Dance onto the (En)train

 

       

        Under certain circumstances, when metronomes are placed in a room and are started at different times, eventually they all end up in exactly the same rhythm. If there are two guitars in a room, pluck a string on one, and the same string on the other instrument will vibrate in synchrony. This is called entrainment. (click here to see this in action)

         When we dance in the studio we also experience entrainment. We are all listening to the same music in a common space. We are doing the same choreography to the identical rhythm. If someone vocalizes, you realize that the rhythm of your breath would have allowed you to make noise at that same moment. We start to breathe in sync. And invariably, by the end of the class, we have all participated in lifting each other up. And even now on Zoom, when we are in our homes, we have connected spaces, and a common experience.

        It is difficult to keep a positive attitude with chaos raining down upon us every day. What keeps me going is, as usual, dance.

        I confess that I am a news junkie. But I am also a harmony junkie. Those two addictions do not mix. I am certain that rage and outrage every day cannot be good for my health: physical, mental, or spiritual. So I stopped watching the news. Okay, I didn’t completely stop. I skim headlines –somehow the news is (a tiny bit) easier to take if it’s not in audio/visual form. At least I am in control of how fast or in-depth the news enters my consciousness. 

        There are things I know I can do. I call Washington. I sign petitions. I donate (a little) money. I write letters to voters. (I really don’t trust myself to speak). In a letter, I can keep my equanimity and I feel like I am doing something.

        Also, I can dance.

        My despair helps no one. And believe me, I have felt despair and doom in the past months. But I do believe:

-        We are all One. In seventh grade science, we learned that the universe is made of atoms. Atoms are 99.9% energy. We (and everything) are made of this energy, configured in different patterns, but still the same.

 

-        Energy is everywhere. There is no place where it is not.

 

-        Our thoughts, feelings, and actions move energy. What we think, do, and say matters.

 

   Entrainment is real. When we are around people who are showing a loving heart, kindness, generosity, and cheerfulness, we can jump on that train. We can let the love, kindness, generosity, and joy within us come to the surface. When we dance together, we participate in one another’s joy.

 

   So there is another thing I can do. I can look at what’s good. I can put fear and worry aside. I don’t have to bury my head in the sand, but I can choose to expect the best outcomes, because I believe in the inherent goodness residing in all of us. When I come from my heart, it is felt by all. When two or more of us come from the heart, the impact is exponential. If more of us do it, we can change the world.

 

   We can dance onto the entrainment train. We can rise up to be our best selves. And bring others with us.

 

   Oh, and we can always dance.

Dance, Magic, and Possibility

     

When dance choreography is created, there are infinite possibilities for every beat of the music. We see in our mind's eye different movement possibilities and then we make it real when we choose it. When a movement is chosen, it is manifested in our bodies and minds. We have made the possibility a reality.

We are living in a tumultuously chaotic time. No matter what your political affiliation, we all feel the dread and uncertainty of what could be barreling toward us. I have found comfort -- as I do even in normal times --  in dance and connecting with loved ones. 

Fear is aggressive and can make us forget that love is really the only truth. We have the power in every moment to choose love over the falsity of fear. 

Quantum physics sounds a lot like spirituality. But it is not. It is science.

-       Quantum physics tells us is that there are infinite possibilities (waves) contained in every moment. In the laboratory, waves (possibilities) collapse into a particle which is measurable and “real” when it is observed.

-        We live in a vibrational universe: like attracts like.

-        When we “observe” or focus on a future possibility, it collapses into reality – what we see unfolding in our lives.

-        Worry will attract the very reality we fear.

-        Love will attract the reality we desire.

Although I am by nature a worrier, I am attempting to focus on love. It is who we are. It is our families and friends, and (though sometimes it’s hard to see) it exists in the world around us. When we focus on love and all things that spring from love:

Joy

Kindness

Generosity

Courage

Truth

Abundance

Compassion

Understanding

We will see the reality we want to experience. When we imagine the outcome we want and allow ourselves to feel the emotions that align with that outcome – we attract it to us. The possibility becomes reality.

It sounds like magic.

But love is magic. When we observe it and feel it, it is a reality. In fact, it is the only reality. We are sometimes distracted by evidence to the contrary -- False Evidence Appearing Real -- but love is infinite and indestructible. 

We need only remember.