How to Be the Best Dancer You Can Be

Article Source: http://www.compassionate-medicine.com/how-to-be-the-best-dancer-you-can-be/

photo of dancer Samantha Emanuel

“Do you know why I dance the way I do?
Because I have suffered.
I have gone through divorce,
death, a lot of heartache…
That’s the art.
You can show anyone a step
But not a soul.
Never forget why you dance.
It will always
give you strength.”
…Nadia Gamal…


We are all capable of dancing. You see that truth when a baby first begins to move their body to the rhythm of their soul. Watching a baby dance always reminds me that there is a higher power.

Some of us dance as a path of devotion – the ones that consider themselves “dancers” to their core. If you are a dancer like myself, I’m sure you hope to dance till the day you die. As a holistic healer, I know that in order to live long, healthy, happy lives that include dancing, we need to treat our mind, body and spirit. All three are necessary to heal in order to be our most joyous selves.

Know Talent Is Not Born, It Is Made –

In the book ”The Little Book Of Talent” by Daniel Coyle, he talks about how talent is not innate, it is created. “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery,” Michelangelo later said, “it would not seem so wonderful at all.” Rachel Brice, who is considered one of the best Tribal Fusion belly dancers in the world,  uses this book as one of the educational tools for her 8 Elements dance program. I first read the book in her 8 Elements course Initiation that I took with her recently. I have found this book immensely useful for advancing my dance practice.

Some of the key ways that talent is created, as discussed in “The Little Book Of Talent”, are by building strong neural pathways in the brain, not from how long you practice, but by how you practice. You need deep practice, which requires hard work, mental struggle, and extreme attention to detail. Struggle is not optional, it is neurological required if you want to create strong “talent” neural pathways in the brain. You must also make mistakes in order to build talent. I know it is the tendency of myself and many others to want to ignore mistakes or avoid making them at all. But, you have an opportunity to build a strong neural pathway by making mistakes, paying attention to them, and fixing them right away.

Beware Of Reliance On Drugs To Connect With Your Dance -

The dance world is full of drug use. Many artists are drawn to having altered states.  I believe positive, life altering changes and profound healing can occur from the use of psychedelic plants and other mind altering substances, including alcohol. I have had them.  I am not anti-drugs by any means. The danger is when the relationship with a substance becomes unbalanced, and one of my specialties in my healing practice is trying to help people find balance in their mind, body and soul.

Unbalanced meaning the bad effects are outweighing the good. I believe experiences with mind altering substances are meant to be used very, very moderately. Relying on drugs to connect to our dance, whether it be to feel free, less anxious and afraid, is not sustainable. With over use of a drug, the very gift that it gave us in the beginning of using will be the very thing that we lose. For example, drugs and alcohol can definitely reduce anxiety, fear and depression. But drugs actually will destroy the very neurotransmitters in our bodies that create happy states if they are abused. If you find you are “chasing” a high that you had once, and it’s not happening any more with your use, you may have a problem with substance abuse.

Sometimes people are completely reliant, absolutely powerless over a substance. Addiction is very real, and probably has touched the lives of most people. I was in four rehabs by the age of 20 years old. I aso got a degree in chemical dependency counseling, worked in inpatient rehab as a counselor and worked for many years for an incredible local program here in Boulder, Colorado called Natural Highs created by Avani Dilger. I am very familiar with addictions! I know the power of them.Natural Highs is a class for teenagers to learn how to have altered states without mind altering substances through herbs, body work, mate tea ritual, acupuncture and intimate sharing.

It is important to be aware that most addicts or alcoholics have had trauma in their history. In order to heal the addition, trauma specific helping work is necessary. One of my specialties in my private practice is treating trauma or PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). My favorite therapy for trauma and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is Brainspotting or EMDR therapy. Make sure you find a reputable and certified therapist who uses this type of therapy tool in their practice. In my experience, it is essential that the environment and the therapist be completely safe or else the trauma will not be worked through.

The other healing tools I have seen work very well for healing trauma are ear acupuncture, ceremonial botanical body work, plant medicine, aromatherapy, flower essences and abdominal massage. I utilize all of these tools to treat myself and patients.  I have had a lot of success treating self harm addicts with these tools as well.

Other very effective tools are sweat lodges, ceremonies, rituals, cleansing, journaling, cleansing, meditation and yoga.  (*Editor's Note: "The Smudging and Blessings Book" is a beautiful resource for helping one to create sacred space for home and spiritual practice purposes.)

I think every one craves altered states, whether an addict or not. I am interested in ways to have altered states without hurting our biochemistry. There are ways to have altered states through things that actually support our minds and bodies, and do not create imbalance in the body at all. Dance is one of the ways we can get a natural high. Some other examples are meditation, sweat lodges, ceremony and cleansing. If you are creating a habit of needing a substance to dance, you could be harming your dance in the long run. Dance has saved me many times by inspiring me to stop destructive behavior because I was afraid to lose my connection to dance.

Healing Body Work Is Essential -

We must do self care to thrive as a person and to dance forever. One of the number one symptoms I treat my patients for is stress. Stress is so destructive to human beings. Healing body work, massage, chiropractic, energy work, facials, to name a few, can be life changing. I have had deeply moving, radically transforming and healing experiences receiving healing body work. This inspired me to become a healer myself. I have been apprenticing under a teacher named Naomi Boggs who has been teaching me Lomi Lomi bodywork, plant medicine, flower essences, deep abdominal massage and ceremonial botanical body work. I now do these in my private practice and I find them to be radically healing.

Now that I have taken my dance to the next level by treating it as a full time job, I find i cannot get away with not receiving regular body work. It absolutely helps me be a better dancer. Luckily, I can trade my services with other practitioners. If money is an issue, look into massage and acupuncture schools in your area. These schools usually have a clinic where students treat for a very discounted rate. Community healing clinics are becoming very popular in most cities. This is where you get treated in a group setting for a very discounted rate.

Seek Help Of Practitioners Who Are Holistic Healers, But Don’t Rule Out Western Doctors -

 I chose to become a holistic healer because treating my own mind, body and soul helped save my life from suicidal depression. I believe treating the mind, body and spirit is going to evolve medicine. I believe in both Eastern AND Western medicine – a marriage of the two. There are some amazing things that western medicine can do – hello, surgery and pain killers! Let us honor Western medicine. I love how Eastern medicine does not separate the mind, body and soul when diagnosing and treating a patient. The body holds stories that need to be expressed and words won’t get the job done.

Don’t Worry About How Old You Are –

I was 38 when I discovered tribal fusion belly dance and fell deeply in love with it. This was shortly after I birthed my second child. I knew that after searching for years for a path of devotion, after living in an ashram, after taking yoga classes for years, after struggling with meditation, I found what I was looking for in belly dance. When I am in a negative mind set, the voices in my head will say, “You are ridiculous! Trying to be a serious dancer at the age of 40! Who do you think you are? You look like a fool! It isn’t even possible! Why didn’t I find it sooner? You can’t be an old, beautiful dancer!” In a positive mindset, I declare, “I am so grateful that I found belly dance this YOUNG!

I am so grateful I found it at all!” Beauty is in the movement, in the soul that shines through the body during the dance. I try to remember and embody this, but it can be a challenge sometimes. I think we are culturally programmed to think that there is an expiration date on us when it comes to being a dancer.  In my own personal journey, I realized that the enemy is not our culture as much as my own fearful ideas about aging and beauty. I am responsible to heal and change those old ideas that no longer serve me. I so appreciate the belly dance community because of the huge age range of women doing it. I will continue to look to the examples of women dancing till the day they die!

Start Your Dance With Reverence Or A Prayer –

Those of us that have access to dance classes and community around dance are very lucky. Be grateful for that! I have met many women who told me when they were a kid, their family could not afford classes. Dance classes were not readily available on the internet, because there was no internet. Which brings me to another thing we should be grateful for – the internet. Now, with the technology of the internet, we can take classes from the touch of a button, from all the best teachers in and around the world.

I love and honor Carolena Nerrico, the mother and creator of American Tribal Style dance (ATS), for always opening her ATS dances with a movement prayer acknowledging the space that we dance in, the dance teachers, the music we hear and our fellow dancers. It’s beautiful to watch. She teachers her students who are teachers to teach the same.

Create An Altar – 

In the book, “The Little Book Of Talent”,  it talks about the importance of “staring” at what you want to become. Not just thoughtless staring, but conscious and deliberate observing. Truly seeing what it is that inspires you and what it is you hope to become. Create a sacred space for yourself with things that inspire you. Hang pictures of dancers that make your heart soar and your light your soul on fire. Surround yourself with beauty. This helps dreams takes flight.

Practice Yoga –

Rachel Brice says, “Yoga is as important to my dancing as drills or any form of practice. Without flexibility in the spine, upper back and side ribs, hips, etc., the movement would not be as “snake-y”. I’m constantly encouraging students to take more yoga classes.” Not only has yoga helped my dance, it helps me calm my mind and find peace in my soul. It helps me get in touch with my body, to know when I need rest, how far to push myself and when to slow down. When I first started taking yoga as a young teen at Kripalu, then a ashram with Amrit Desai as the guru, I was frustrated with how painful it felt.

I would get cramps in my body and limbs were constantly falling asleep. I was not aware at first that my competitive nature, my looking at everyone else and comparing myself to them, was the biggest culprit of my physical discomfort. I had a surrender one day when I decided to practice with my eyes close for all classes. What happened was incredible. I suddenly was able to tune in to what my body’s needs were. I did not push myself. I listened and I grew because of it. I crossed over into a place of physical and spiritual peace. My body stopped hurting and yoga was no longer so frustrating. I have been hooked on yoga ever since.

Warm Up And Cool Down –

Always. Period. It prevents injury and injuries can take a long time to heal and often prevent us from dancing.

Develop Your Taste In Music And Build A BITCHIN’ Music Collection -

Music is a HUGE part of a dancer’s world. It is the soul of dance. The two go hand in hand. My musicality has grown as I have grown as a dancer. As my musicality grows, so does my dance. They are mutually engendering. What’s most important is that YOU dance to music that moves your soul. I met a lovely teacher who said, “If I listen to the song 3 times in a row, that’s a song for me to pay attention to. It is probably the song to perform to. ” – I build my collection by perusing the free online music site, Soundcloud. On Soundcloud, you can create and store music playlists of the music you find on it. I also find musicians on Instagram by searching hash tags of the type of music I like, ex: #hiphop #techhouse.

Be Humble –

Even if you are the most sought after teacher in the world, be humble. We are grateful we get to dance every time we do. Do not take that for granted. I learned from the lovely and amazing teachers Collena Shakti  and Joanna Ashleigh that emoting gratitude in your dance is a powerful way to move yourself and your audience. I also have had the privilege to study with two amazing dancers and teachers, Zoe Jakes and Rachel Brice. I was so moved by both of them – not just by their amazing teaching skills, but by what humble, kind, down to earth and gracious people they both were, despite having become very famous. My experience is that gurus do not exist and that we are all equally human. All teachers and dancers that I respect, have these qualities.

If You Get Injured, Be Patient With Recovery – 
The number one reason I see my patients get re-injured is because they rushed back into an activity before they were fully healed. I get it- being injured can be challenging. You are unable to do the thing you love the most – dance. Fear, anxiety and stress can rush you back into the activity. See injuries or illness as an opportunity to go deeper inside yourself, listen to what your body is trying to tell you, learn the lesson in the healing process. Maybe you need to slow down, take more time for self care, re- evaluate your path. It is a rich opportunity for growth if you have the right attitude.

Support And Be Kind To Your Fellow Dancers –

I have been so impressed with the belly dance community that I am a part of. We are kindreds, and I am grateful to have found a supportive tribe of like minded people pursuing their love of dance. That doesn’t mean I haven’t encountered jealously, competitiveness, and unkindness. I know that I have felt my own jealousy, insecurity and competitiveness. I am human. But I really do not indulge these feelings. I make a conscious effort to spread love, support and kindness. I go out of my way to thank dancers that have inspired me, support dancers that need it, and be humble. I also make a conscious effort to spread love and kindness on the internet by telling someone when I admire their work. I am always trying to reach out a virtual hand to support and be kind. The internet is another world that most of us in this day and age inhabit. I have been horrified by the hatred I see on the internet in comments. Let’s try to spread love.

I love this quote by Gilda Gray, which Rachel Brice has taped in her journal: “I know part of me is competitive, but I will focus my energy and attention on the part of me that wants us all to celebrate our differences and similarities in a big network of friends that push themselves and inspire each other to do the best work possible, while crediting each other and our influences.”

Benefits of Early Morning Dancing

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https://websitelaura.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/10-benefits-of-early-morning-dancing/

10 Benefits of Early Morning Dancing

Posted by aclauravanderzee

 

Last week I’ve come up with this light bulb plan to start teaching dance classes early in the morning, very early actually. And then I remembered something a clearvoyant person once told me: you know you are too old to be a ballerina but you can still dance every day. She is so right and I bet this goes for many people out there. Dancing is such a blessing, we human beings just love it. There is no reason not to dance and if you think there is, start dancing on it right now!

So, I called it The Moves, starting with The Morning Moves. Forget steps or routines in front of a mirror, instead we will go on a journey of the body, mind and soul, opening up to oneness and awareness, loving the fact that we are here, alive, in our bodies. Yes, let’s hear it for the body. She is left out too often, exposed to toxins, stress and other signs of neglectance.

Moving the body around, creating inner and outer space, eyes closed or wide open, swaying like a tree, moving the earth with a single breath: most people become instant wall flowers when they encounter free dancers. O dear Lord, you hear them think while backing away, God gave us steps, use them! But let’s be honest: wouldn’t you just die for a crazy dance like that? To feel the freedom of motion and obviously the freedom of mind, getting into it ‘like no one is watching’? To become a fool?

This wall flower thing is exactly why I will be in the studio 5 times a week and I invite you. Let’s be fools and, like David Bowie once chanted: let’s dance! Yesterday morning was the first of The Morning Moves and it was complete bliss. Not to mention selecting the music. People or no people, I will be there, available to you and to the heart beat, dancing my ass off. Because if anything, opening up to the gift of dance everyday is a present on its own.

For those who have experienced the healing and energizing effects of dance at some point in their life, The Moves may be a long awaited morning workout opportunity. And they’re right: you will get fit and in better shape. But let’s take a look at other benefits:

1. You will forget you are tired. Feeling heavy and done with after waking up? You. Will. Rise. During an hour of pure dancing, while connecting to the inner body and attuning to healing frequencies, tiredness will proof just a state of mind, your attention is elsewhere, in the now.
2. You develop a sense of inner rhythm. Knowing life flow and how it expresses through your body works miracles in daily life. You get to know your rhythms and how to move with them. High energy becomes your friend, just as low energy. Through dance we don’t fight anything, we bring everything to awareness.
3. Dancing provides you a sense of musicality. You will know music from the heart. Whatever party you attend, you know how to let the music guide you deeper into the dance. People will watch you, yes. They might think you are crazy, yes. And you, you will be dancing.
4. You will know masculine and feminine polarities within yourself and others. How these unique qualities of life feel and move can be explored through dance. Feel how the feminine opens and how strong the masculine enters space.
5. Stress can be located and vaporized, by you. While dancing with stress, as if it were your dancingpartner, you take it into the Now, again, into awareness. You localize the stress and know it. Bring attention, dance with the stress and say farewell.
6. Dancing in awareness creates a higher frequency. The strong magnetic field around everybody’s heart creates an even stronger collective heart that illuminates and transforms everything around and in it.
7. Dancing brings joy and awareness to yourself, others and the planet. While dancing freely, you open the heart so it is able to connect to the hearts of all sentient beings (Life, to make it short).
8. Dancing is the smile of the body. How? You inhabit your body and this radiates out. You will inspire others by transfering information (body language, skin radiance, life oozing from your whole being).
9. Anything you did not want to feel, anything you pushed away comes into light. Because dancing is something very physical, you will feel where stress and other emotions manifest. Movement allows you to literaly put stuff in motion.
10. The foremost benefit is that you are aware. From there life is dance and dance is life!

Cleansing the Third Eye

This is some fabulous information I have come across regarding the decalcifying and cleansing of the pineal gland, which is ultimately linked directly to the "third eye".  So often I have heard people say in frustration that they wish to "see more clearly", or to have the experiences and dreams in a way that they once used to.

Good news ... there is something you can do.

There are many things you can do!

It takes some due diligence, but if you are committed and prepared, I have adapted some information from the following article (author unknown) as it holds some great ideas to get the Pineal ball rolling! 

This pineal gland is activated by light, and it controls the various bio-rhythms of the body. It works in harmony with the hypothalamus gland which directs the body’s thirst, hunger, sexual desire and the biological clock that determines our aging process. When it awakens, one feels a pressure at the base of the brain. To activate the ‘third eye’ is to raise one’s frequency and moving into higher consciousness – all is a consciousness experience perceived through the Eye of Time or Third Eye.

While the physiological function of the pineal gland has been unknown until recent times, mystical traditions and esoteric schools have long known this area in the middle of the brain to be the connecting link between the physical and spiritual worlds. Considered the most powerful and highest source of ethereal energy available to humans, the pineal gland has been seen as a gateway that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness.  Meditation, Visualization Yoga, and all forms of Out of Body travel, open the Third Eye and allow you to ‘see’ beyond the physical.

Calcification of the Pineal Gland:

Most people’s pineal glands are heavily calcified by the time they are 17 years old, so much so that they show up as a lump of calcium during an MRI. Calcification is the build up of calcium phosphate crystals in various parts of the body.

The pineal gland begins to calcify due to the harmful effects of artificial substances such as flouride chemicals found in public water systems and toothpaste, hormones and additives put into processed foods and sugars and artificial sweeteners dumped into soft drinks. Cell phones are also being pinpointed as being harmful to the pineal gland due to high concentrations of radiation.

Benefits of Detoxifying and Activating Your Pineal Gland:

Detoxification and Activation of the third eye can bring vast improvements of our life. An open third eye brings clarity, concentration, perspicuity, bliss, intuition, decisiveness and insight as well as:

- Vivid dreams, lucid dreams, better sleep, enhanced imagination, seeing energy, and seeing with eyes closed.
- Clear channels and ability to feel energy.
A closed third eye or “Ajna Chakra” in Hindu tradition brings with it confusion, uncertainty, cynicism, pessimism, jealousy, envy and one sidedness.

How To Decalcify Your Pineal Gland:

The idea of having a calcified pineal gland can be likened to a door being glued shut. Although the pathway is unable to be used while it is glued shut, it is still a doorway never the less! With constant pushing the door will eventually break open. Below you’ll find what are said to be some of the best ways to decalcify your third eye (The * indicates that they should be taken with at least one of the other things mentioned for full effect.):

• Avoid all things fluoride: Tap water, cooking with tap water, fluoridated toothpaste, inorganic fruits and vegetables, showers with out filter, red meat, and any sodas and artificial food and drinks. I know how difficult it can be to stick to only organic fruit and vegetable but it is important to start where you are and begin to make those changes where it is possible.

• Pineal gland detoxifiers and stimulants: Chlorella Spirulina, blue-green algae, Iodine, Zeolite, ginseng, borax, D3, Bentonite clay, chlorophyll, blue skate liver oil.

• Foods: raw cacao, goji berries, cilantro, watermelon, bananas, Honey, Coconut Oil, hemp seeds, seaweed, and noni juice.

• Essentials oils can be used to help stimulate the Pineal Gland and facilitate states of spiritual awareness, meditation, astral projection, etc. Good essential oils for Pineal Gland purposes include: Lavender, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Parsley, Davana, Pine, Pink Lotus, and Mugwort (excess use of Mugwort has a neurotoxin effect if inhaled directly, so be careful!). Essential oils can be inhaled directly, burned in a diffuser or nebulizer, and added to bath water.

• Citric acid (LOTS of lemons* will work.)

• Garlic* (Take about half a bulb a day or more for a while, if you crush it and soak in raw apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice it will deodorize it. Use the leftover vinegar or lemon juice on a salad. Personally, I drink it all down.)

• Raw apple cider vinegar* (Contains malic acid. Take a lot of it. Make sure it’s raw, as that is very important. Braggs is the best brand) Everyday I fill a 1 Quart Mason jar with Ionized Alkaline water, 8 tablespoons of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 tablespoons of raw, local honey. This has so many benefits aside from the pineal gland!

• Sungazing (Gazing at the sun during the first 15 minutes of sunrise and last 15 minutes of sunset will do wonders for your pineal gland)

• Regular Meditation and Chanting. Chanting causes the tetrahedron bone in the nose to resonate and this resonance causes the Pineal Gland to be stimulated and when it is stimulated it secretes more beneficial hormones, and remember: these beneficial hormones keep your appearance youthful. 

The sound “OM” resonates with the Fourth Chakra, known as the Heart Center, the seat of Unconditional Love. Chanting OM opens you up to Universal and cosmic awareness. You can chant up to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or however long you desire to.

• Crystals that benefit the Pineal Gland include: Amethyst (wand), Laser Quartz (wand), Moonstone, Pietersite, Purple Sapphire, Purple Violet Tourmaline, Rhodonite, Rose Aura, and Sodalite. However, any indigo, violet, or dark purple gemstone or crystal can be used to stimulate the Pineal Gland and open/balance/align the 6th and 7th Chakras. Placed directly on the 3rd eye or brow chakra for 15-30 minutes a day or every other day will help to open/balance/align the 3rd Eye (Brow) chakra and prevent/remove calcification of the gland. 

The best exercise for Pineal Gland stimulation and health is to take an amethyst obelisk crystal or an amethyst wand, point it at the 3rd eye (point of the wand should touch your skin) and look up directly at the Sun with your eyes closed. 

Do this everyday or whenever you feel like it for about 5-10 minutes. The Sun’s rays will penetrate through the base part of the obelisk or the end part of an amethyst wand and beam directly into the Pineal Gland stimulating it. You can also use the Laser Quartz (wand) as well. Quartz crystal benefits every single chakra.

(**Sidenote:  the above info should be used with personal discretion.  Some stones will be more beneficial than others, dependent upon the individual.  It is not always a good idea to use stones and crystals directly upon the body and/or energy centers as it could be more intense than you are prepared for.  If you already have stones that work well with you, this is a good place to start.)

• Magnets. Attaching a magnet (that sticks by adhesive) to the part of your skin above your 3rd eye (located between your two physical eyes but slightly higher or slightly above the eyes) for a few hours throughout the day will also stimulate the Pineal Gland and help to decalcify it. Magnets cause the body to become alkaline, especially the part of the body where the magnet is attached. Any strength (gauss) magnet will work, but only use magnets on the head area during waking hours. The energy from the sun will magnify the strength of the magnet’s effect on the Pineal Gland.

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