Sacred Dance ~ Sacred Life

by Lisa Beck

Dance, for me,  is a doorway that leads into a world of magic, celebration and self-love.

It didn't used to be this way.

I used to compare myself to the other dancers, my body, the way I shook my hips. I wanted to do everything that my teacher did. I wanted to jump as high, I wanted to look as sensual and free in my movements, and when I couldn't "achieve" this, I felt like a failure and a fraud.

Now I see the light.

Now I use dance as a healing tool, an opening, an opportunity to love, accept and celebrate my self, my life, and my connection to others and to the universe.

Dance is an act of love. It is a prayer. It is devotion for me.

Whether I am in my living room with the lights low, shaking it to bhangra music or Justin Timberlake, or in a dance class with others, I let go of the need to look and be perfect. I celebrate my so-called flaws, and I celebrate my process...the way I learn, the way I move.

No one can perfectly replicate the way I move.

No one can perfectly replicate the way you move.

So stop comparing, and start celebrating. Start to use dance as a sacred form of expression.

Dance is ritual.

Dance is medicine.

Dance heals the body.

Dance is a sacred act.

Enjoy it. Enjoy your body.

I leave you with one of my favorite Gabrielle Roth quotes:

To sweat is to pray, to make an offering of your innermost self. Sweat is holy water, prayer beads, pearls of liquid that release your past. Sweat is an ancient and universal form of self healing, whether done in the gym, the sauna, or the sweat lodge. I do it on the dance floor. The more you dance, the more you sweat. The more you sweat, the more you pray. The more you pray, the closer you come to ecstasy.