Rooting in yourself

Rooting in yourself

In my retreats at Jardin de Luz, I often include one or more Chakradance sessions.

While dancing through the base chakra myself, I came upon the themes of belonging and birthright. I know that there are many people who struggle with a deep feeling and belief of not being welcome, not being wanted, or feeling that they have no right to be there, to exist. There often is a fear of feeling the intense emotions that these deep experiences and beliefs bring into the body.

I struggled with it myself. And it caused me to feel deeply insecure and anxious about who I was. I worked hard to feel accepted by others, and to avoid pain. I used to have a strong inner voice constantly alerting me to possible signs that no one was waiting for me, and that I was not wanted. I was hyper-vigilant and sensitive. I was constantly aware of my surroundings, other people’s emotions, the energy around me, and another person’s slightest (inner) movement. At the slightest thing, I shot out of my body like you might jump up from a chair startled when stung by a wasp.

Thankfully, this lonely, fearful time has long passed. I have found a warm home within myself, within my body. Six months after I moved to Spain and a few months after I completed the Chakradance facilitator training, I wrote a few lines about it that you can read below.

For me, connecting and working with the archetypal energies that flow through my body and circulate in my energy field helped me find peace within myself and grounding in my body. From this safe base in my body, I can feel myself, be myself in new encounters and relationships. And in challenging moments, I now also feel the inner support and safety of my body.

Why can it be so powerful to work with archetypes creatively as we do in Chakradance?

Archetypes are the basis of all the underlying, unlearned, instinctual patterns in our behavior. They exist in our human collective consciousness and are embedded in our psyche from which they influence how we move through life and perceive, feel, think, and act.

Dance is like a mirror in which we see the archetypal energies at work in our energy system. We can clearly feel where they bring imbalance and distortion to our energetic make-up. It offers us a conscious way to connect with these archetypal energies and change how and where they affect us.

In this way, deep instinctual patterns in our behavior get a chance to transform. This changes not only our perceptions for the better, but also how we feel, think, and move in relation to others and our environment.

“I can only belong when I allow myself to belong to me”

Dancing with your base chakra ‘Muladhara’, helps you dissolve deep beliefs of not fitting in, of being alienated from your body, and feelings of fear, overwhelm, and insecurity. In fact, even longstanding patterns of physical tension and e.g. back pain can be released when the energy of the base chakra is better balanced. It also changes the vibration in your energy field and therefore the way other people perceive you.

Where do you focus?

Where do you focus?

“Focus on your difficulties and you have difficulties for life.” (Moshe Feldenkrais)

Yesterday I prepared a Feldenkrais awareness through movement explorations for a little group of people of all leaps of life. An exploration to release tension in the neck and shoulders and free the head and spine.
Tension and blockages in the body often are good companions of thinking in difficulties. They are very attracted to each other. If they didn’t think and act the way they do, they would probably dance a very passionate tango.

I have this little exploration of 1 minute to think about something that is fairly unknown to you. Maybe you have a dream you want to realize… What are the first things that come up when you think of the possibility that your dream could be a reality?

Are you thinking:

  • I think I can’t do it.
  • What happens if it goes wrong?
  • I think I am not good enough.
  • It is too difficult, there are only challenges because of this and that, etc

Or are you thinking:

  • What is all possible?
  • I am going to sort this and that out.
  • I am going to learn this, discover that…etc
  • How can I connect the dots?
  • I have never done this before so I think I can do it

And feel in your body (whatever way you think) what happens. What do you feel in your belly, your jaw, your neck, and shoulders?  Your lower back, and the connection of your feet with the ground? Just experiment with different thoughts…

Feldenkrais explorations are designed to help the nervous system create new possibilities and connections. The nervous system has the ability to create endlessly when we bring the right input: creativity, curiosity, quantity, quality, variation, and quality. And when this happens we move on a highway towards unlocking our full potential.

My inner sparkle feeds on dancing the highway of my potential and so I pay close attention to what I feed my mind with.

Where do you focus on today?