This week’s Dance First Member Spotlight is brought to you by Dr. Jamie Marich Ph.D., founder of Dancing Mindfulness.

Dear Dancers, 

When I was about four years old, I discovered that dancing spontaneously could help me process my emotions. This realization came from growing up in a high conflict home. To avoid the conflict, I often took refuge in my basement, playing tunes on a Mickey Mouse record player. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was creating my first playlists for movement!

The personal practice of conscious dance has been an integral part of my life ever since. So when COVID-19 sent me into an unprecedented level of work interruption and quarantine, of course, one of my first moves was to make a playlist. Any time I make a playlist, the practice evolves into a personal practice of dance (or making other art as I dance).

That first COVID-19 playlist has grown and led me to create others. Each playlist has helped me to process the various components of what I’ve experienced emotionally during these transitionary times—grief (my cat of 16 years died in early June on top of everything else), worry and stress (largely related to taking my entire business, trainings, retreats and all, online), and collective concern for the global injustices that are happening around me while I can safely ride this out in my home.

While my conscious dance practice has long helped me cope, how conscious is it if I’m not connecting to what’s going on around me, the joys and the sorrows? Every time I dance, I now ask the question, “What will my action be today to bring about the change I want to see in the world?”

I encourage you to do the same. Connect consciously with the world around you. Move with intention, with reflection, and with an awareness of your surrounding state of mind. Create your playlist and inspire your movements.

Wishing you well,

Jamie

For more info on Dancing Mindfulness classes, trainings, and books by Dr. Jamie Marich, please visit www.dancingmindfulness.com

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