‘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
Interesting set of reflections , I just had to share…
Hardly the day started and … it is already six o’clock in the evening.
Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday.
… and the month is already over.
… and the year is almost up.
… and already 40, 50 … years of our lives have passed.
… and we realize that we lost our parents, friends.
and we realize that it is too late to go back …
So … Let’s try, however, to take full advantage of the time we have left …
Let’s not stop looking for activities that we like …
Let’s put color in our greyness …
Let’s smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.
And yet, we must continue to enjoy serenely the time that remains.
Let’s try to eliminate the “after” …
I do it after …
I will say after …
I will think about it after …
We leave everything for ‘later’ as if “after” was ours.
Because what we do not understand is that:
after, the coffee cools …
after, priorities change …
after, the charm is broken …
after, health passes …
after, the children grow up …
after, the parents get older …
after, the promises are forgotten …
after, the day becomes the night …
after, life ends …
And after that it’s often too late ….
So … leave nothing for ‘later’ …
Because always waiting for later, we can lose the best moments,
the best experiences,
the best friends,
the best family …
The day is today … The moment is now …
The above post is replete with the wisdom of Now. It resonates so much, especially with two of my earlier share of verses… one penned by my mother…This moment!
When wisdom knocks it is never easy… When wisdom knocks know its just the beginning When wisdom knocks be ready to be challenged When wisdom knocks know you are learning When wisdom knocks know you are meant to learn When wisdom knocks be open to understand When wisdom knocks it opens many doors
When wisdom knocks know be ready to experience the now When wisdom knocks be ready to dare When wisdom knocks be ready to acknowledge When wisdom knocks be ready to respect When wisdom knocks be ready to witness When wisdom knocks be ready to accept When wisdom knocks be ready to gain When wisdom knocks be ready to let go When wisdom knocks know the value of balance
When wisdom knocks know your own equanimity When wisdom knocks be ready to know your self When wisdom knocks know there is something beyond your self When wisdom knocks be aware of the greater purpose When wisdom knocks become willing to understand beyond…
When wisdom knocks know it seeks you When wisdom knocks know there is always a reason When wisdom knocks trust yourself When wisdom knocks keep the faith When wisdom knocks know you are in the path of awakening.
When wisdom knocks be ready to accept responsibility When wisdom knocks know you are strengthened in spirit and soul. When wisdom knocks know you are on your path. When wisdom knocks know you are blessed When wisdom knocks know you are enough for you!.
There are many knocks of wisdom… Each unique in its potential lesson To learn to see the now in every moment Every knock of wisdom leaves imprints in the spirit of the soul. Are you ready?
Savvy
Giving your attention without fear or favour and caring to understand what another is saying, before responding says a lot about the person who is listening…
Here is a true incident…
Viktor Frankl, one of the great psychiatrists of the twentieth century, survived the death camps of Nazi Germany. His little book, Man’s Search for Meaning , is one of those life-changing books that everyone should read.
Frankl once told the story of a woman who called him in the middle of the night to calmly inform him she was about to commit suicide. Frankl kept her on the phone and talked her through her depression, giving her reason after reason to carry on living. Finally she promised she would not take her life, and she kept her word.
When they later met, Frankl asked which reason had persuaded her to live?
“None of them”, she told him.
What then influenced her to go on living, he pressed?
Her answer was simple, it was Frankl’s WILLINGNESS TO LISTEN to HER in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
A world in which there was SOMEONE ready to listen to another’s pain seemed to her a world in which it was worthwhile to live.
Often, it is not the brilliant argument that makes the difference. Sometimes the small act of LISTENING is the GREATEST GIFT we can GIVE.
How can we choose to listen well?
What are the barriers to effective listening? How can we improve our listening abilities.
A few issues in listening well….or what is called Ineffective listening.
Distraction caused by the difference between speaking and thinking speeds in humans. So if the speaker speaks too slowly or too fast, the listeners may lose the plot.
At times the appearance or personality quirks or the environment changes can create distractions.
Distraction also causes the listener to show a lack of interest through body language like in posture of loss of eye contact.
Overcoming distractions requires keeness to improve and interest in personal development as much as a sense of commitment to the task at hand.
Here are a 5 tips for improving listening skills.
1. Restating . Pay full attention so as to be able to restate or paraphrase in your own words every once in a while, what it is that you have heard so as to make the speaker feel listened to.
2 Prompting . Use short and positive prompts by interjecting them in the pauses … to show interest like .. And then ? So ?or I know…
3.Validating .Express your empathy . Show that you understand what another is saying or going through. Acknowledge the issues faced by another or the feelings as they are speaking. It shows you are sincere in your concern.
4.Pausing . Allow for some gaps in the conversation.. it helps buy time to think for both the speaker and the listener . As it helps process the information. Silences are great tools to let go the unnecessary gibberish and loose-ended talks which may be counter- productive.
5.Shifting . Redirecting a speaker when needed by shifting the topic gradually changes the tone of the discussion which can at times get too aggressive or violent for comfort.
There are so many ways that develops the GIFT OF LISTENING .
Have also found that in practise, the art of listening well involves all of our senses.
After all the art of a great conversation lies in the ability to listen keenly and respond well than simply react.
Savvy
Personally speaking I have often been a good listener… yet I must confess that there are a few close friends to whom I have spoken who are such great listeners that they put me at ease.
It is truly wonderful to be listened to as much as to listen. There is so much healing in the listening as much as in the sharing. I take this opportunity to thank those friends and readers who cared to give me a listening ear and time.🙏
The static and the dynamic are both a dance of stillness and movement in the river of time. There is both the overlay of stillness in the movements . And the underlying movements in the stillness.
Imagination traverses far Moving dimensions Mirroring and blending Adapting and creating Both the invisible and visible Energy in the stillness Energy in the motion Orcherstrated in the flow
In the duality is the oneness
And the rhythms of life and living. All unifying in the circle of life
Your true source strength in every living moment!
Friends and families are your circles of protection
What is family?
Relationships that bond through a lifetime
Through the winds of changes
In hopes and hurt
In challenges and conflicts
In confusion and chaos
In the circumstances and consequences…
Healing and helping
Caring and consoling
Being there throw the thick and thin
In support and encouragement
Amidst the pain and pleasures
Of life and living
Families and friends are strength giving
Value and nourish them
Through attention and time.
For only they will stand the test of time
In moments of despair desperation.
And after all what use is happiness With no one to partake the joy?
Keep your friend and families close to your heart.
I want to share it with you . I recommend you spend some time playing as you please . Rest assured you will create and listen to beautiful music, even if you have never played a musical instrument before .
Gift yourself some blissful musical moments. Play on!
I have always been a lover of stringed instruments and their sounds. I wanted to know and learn a bit more about the Bandura.
A bandura is a Ukrainian, plucked string, folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments had 5 to 12 strings and similar to the lute. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings, 56 strings – 68 strings on modern ‘concert’ instruments.
Musicians who play the bandura are referred to as bandurists. In the 19th – early 20th century traditional bandura players, often blind, were referred to as kobzars.
A little bit on the lute and zither two instruments whose elements are combined in the music.
Lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck (either fretted or unfretted) and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. More specifically, the term “lute” can refer to an instrument from the family of European lutes. The lute is plucked or strummed with one hand while the other hand “frets” (presses down) the strings on the neck’s fingerboard. By pressing the strings on different places of the fingerboard, the player can shorten or lengthen the part of the string that is vibrating, thus producing higher or lower pitches (notes).
Zithers are played by strumming or plucking the strings, either with the fingers (sometimes using an accessory called a plectrum or pick), sounding the strings with a bow, or, with varieties of the instrument like the santur or cimbalom, by beating the strings with specially shaped hammers. Like a guitar or lute, a zither’s body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty. Ref : Wiki
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
You must be logged in to post a comment.