In the JoyBody Sanctuary, a member wrote this:
"...so Christine, will you talk about how to dance through hard things? When the pandemic hit my whole body went into freeze and I can do other things but not dance."
At first, I answered with some suggestions about music and tapping into parts of ourselves that at one point were already able to dance and took joy in it. That's important, but it's really only the first layer of this work, and I think going deeper into why and how I teach is demonstrative of what separates The Peony Method that I've developed from most things out there.
In the Peony Method, we're not using dance to FEEL JOY. There's no "fake it til you make it." (There are some prompts that I use that we play with that idea but we take it much further and I don't want to focus on that right now.)
In the Peony Method, we're using dance in its most fundamental and spiritual way -- and the way it anthropologically evolved.
We're not dancing to feel joyful.
We're using dance/movement art as a TOOL to first, FEEL EVERYTHING.
Second, to TRANSMUTE everything.
And third, over time, to get back in touch with our essential joybody.
BUT THIS TAKES TIME and it's a process/practice that is meant to last for your life. The material is that deep. It's also material that is constantly spiraling in and out of itself as you go through layer after layer of the calcified crap that life has plastered over your soft heart.
This is one of those cases that really demonstrates how we've degraded dance over time AND how we have dismissed the body as our main tool to enlightenment/evolution.
We put all other arts above dance not only artistically (don't get me started on the association of prostitution with dance to this day) but also therapeutically.
Expressive arts, for example, almost always focus on writing and visual arts as their main tools.
That's all just a bit of background... now to Leela's actual question.
The answer lies in how we think about dance and the processes.
So first, as laid out above, we let go of dance as "feel good" or "fun" or whatever is blocking us from getting to the music and our bodies.
We start at the beginning.
Which means removing the crap.
Which means doing something as simple as putting on loud music and PUNCHING KICKING JUMPING SCREAMING STOMPING .
That is dance as ritual process.
And right now when life pretty much sucks all around us, this might be your only practice for some time.
Then suddenly, after doing this for weeks or months or whatever, you might notice that the music on the radio in the car is making you bop about a bit.
After doing this for some time, you might hear yourself giggle.
After doing this for some time, you might even be able to listen to music that used to make you sad.
But we have to start at the beginning.
Release.
Then comes acts of noticing.
So a second practice could be as simple as putting on music, standing up, and focusing solely on your feet... moving them, stretching them, smooshing them, etc. Getting INSIDE your feet.
These noticing practices are what is keeping me going during all of this grief.
There’s so much more to all of this but this is a good starting point.