This weeks Dance First Member Insight is from Brietta Leader, Creator of the WildCore Movement!
Judgment
The topic of judgment feels extremely relevant in these ‘Soulful’ times. I have been acutely aware of the self-judgment, the judgment I create about others, and how it affects my energy, triggering my curiosity. I want to share that I love to be wrong about other people. In my years of SoulMotion training, I would catch myself judging a ‘book by its cover’ or a person by the way they looked. As a mentor, I was able to witness many students reveal their amazing life stories, which began the process of opening to small celebrations of my ‘inner judge’ being so very wrong. This new awareness supported my ability to witness unhealthy and critical judgment patterns in myself.
The online definition of judgment is an opinion or decision that is based on careful thought. The act of judging something or someone. When I searched for synonyms of “judgment,” these three words appeared: common sense, sense, wisdom. While all these words mean “the ability to reach intelligent conclusions,” judgment implies sense-tempered and refined experience, training, and maturity.
I have noticed new levels of judgment, or perhaps bias is the better word, as the last 17 months revealed our widely diverse American views. As a healing artist and creator of the WildCore Movement, I have a genuine interest in how bias or judgment affects our bodies. When I back up a little and track my emotions of anger, frustration, and grief around any number of topics (politics, Covid, vaccines, BIPOC, name-calling), I realize that if I am creating judgment from an imbalanced emotional state, my expression of that judgment holds a toxic bias and I leave no room for any other opinion or point of view. As we all know, we can find all the information we need on the internet to conclude and perhaps even define a point of view. I would simply ask, “Why do we have to be right?” Why can’t we all simply ask more questions and hold space for others to answer? Or better yet, could we let go of the outward ‘need to know’ or sense of ‘being right’ and understand that our stress level could have affected our own emotions, which led to poor judgment. Could we look at how the fires, the floods, the pandemic, and ALL the diverse reactions and responses from our loved ones and communities have influenced our being?
If I take a moment and connect to sensations in my heart, I am flooded with the impulse to synchronize with life rhythms and honor the weight it feels, as I crave clear skies and fresh air. My hope is that, as humans, we are learning from our mistakes and are beginning to feel our heart connections to that of the earth and all living creatures and beings. I would love for you to join me in bringing more awareness to our inner and outer judgment and opening to its original root of being ‘a decision based on careful thought’. I plan to let go of ‘bias’ as it arises and accompany those feelings of stress on the dance floor. In my weekly WildCore classes, we have been working with the theme “Power of Breath,” which has supported me in navigating stressful times and provided a space to metabolize and digest feelings.
If you are looking for new ways to let go of stress and tap your inner wellspring of creativity and empower your body, I am offering an in-person retreat September 21-26th called Creative Empowerment, with an Online Option October 26-31st. This is also the first module of WildCore Teacher Training and can be taken for personal enrichment.
All my programs work with the 5 Elements; Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space, as inspiring healing tools and pathways to discovering your own Wild Core.
Learn more about Brietta and WildCore Movement.
I teach weekly zoom classes and would love to offer your first class for free. So please, reach out, and let’s continue this discussion of judgment.
Dancing Love,
Brietta Leader
