A short story of inspiration for beginners learning to dance!
A pleasant Sunday morning, finds me in a new venue, a family club actually for my dance workshops in the suburbs of Mumbai , well it was a start of something new, so there I stood before my new batch of learners. I notice a lovely couple had brought their daughter of five along with them. Being a parent myself I understand the limitations of nuclear parenting in Mumbai and the fact that there are times that one has to just take the kids along where you want to go, as sometimes, there is no one you could leave them safely with.
The keen observer in the picture is the little girl I have written about 🙂
I smiled at the little girl who gave me a warm smile back. Very sweet I thought! Soon enough I began the session with the usual round of introduction to the dance form and then went on with the basic step of swing. I was quite busy with the parents and just had a cursory glance the little girl who I saw amusing herself standing near the corner where a couple of chairs were stacked.I went about explaining about the beat, counts and the rhythm and the body positioning and was halfway through the session . I was engrossed in teaching so much that I was suddenly jolted with a soft but insistent tap on my arm. I turned and was absolutely amazed when the little girl showed me the basic step with perfect timing to music. The little girl had carefully observed what I was doing and imbibed it for sometime standing quietly in the corner and once she was confident she came up to me silently for approval.
I was clearly bowled over by the power of observation and interest in this child. Many a times with power of observation we can master all that we want to by our-self , provided we have the determination to focus on our goals.
The little child’s brain had mapped a visual imagery of the step clearly, and was able to recall it at will even though she had not practiced it half the number of times her parents had… along with me.
The power of observation has no age barrier, some are gifted and some have to develop the latent power within, but we all certainly have it within us to reap the potential of this power.So do care to see a little beyond the denials and negations just trust and believe you can dance and then You Most Certainly Can Dance!
This was first written for my dance students and future learners, a couple of years ago .But I felt it can be shared for the power of perseverance and belief makes all the difference !
We are all unique in our movements , so we must strive to find our own path to fulfillment , wherein lies our success. Success follows whenever we move with the strength of intention to learn to dance !
Take a step , start dancing today ! Make dancing a way of life, To find out more about learning to dance at your pace…
please contact here or write to me: savvy@danceconcepts.in
Years ago when I was in the university doing my masters, I have a distinct memory of our Head of the Department carrying a book which read. ‘Don’t bite more than you can chew ‘ written in bold on the cover. A diminutive bespectacled gentleman every day he would carry it along with him to his lectures. And habitually as he reached his table he would carefully place it towards him and then start to speak.
The words on the book always intrigued me for its significance in our life and living.
Today as we discuss the art of management I see how this applies so beautifully. Commitment is an art of management. To manage your ability, capacity and resources at hand optimally and sustain it successfully learning to avoid overcommitment is a necessary skill.
A few Tips On the Art of Responsible Commitment.
Avoid over-commitment. To fulfil any commitment, before committing, simply make sure to clarify and define your own abilities and capacities to yourself. And communicate that in your actions as it will steer you clear from falling short of expectation from others.
Be wary ofover-compensating Remember every time you are over-committing somewhere you are weakening the very relationships you are trying to strengthen either your family or with your self by trying to overcompensate.
Respect your need for well-being as over-commitment is stressful and creates opportunities for health issues gradually.
Strive tobring a sense of balance. You know your abilities best. If you wish to expand your horizons and venture beyond your comfort zone, trust your intuitive intellect it certainly will not let you down.
Inculcate integrity in your approach to commitment at home and work for a balanced life and living.
To bring back a sense of compatibility between the factions is to resolve to find mutual ground. Tip 4: Resolve to Reconcile
The idea of any kind of truce to see eye to eye is not easy, but then war is never the answer. In management, Conflict Resolution is an important skill in the arena towards issue settlements by finding the middle ground.
From the suggestion of mutual benefits to warring parties in a dispute by a shared positive interest of a goal and clarification of needs in the situation at hand and if need be coercing an influence goes a long way in securing a reconciliation and resolution of conflicts.
Parenting is a long term learning process. With the first born every parent is going through a variety of emotions and various stages of parenting. It is true as an infant it is entirely on the parents- be its safety, its cleanliness, understanding its cries for various needs- all done with so much love and care without prior experience. As the child grows so does its mode of expression, tantrums, seeking attention, and the parents learn to cope up with all of it like experts. Cherubic angels with devilish moods. It’s a 24/ 7 job with full focus. The teacher in the child starts teaching valuable lessons, you may have not come across so far in any university.
You have to constantly learn new techniques with every child. One lesson will not work with the other as they are different individuals teaching you to handle the same issues with various means.
You will be learning new lessons with every stage of their growing up. Infants to toddlers to kids, youngsters to teen agers, Young adults to grown up,men and women, each stage teaches you different lessons.
You will be learning new lessons on changing generations, their changing values, how to maintain the balance and be a bridge to keep up the tranquility and peace at home. Though every phase has its testing period, it is challenging period when they are in their teens with their need to balance their inner and outer worlds. Once you cross that successfully you can enjoy a momentary peace till the next one starts.
Coping up with the the new relations that springs up in their lives, and the need to understand their changing priorities, to accept gracefully and take the back seat in their life though they remain as ur priority , without regrets. Ability to know the strength of the bond though invisible still remains strong and intact. The list of life lessons the child teaches goes on till the end.
That is the way life has to go on.
And all the while we pride ourselves as parents and that we teach and guide our children!
Who is the real teacher here?
These are a few reflections from my mothers perspectives on Parenting.
There may be many styles of parenting and the nurturing they instill may be relative to what they received. There is no foolproof way to successful parenting as success is itself subjective. However the idea of nurturing abilities and giving space for evolving helps the holistic development of individual.On Nurturing
In a nutshell …can think of 5 A’s of Nurturing as parents… but the list never ends .
Acknowledge abilities as uniquely significant.
Appreciate the good qualities & its application.
Allow the potential of personal expression.
Accept the challenges as part of life
Adapt to changing nature.
What are your views on Parenting and nurturing? Do share.
Silence teaches the art of toleration and restraint
Silence conserves and sustains energy
Silence encompasses untold wisdom.
What is Silence then…
Silence is poetry in unsaid prose
Silence is a dance in stillness to soundless music
Silence is quiescence in the noiselessness
Silence is a conspicuous absence of speech
Silence is a hush beyond the din .
Silence is a projection of inner bliss
Silence is a prayer in its loudest form
Silence is an opportunity for the flow of grace
Silence is a practice of empathy
Silence is a state of being with one self
Silence is a consciousness beyond measure
Silence is a learning to be in balance with the self.
Silence speaks and listens to itself in a zone enveloped in the repose of its own stillness. A muted conversation in transcendent oblivion .Silence is a tool for centering. Silence has the capacity to influence and access the deepest wisdom .
Silence can be a knowing of the peace within . Silence is painful in its struggles and valuable in itself. Silence is in utter desperation, deep contemplation with phases of meditative connectedness. Silence is never thoughtless or mindless. Silence dwells in the spaces between the steps to access whenever. Silence leads and the path appears.
Today is celebrated in India as Maha Shivaratri a celebration of the Lord Shiva who is symbolic of infinite silence .A great day to sit in silent contemplation…