Liberation

We were in class and one of my clients was saying that once she decided to stop looking in the mirror while dancing, she enjoyed the experience much more.  She let go of the self-imposed rules dictating how it should look and let herself just dance from the heart. 

There is nothing wrong with aspiring to achieve certain “lines” when you dance, but it restricts your expression if you can’t allow yourself to dance outside the box of your own making.  There really are no mistakes.  There is only you, expressing yourself in an authentic way and making adjustments according to what feels good to you.  

Once you let go of how something (anything) should look, you open the door to other, maybe even more wonderful ways of being.

In my life, I believe the most powerful therapeutic tool I have used (and continue to use) over and over again is the act of simply deciding to let go. 

The trick is recognizing when I need to do it.  Sometimes that isn’t so clear.

I just started a new business and I had a preconceived notion of what I thought it should look like.  When it didn’t happen the way I thought it would, I became attached to what I thought was the only road to success.  One day while I was teaching and having a quiet internal meltdown, the thought suddenly came to me: “I am doing what I love to do in a place I love to be.  I am grateful for every person who came to dance with me today.  That’s really all I need to know.  I trust that I am doing what I’m meant to do and that if it’s wrong, I will be led to the next right thing.”  

It was as though an anvil was lifted from my back. I felt euphoric. I was freed from attachment.  Instead I was now feeling my connection to dance and the people who dance with me.  

Once I truly let go, everything changed for the better.  Was it a change in me?  Was it a change in circumstances? Or are they the same thing?

Letting go of knowing the outcome and going step-by-step (enjoying the journey) is like releasing yourself from bondage.  Worry and anxiety narrow our field of vision so that only a few options appear to be available.  When you let go, the world expands and shows you where to go next.  

So I think of my life as a dance – I don’t know what choreography is coming next, but I am dancing this way now.  And I like it.