There it was…
The moment I realized that where I met myself that day
was not the same place where I left myself years agoWho was this person in this body?
My journey began here in 2005. I was a performing artist back then. And I was struggling with a very negative self-image, and chronic feelings of stress and anxiety but back then I could not see that. Until that one day, I took a trial session with a colleague dancer who was training to become a Feldenkrais practitioner.
That day I became painfully aware of how I had lost connection with most of myself. My body had lost her natural mobility and sensuality. I realized I had not only left behind myself but also my most important reason to dance: This curiosity to what was moving me; this flow of life in all her tastes and colors, the joy of expressing myself free-spirited and to get to know deeper the body I am living in.
The Awareness Through Movement lesson on that sunny winter afternoon awakened a forgotten feeling deep inside; a memory of a time when I felt whole and being spontaneously me. In this first session I already experienced how spacious, peaceful and relaxed my body could feel when I wasn’t criticizing myself or blaming my body for feeling so tense and heavy. And that feeling was priceless after years of chronic tension, low energy, and distress. My body wanted more and so did I!
People often say you have to let go. I say: ‘wouldn’t it be great to start learning how to stop holding?’ – Pingel
In order to take back my life and my body, I had to stop blaming my body and my past for how I felt.
Soon after, I signed up for the 4-year teacher training program to become a Feldenkrais somatic movement teacher myself. What touched me the most was that after so many years I could feel sensations of pleasure, security, and quietness again. I could feel safe in my body and at home with myself again.
I discovered that the more I could feel of myself, the more I could enjoy myself and take care of my emotional and physical needs. Changing the way I was using myself, helped me regain my natural mobility and sensuality.
In 2016, I discovered the transformative, healing practice of NIA. I found ways to move, dance, and care for myself that nurtured the authentic, playful dancer in me. I learned to feel again into the universe of emotions within me. I can’t remember a time before when so much life-force and vibrancy flowed through me.
In the years that followed, dance, mindful movement, and creativity became my go-to’s to create a strong connection with my spontaneously sparkling inner being and become the woman I am today. To this day, this makes my life more fulfilling, and easier, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Fast forward now this journey empowered me to help other women trust and embrace their bodies and create something beautiful with what they have and who they are.
