I am not a dancer by any means. I’ve never had any real formal dance instruction. I’ve watched a few videos trying to learn various dance steps. I’ve been to dance clubs and other such group dances. I’ve watched a lot of other dancers in movies, TV, and in real life. I am always in awe at how they move their bodies and make it all seem so fluid and fun. I’ve wanted to be able to dance like they do. To feel free and fabulous in moving my body to the rhythm of the music.
Lately I’ve been fascinated with watching the current TV show season of DWTS—Dancing With the Stars. One of the “stars” on it is Nyle DiMarco. He is completely deaf! He cannot hear anything. He does not hear the music. He does not hear the beat of his or his partner’s feet on the ground. He dances in silence. Yet he is one of the most gracious, fluid, beautiful and powerful dancers on the show! How does he do it?!
As I have been watching him and thinking about this I have come to the conclusion that dancing isn’t about the music, the rhythm, the beat, having the perfect partner or most well-toned and flexible body (although Nyle does seem to have a nice toned body 🙂 but that isn’t the point here)…rather dancing is about feeling, believing, loving, being and moving in your body. It’s about connecting your mind, your spirit and your body and just moving, expressing, experiencing, enjoying. It’s about believing, knowing and loving who you are and all you are capable of doing and being in this life. It’s about not feeling limited or powerless or incapable of doing things because of your circumstances. It’s about being grateful for and loving all that you have been given and using all that you have and all that you are to bless and serve and bring joy to others and to the world!
“I dance so that no part of my body is without prayer.” –Socrates
Recently I went with my daughter to a “Hip Hop” dance class just to check it out. It was quite the experience. At one point, the teacher explained and showed us how getting your body to move like it does during some of those wild and crazy hip hop moves…like moving your arms and legs making it look like you’re a snake, or turning your head in seemingly unnatural positions…is all about creating small isolated movements and then connecting them together. Again, dancing is all about movement! It’s about taking all the little things, linking them together and creating bigger better and more fascinating things.
So why is dancing important in experiencing greater joy in our lives?
Does this mean we all have to start taking dance lessons and become professional dancers?
No, not by any means.
What it does mean is that as we begin to move in our bodies, as we begin to notice and appreciate all that these amazing glorious creations of our physical bodies are able to do, as we take care of these fabulous temples we are given to host our spirits here on this earth, as we connect the mind body and spirit together and allow them to work together in their full joy, glory and power…we are better able to understand why we are here and what we are to accomplish in life.
And as we gain greater understanding of who we are and why we are here, we also become more aware of how all of the things that happen in life, including all of the difficulties, challenges, struggles and pain that we experience in life, are for our good, our growth and make our dance more meaningful and us as dancers more powerful. All of the experiences we have are simply some of the little isolated movements in life, that when we learn what are to learn from them and put all of those lessons, all of those various moves and dance steps together…we see how they were all necessary to help create a beautiful powerful dance and life.
All of the little things when put together have helped us become stronger, more connected, more fluid, more at peace, more compassionate, understanding and forgiving of others and ourselves, more loving, more patient, more kind, more full of joy and able to fully enjoy and appreciate not only our own dance of life, but also the dances of others, and especially all the dances we get to experience and share with others.
So get up and JUST DANCE! Move in your body! You can have music and a beat if you want or just move in silence and create your own inner rhythm and music. JUST MOVE! Feel the connections, the movements, the power, the peace, the joy all come together as you move and love and move some more!
Please share with me in the comments below some of the dance moves you are noticing, creating and enjoying in your life.
