By training our bodies in specific ways to go out into the world to continue to move our bodies in other ways that create more joy - it’s a chain reaction.

It's about bringing people back to their true essence - that is my intention, my mission. We all have a true essence and perhaps it's been buried by so many factors. How do we find the things that help us uncover it? I believe it’s through different types of intentional movement - that is the key.

So wherever you are, reading this message - take a moment to put on your favorite song and have a two-minute dance break to feel your joy, your true essence. And if you feel so inclined in the comments please share that song so I can create a joyful playlist to share with you all!