‘To dance is to be able to glide as if you are as light as the air and soar in grace, as you feel the wind enveloping yet beckoning you to scale new heights of harmonious effusion’.
An old student from years ago, and a doctor by profession sent this forward below on the benefits of dance today, saying he saw this and remembered me. I was truly touched.🙂
Yes my years spent teaching dancing have been truly rewarding and continues to enrich creatively in every moment .
I remembered writing and conducting workshops on this very subject of dance application and health enrichments many years ago and had called it’ Just a dance every day’!
Glad to share it here with great joy… And I thank my student & dear Doctor friend for remembering me after all these years.
Dancing has the ability to change the inner you for the better with external movements. MRI Scans shows that the same neurons are fired when you watch some one else dance , as it would if you are dancing yourself .
Dancing also fosters empathy, elevates mood and has the power to spread smiles….making people experience emotions which they may have never felt possible too.
In a study conducted in Italy on cardiac patients who took waltz classes not only did they develop healthier arteries,and reducing of blockages , but also reported to be in much better spirit than those who took exercise classes like cycling and treadmill..
The expressive aspect of dance releases pent up emotion and is godsend for those who find it difficult to communicate verbally.
As actions at times speaks louder than words dancers can simply bring out what they want to say in the movements.Thus dancing restores the equilibrium of the mind and body .
Dancing with a partner makes you think beyond yourself and empathise with another. Everyday if you are able to get some time to dance a bit, its a beautiful holistic way that helps in paving the way to a happy healthy, healing harmonious you.
Mindfulness is always a work in progress… It is a continuous journey in awareness, not just a destination.
It is a cultivation of appreciation for life and living in every moment…
To meet & see things as they are
To have an awareness of the self and another.
To integrate the mind and body
To know all is deeply connected
To acknowledge the arising perspectives as part of the flow.
To value the spaces between the steps
To respond than react.
To create a habit to be in a witness mode.
To have patience in waiting.
To sense the awareness of the oneness.
To feel safe and supported
To develop space to be content and connected.
To be glad for no particular reason.
To live with awareness than simply exist in the moment.
The Creative touchIs in the hands of the artistA simple stroke here a drag thereCreates a whole new meaning.Bringing life to the art.While embellishments adorn the art in the artistryThe message conveyed well, even in the simplest formAdds the depth of authenticity to the story telling.The genius is in the ingenuityIn the portrayal of the abstractsWith an intuitive intellect of insightsAll in the astute acumen of innovation.Art can be both joyful and painstaking in the process…To cast and carve, chiselling awayTowards the finesse of the elusive perfection.All is but a masterstroke of the creative touch.An ode to artistry I must thank this unknown artist in the clip who created this beautiful depiction of the festival of Pongal celebration in South India.Watching this video clip made me write a few dedicated verses on the art and flair of thecreative touch.Savvy
When you dance with another, what matters most is the trust you place in yourself and your partner to dance as one unit, moving in synchrony and feeling the harmony of your beating hearts. This is the ideal connection that makes dance come alive in the moment.
Yet as much as trust is a much-needed trait in dancing as a couple, often trust takes time to build and is subjective amongst dancers.
To trust is to let go of doubt.
To trust is to allow space for growth.
To trust is to know patience in waiting.
To trust is to allow space for faith.
To trust another is not easy
For one and all.
To some, it may be very difficult.
But trust is certainly worth trying.
To trust takes effort, not assumptions.
It takes practice in time and space.
For trust can be on many levels
Emotional, mental, or physical.
Trust is built to evolve along
For in building the relationship
The foundation needs to endure
The winds of change.
Trust what trust does.
Try to pin it down.
Watch how it turns out to be
Confusing and elusive…
Before you trust, you will
Spend time sensing,
And witnessing the energy,
The tension in the transactions
Being ready for changes,
Being prepared to brave
Through disappointments and dissatisfactions
That may arise at any moment.
And yet…
Trust is not only about building
But about the ability to let go
Of worry and insecurities,
Fear and failures.
To trust is to reach out
Without any expectations
But in utter faith and belief
That you will be supported!
A dance between a couple is a blissful feeling only when there is trust in both the self and the other, just as much as the passion, as only when there is the letting go, can there be the flow manifesting itself through the movements. Savvy Raj
Poetry is a joy that cannot be contained
Poetry is in words that get themselves aligned
What makes words flow
So many things I say
The pull of the idea conveyed
The push of the underlying emotions
The interconnects in the thoughts
The interdependence in the choices made.
Some say verses flow only in rhyme and meter
Some like it structured to the tee
And some a bit undone.
But true poetry is a feeling created
A magnet for thoughts imagined
That move to synch in a symphony
In the most unique of ways.
Every poem is a dance of words
In rhythmic flow all its own ….
Touching hearts through those words
Conveying so much more than words can say!
As a dance educator and trainer…while teaching and sharing social dancing skills one of the important learnings we work on is the understanding of the art of leading and following. Both very significant for any kind of partner dancing as much as in life itself. After all, life is a dance and dance imitates life!
In the first place, what does it take to be a leader? Many things but most importantly, a follower. So simply put, there must be a follower to be a leader. There can be no leader without a follower and there certainly would be no follower without a leader.
Dancing together is a lesson in leading and following in partnership!
In such a perspective both the leader and follower in the dance have a relevant role to play, that of completing the dance successfully and like so in life as well.
A dance can teach a lot about leadership and here are a few reflections on what it is to lead…
To lead is an opportunity to honour the trust of a follower.
To lead is to light the flame of inspiration to win the vote of trust of the followers.
To lead is to have a strength of purpose that inspires confidence.
To lead is to allow yourself to make decisions for others to evolve along.
To lead is to accept the responsibility of mistakes.
To lead is to maintain a decorum of standards unflinchingly.
To lead is to believe you can!
To lead is to be led by a greater purpose.
To lead is to value the laws of nature.
To lead is to value the need for self expression while respecting the need for structure.
To lead is to better the followers and not beat them down at every opportunity.
To lead is to be able to collaborate and learn just as much as to compete.
To lead is to denote respect and not expect overt attention.
To lead is to show the way for others to follow.
To lead to work tirelessly with a sense of inner commitment without hesitation without expectation.
To lead is to muster the resilience of the spirit.
To lead is to endow the spirit of courage in others.
To lead is take into account the potential of all possibilities.
Savvy
Do share your take on leadership. I would be keen to understand how you see it impacting your life and work.
The strength of support and flow of movements while dancing together is based on the connection established and that marks the quality of leadership in question.
An ode to artistry I must thank this unknown artist in the clip who created this beautiful depiction of the festival of Pongal celebration in South India.Watching this video clip made me write a few dedicated verses on the art and flair of the creative touch.Savvy
Savvy Raj 
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