5 Months ago I was talking to a wonderful inspiration of mine, Saara Ullery from the Web of Life Wellness Center. During our discussion the topic of frustration came up. I shared how increasingly I was becoming more agitated when I came in contact with less then perfect situations. Like I was distant from what was happening around me and making contact was like nails on a chalk board.

She offered the suggestion that maybe it was because I was not fully grounded. Being a person that does many meditations, prayers, healing modalities, etc. it was hard at first glance for me to see this being the case.

We continued to talk about what I do to ground and she pointed out the difference between grounding and connecting to source, the universe, God, etc. A light bulb went off in my head as I realized I had been running through the universe manifesting, creating, learning and much more but with out fully touching back on earth.

The reason I share this in a post titled Dancing Into My Body is because when Saara asked me what I feel really connects me to the ground to solid matter; rocks, dirt, bones, etc. the first thing that came to mind (at full force) was dancing.

…Dancing? So before I go further I have to share a few things about myself. Yes I used to dance in high school and the few years that came after. I would Swing Dance with the Bingham Swing Team. My friend and cousin, Ryan Campbell ran the Swing team… come on it was a great way to meet girls. Even more often then Swing dancing, I would head out for a night on the town, dancing to everything from 80’s music to techno, occasionally to meet girls but mostly just to dance.

I walked away from my meeting with Saara with a determination to dance my way into being grounded. But were does a 27 year old family man go dancing? Yes I could run to a club during 80’s night and get my grove on but I want to dance to become grounded, not to swim in a sea of hormones and alcohol.

Now to fast forward… I have been spending some time with a group of some of the most amazing people I have met spearheaded by none other then Utah’s own Sylvia Nibley. At her monthly Our Community Connections meet ups I get the opportunity to meet healers, teachers, massage therapists, visionaries, philosophers, etc. and I just so happened to meet Shannon Simonelli.

Besides being a brilliant woman, a Dr. and an extremely pleasant person, Shannon does a weekly class on Tuesdays 5:30 – 7 pm called Remedy Wave. During her class she uses movement to connect, release and you guessed it become more grounded. When I heard this, the words “I am going to go your next class” came out of my mouth before I processed it in my brain. I walked away asking my self, really? Dancing?

So here I am an hour before it starts, ready to go dance with people I don’t know (except for my trusty Team SyncCreation friend Lori McDonald) and I have no clue what to expect. I am not going to lie, I am nervous and yes I have some reserve about being a “man” and that this isn’t “the most manly” way to spend a Tuesday evening. But life is an adventure and I am choosing to put my ego aside and se what comes of this. I have showed my cards, I am nervous, anxious, excited, and ready. I will let you know how it goes…

…I am back, a little sore, and ready to report how it went. I showed up to a small on the outside but big on the inside studio called Sugar Space. As we waited for the current class to end Lori and I sat in the waiting room exchanging awkward glances and big smiles that portrayed our nervousness and excitement.

There were about nine of us in attendance and upon congregating to stretch I scripted the internal monologue “look, I am not the only male in the class” to appease my manly ego. Shannon put on some music for us to stretch to and started explaining the 5rythms that we were going to be moving through.

Before I get too far into the 5rythms, I have to give a shout out to all my fellow beat makers and toe tappers. Every song that Shannon played had me muttering under my breath “who is this, I have got to get the name of this group”! (Think Little People meet Enigma)

Back to the 5rythms; as we started into the first rhythm which was smooth and flowing while getting in tune to what parts of our bodies were stuck, I had the thought that maybe this might just be a new spin on aerobics. But as Shannon explained each rhythm that we entered, I started to see and feel the bigger picture.

This wasn’t just about burning calories. This was about getting in tune with my body, truly listening to what it was saying, where it was storing energy and where I carried my stress, pain etc. As the energy built, caused by both the music and the group becoming more connected and in tune, I started too really allow myself to be in the moment and feel the ground speak as my feet connected with it.

Truly present, the moment of climax shifted and the energy rolled into calm. Not the calm of something missing. It was the sweet calm of being present and perfect. Shannon, as if she could see the wave wash over us, said “Now let your body move you. What ever part of your body your minds attention is drawn to, move it”.

This is when it happened. In all of my years dancing in my past, I had moved my body and used it as a tool to do what I want it to do (insert life metaphor here :). With Shannon’s words and an instrumental beat version of amazing grace ringing in my ears, I succumbed to the guidance of my body.

I let my body teach me, I let the messages it had stored for years come ringing throw my limbs, I let myself be fully grounded and connected to my self.

I can honestly say I found what I was looking for. I revisited my passion for dancing, drank the movement in until I was full and walked back into my day to day being okay with bumping into other people that are dancing through their life.

I also found a way to practice listening; listening to my body, listening to the movements of others, listening to the space that I am dancing on/in and you can count on me being there on Tuesday’s clearing the stress I hold and dancing my way into being grounded.

After thought: I do not define myself as a dancer. So, to all of you that might disregard an experience like this because you don’t dance… This is about movement! And let’s face it, we all move 🙂

Remedy Wave
Pros:
Burns Calories (1 ½ hour of dancing)
Grounding
Fun
Great music Accepting Safe Environment
Cons:
I didn’t get to take the playlist home
Could have used a hand out (I wanted a hand out of the 5Rhythms so I could reflect and use them in my life)
Thirsty (Bring a water bottle! I couldn’t find a drinking fountain)
Right before dinner (Eat some nuts or a protein bar before you go)