Growing a Backbone

Do you recognize the signs your body is giving you? All things, big and small that manifest in our bodies are direct mirrors of and messages from life. As a dancer, and one in daily training, I make connections between the messages my body is giving me and messages in life as well as the journey and development of my dancing and the journey and growth of my life. As you read, I invite you to explore what your body is telling you and where you can release your own tension.

Alignment is essential in dancing and of course in life as well. I am beginning to make a connection with my shoulder and head alignment. The misalignment I previously experienced created tension in my right trapezius. This misalignment is only centimeters, a very small adjustment, but gives a very powerful message. When aligning myself in what is now ‘correct’ I feel the expansion in my chest, the length in my neck and the slight relaxation in my trapezius.

This makes a lot of sense when I connect it to my life. When I think of my right trapezius I think to myself, “What was I being right about?” Recently, I had a clearing off with a member of my family. I saw that they had been holding onto and avoiding a lot of their anger. This is turn created a lot of tension between the two of us. My ‘being right’ about not addressing the tense situation was thus reflected in the tension of my right shoulder and trapezius. I saw that someone else had built up resentment, arrogance, and judgment on my life. Whenever we harbor feelings that strong about someone else, they are more of a reflection and mirror of a belief within ourselves. Regardless, because of the dynamic of the relationship it was effecting both of us.

Resentment and anger are a poison we brew for someone else but ingest our self. This is a phrase I’ve heard many times, in many ways and have always found quite true. Whether it was about them or me it was getting in the way and not serving either one of us. In having a conversation and clearing off with this person I “grew a back bone,” so to speak. It took a lot of courage and persistence to create a clearing in the relationship, just as it does for one to physically train the body. As soon as I cleared this in my life, I felt that shift in my alignment.

How does this show up in my dancing? In many ways… 1) the relationship clearing eased the trapezius tension. Literally the next day I felt a sense of ease in my por de bras (gestures of the arms, shoulders and head). 2) The expansion I felt in my chest and length in my neck reflects the growth in opening up my heart and the flow of energy it created. 3) Standing in my power and shedding light on what was not serving reflected my “growing a backbone” and thus I have experienced the development of a much stronger back in my dancing. So much so that I recently had the honor of back modeling for a photographer. I’ve felt my entire presence shift.

I know how powerful and great I am. In life and as a dancer. As we all are, as we all have these connections and messages somewhere. For me, this is just peeling away another layer, actually just allowing it to fall off and unfold my stepping forward. Although we don’t often see it in the moment and often feel stuck in those moments, I now understand with gratitude, how they were calling forward the real me.

The next time your body gives you a message that feels uncomfortable I invite you to smile and ask yourself, “What is this reflecting in my life that I can powerfully clear and ease?” You deserve to have both a physical body and relationships in life that move with flow and ease!