Dance Is Healing
I have been dancing since I was old enough to stand. I learned very early in life that dancing is fun and that having fun is healing. There is also the connection that is so much a part of dancing with someone else, especially salsa. Although there is a certain amount of skill in partner dancing what is important is the connection between the two people dancing.
Recently I was reintroduced to dance by someone I met out dancing a few weeks ago. I realize now that I missed that outlet and that dance was as exciting to me today as it was in the beginning. It is a beautiful reminder to do the things that bring us joy and how getting back on the saddle as some refer to it is important.
I have taught people who are not Hispanic to dance salsa. In one case the woman I taught shared that she felt safe with me and that she'd not felt that way around a male for a long time. On another occasion she said she felt beautiful again. For her it was clear that dance was a healing agent and that she did not realize until she started to dance just how wonderful she could feel. I felt honored and it was from that day forward that I understood that dancing is a joyous healing.
I believe that when our body is in some form of movement something gets stirred inside of us. I think that dance is the kind of movement our body and our mind often times resonates with our spirit. When we dance we can go to a different space in our energetic self and like art therapy it just feels joyous and helps us to access our inner joyful kid.
So many times others have shared with me that dancing changed their life. What I think they are saying is that through dance they have experienced a new form of happy and been able to use it to become more social, but the most important part of it is the opportunity to touch others physically in a way that is non-threatening and sometimes even compassionate and loving. We don't have to be in love with the person we dance with to eventually feel loved.
I like to share this with others, especially my biggest supporters, women. I have been told that I am am gentle when I dance. The message from women has been that some men man handle them on the dance floor but that I do not. For me dancing with a woman is an expression of how much I value them in my life and apparently it shows in the way I dance with them. I understand that leading a dance is more about flowing with a partner but more over about featuring the female. The part that makes me jump for joy is when the woman does some form of a fancy step or a move that is sassy or flirty. When a woman has a garment on that flies in the air and hits me I have been known to even laugh because for me their is nothing more beautiful than the way she dances and how she looks. My role is to make her look as beautiful as she is. I guess that is when I know just how Latino I am.
I will continue to dance and I will continue to feel a form of healing when I dance but there is something more important to me than that and it is to share the extreme happiness I feel when I dance. I want to send that message out to people like the girl I met yesterday at Congas who worked with my favorite dance partner to consider dancing as a healing agent for it has been through my own experience that I have felt such a magical experience.
Recently I was reintroduced to dance by someone I met out dancing a few weeks ago. I realize now that I missed that outlet and that dance was as exciting to me today as it was in the beginning. It is a beautiful reminder to do the things that bring us joy and how getting back on the saddle as some refer to it is important.
I have taught people who are not Hispanic to dance salsa. In one case the woman I taught shared that she felt safe with me and that she'd not felt that way around a male for a long time. On another occasion she said she felt beautiful again. For her it was clear that dance was a healing agent and that she did not realize until she started to dance just how wonderful she could feel. I felt honored and it was from that day forward that I understood that dancing is a joyous healing.
I believe that when our body is in some form of movement something gets stirred inside of us. I think that dance is the kind of movement our body and our mind often times resonates with our spirit. When we dance we can go to a different space in our energetic self and like art therapy it just feels joyous and helps us to access our inner joyful kid.
So many times others have shared with me that dancing changed their life. What I think they are saying is that through dance they have experienced a new form of happy and been able to use it to become more social, but the most important part of it is the opportunity to touch others physically in a way that is non-threatening and sometimes even compassionate and loving. We don't have to be in love with the person we dance with to eventually feel loved.
I like to share this with others, especially my biggest supporters, women. I have been told that I am am gentle when I dance. The message from women has been that some men man handle them on the dance floor but that I do not. For me dancing with a woman is an expression of how much I value them in my life and apparently it shows in the way I dance with them. I understand that leading a dance is more about flowing with a partner but more over about featuring the female. The part that makes me jump for joy is when the woman does some form of a fancy step or a move that is sassy or flirty. When a woman has a garment on that flies in the air and hits me I have been known to even laugh because for me their is nothing more beautiful than the way she dances and how she looks. My role is to make her look as beautiful as she is. I guess that is when I know just how Latino I am.
I will continue to dance and I will continue to feel a form of healing when I dance but there is something more important to me than that and it is to share the extreme happiness I feel when I dance. I want to send that message out to people like the girl I met yesterday at Congas who worked with my favorite dance partner to consider dancing as a healing agent for it has been through my own experience that I have felt such a magical experience.
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