True Flexibility

This past weekend, I took 12 intrepid belly dance fitness and Belly Dance 101 students on a "field trip" to a dance workshop in Cincinnati. For four hours, a master instructor had us spinning, plieing, shimmying and arabesquing. We were confused, exhausted, sore and exhilarated. Some of the other 80 dancers in the room picked up the choreography effortlessly, mimicking the instructor's style as if they were her own troupe. Most of OUR crowd had never even seen that much dancing at one time before--much less attempted it.

Are we all experts now? Heavens no. On Tuesday in class, I doubt we'll remember even half of what we practiced. But, on the other hand, we will remember 40%--which is infinitely more than we knew when we began the workshop.

As our energy flagged and my students got discouraged with the complexity, I reminded them that their job was to open themselves to the possibility of learning, rather than forcing themselves to try and be perfect. We stretch our bodies and our minds in the same way--gently moving forward in new directions without forcing ourselves.

Physically, when you stretch, you should let the muscle melt. If you bounce or overreach, you'll tear muscle and injure yourself--the excess effort backfires making you tighter than before. In learning and growing it is often the same way--if you grit your teeth and insist on perfection, you end up "locking up" mentally and emotionally. Or worse, you avoid trying new things entirely, deciding, "If I can't do it right, I won't do it at all!"

So be easy on yourself this week. Try something new with an open mind and heart. Pick up a tennis racket with a friend and see how many balls you can miss. Roll a bowling ball down a lane and see how few pins you can hit without guttering. Get out there with a sense of silliness and enjoy physical activity rather than working at it. It's called playing, and none of us do enough of that.

Keri

P.S. Belly Dance 101 is opening for registration! The new session will be 4/15-7/1. Visit the website for details and I hope to see you in class!