Are your two brains living in harmony with one another? In this culture, our left brain hemisphere is heavily relied upon. Most of us have plenty of time to flex our left brain circuitry. Think bills, emails, text messages, conversations, “normal movement,” driving, self-talk, taxes, reading this, organization, etc. Doesn’t it make you feel grateful for all the practical things it can do? On the other hand, our right brain is an equally important part of who we are, and yet we rarely get to engage it with our full intention and attention.
When our left and right brains are feeling equally expressed, a harmony is struck, allowing our corpus callosum to light up, which is the circuitry that integrates our two brains into one powerful creator. When this is not happening, we usually feel some kind of discord within ourselves and our lives. Fortunately, our two brains don’t have to oppose each other! When they do, or when we rely too heavily on one and don’t harmonize with the other, we create disharmony at the root of who we are. What happens when we accept both aspects of ourselves fully, and allow them to express in cooperation? Scientists call this whole brain synchronization, and it’s one of the keys to a happy, healthy and fulfilling life.
For those who can understand this (using the left brain), but don’t necessarily know how to go about feeling it in everyday experience (right brain), I would like to introduce you to a practice that has profoundly activated my right hemisphere in a way that integrates and harmonizes it with my left brain’s consciousness. This practice is ecstatic dance.
Dance is not just a physical activity, it’s a mental one.
Dance itself is a right brain dominant activity, where our body has the opportunity to move in ways that aren’t limited to our linear, habitual movement patterns. Most people only dance when they inhibit their left brain with alcohol, but it is possible to enter into a state of uninhibited dance by soothing our left brain into letting go of control for a bit. How do we do this? We start by acknowledging whatever stories our left brain is spinning, and totally accepting whatever feelings are coming up. Total acceptance, not judgement, not trying to fix it.
Ecstatic dance, also referred to as conscious dance, is a container we hold for ourselves to allow the full acceptance and expression of whatever we are feeling right now. This means coming into this present moment and paying attention to how we feel! This is when it really gets juicy. Once we begin to fully feel the effects of whatever thoughts we have spinning, we start to digest them, which is the whole point of our emotions; to feel them, digest them, and learn what they are teaching us on our unique path. Once we are honoring and expressing our feelings we open our pipes and allow the full spectrum of emotions to flow. In essence, we get unstuck. We are in a state acceptance of all that we are, and self-consciousness about what we look like or what others think of us fades enough to get out of our way. All aspects of ourselves are valid. Instead of numbing our left brain with a depressant drug (alcohol), we have invited it to be part of the dance.
A magical thing happens when our left brain is present, accounted for, and relaxed into receptivity. It allows our right brain to come out and play! This is the part of us that loves to celebrate and move our bodies to the music. It’s the part that loves exploring new creative movements. It loves to feel! It isn’t limited by ideas or stories, age or fitness level. It’s free to express healthy boundaries while simultaneously opening our hearts to deep connections. It gives us new neural pathways to explore and conceive our reality, which can free us from patterns that feel restrictive. The effect can be downright euphoric without the hangover, and the only side effects are feeling really good as well as effortless physical fitness. In this way, our bodies can heal at the root cause level of our consciousness. After all, we are unlimited beings in a world of infinite potential.
Are you allowing this part of yourself to come out and play? If so, come dance with us and share it with the world! If not, come dance with us, and share the unique medicine you discover within yourself.
Michael and I have shared and received so much healing at all the dances we participated in throughout our 6-month 2017 summer of love tour of the PNW and California. We are excited to host Ecstatic Dance Waimanalo on Sunday mornings from 10 to noon at ‘Ai Love Nalo to share this amazing gift of dance. Join us if you are on Oahu, or tap into the ecstatic and conscious dance in your community. Look for events and groups on Facebook (see search terms below). Each one is as unique and beautiful as the people who make them up, and they are all changing the world, one dance at a time.
All ages, creeds, ethnicities, races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identifications, dance levels, fitness levels, ability levels and social statuses are welcome here! All of you are welcome here. You can safely be your authentic self. You are loved.
Keyword searches: ecstatic dance, conscious dance, dance church, body choir, 5Rhythms®, Soul Motion
As they say at Ecstatic Dance Nevada City: No booze, no shoes, just dance.
