Empower, Heal and Boost Your Creativity with Dance!

| July 1, 2013 | 0 Comments
Rhythmical movement to music benefits our whole body, mind and spirit. Dance is used in many different cultures as a form of creative self-expression, social interaction and exercise, or it can be presented in a spiritual or performance setting.

Dance serves as a way of connecting to how you feel and how you express yourself! Research has shown that exercise is a natural anti-depressant. When you are feeling depressed or stuck, you can use dance as a form of exercise to elevate your mood.

During my transition through divorce, I used dance as a healing modality and sometimes even woke up at night to dance and move my emotions. Dance served as an outlet for me to express my feelings and free up my emotions and body, instead of suppressing them, as I had done for years.

Rhythmical movement stimulates Oxytocin, the healing, calming, pleasure and “letting go” hormone. Dance is such a great way to “pleasure” yourself in a sensual way! Dance helps us to move through emotional and energetic blockages. It serves as a way to free ourselves from the past and experience a profound sense of personal freedom that leaves our bodies feeling more alive and balanced.

The gentle and rhythmical nature of belly dance helps women connect to their sensuality and sexuality in a loving and gentle way. I experienced sexual trauma in my teens, and this had caused me to disconnect my feelings from my body. I did not feel grounded and safe for many years since I was 14 years old.  Mindful belly dance helped me become aware of the repressed and painful emotions I had stored in my genitals and pelvic areas. I relaxed and released the emotions of guilt, shame and judgement that I had placed on myself from sexual abuse. Dance helps us to move through emotional and energetic blockages, to free ourselves from the past and to feel our bodies in a new way that feels more alive and balanced.

Combining my knowledge of how the body moves from my background as a physical therapist along with my yoga therapy, energy healing and belly dance background, allowed me to create a healing modality to help me to come back to my wholeness, and unite my soul and physical body with my heart and emotions.

Today I feel so at peace from the inside out, I feel so connected to my sexuality and sensuality in a healthy and balanced way. I feel joy, safety and pleasure in my genitals and pelvic areas. They feel relaxed and soft, not painful and tight as they had been for many, many years! I love my body and honor it as a sacred vessel that houses my soul and allows me to express the freedom and love that is my true nature.

The sexual trauma I had experienced in my teens has been a blessing that has inspired me to create a healing modality for women that I call  Nurturing Moves®. Today I share this approach to serve the unique needs of women healing through cancer, women healing from trauma and sexual abuse. I have also developed Nurturing Moves® for women with infertility, during pregnancy and postpartum recovery.

Dance is a great way to liberate ourselves from our “self-limiting beliefs” and perceptions of what we think we are. When we move our bodies in different coordinated patterns, we get to experience a different sense of body-mind and an expanded awareness of how freely we can move and BE ourselves. Rhythmical movements of the pelvis, hips, rib cage, abdomen and chest are especially helpful to counter the negative effects of wearing a tight bra or sitting in a chair for at least 6 hours per day.

You can create an intention for your dance (to appreciate my body more, to heal and open up my self to my sensuality), or just dance for the pure joy of dancing!

Combine all these aspects into your daily dance ritual.

Physical Benefits.

Dance Improves your flexibility, strength, endurance and sense of well being.

Mental and Emotional Benefits:

When you wiggle your body to the music, you get to practice BEing in the moment. Dance improves your ability to focus and create.  Free dance gives you an opportunity for you to express yourself and lower your inhibitions.  Dance releases chronic stress and tension depending on how you move.

Energetic and Spiritual Benefits:

Combining conscious breath awareness and allowing ourselves to be moved by the music and what feels right strengthens our connection to our higher self or soul.  Allowing the dance to move us and our bodies in whatever combinations feels spontaneously right for us connects us within.  When we take the time to listen, and notice how we feel, we are integrating all the parts of our whole.  Dance movements that incorporate wavelike movements and vibration stimulate hormonal flow.

Michelle Alva, PT

Michelle Alva, PT

Michelle Alva is a mom, holistic physical therapist, intuitive healer, sound therapist, infant massage instructor, yoga therapist, and pre/postnatal bellydance teacher with 20 years experience. She empowers, inspires, and educates through her writings, one-on-one emotional release bodywork sessions, workshops, retreats and public speaking. Michelle is a catalyst for individuals to feel lighter, de-stress, and align with their intuition and authentic self. She has created guided meditations and online self-empowerment and life-enhancing programs. Visit her website www.michellealva.com and receive a free gift to Empower Your Center and Ignite Your Soul's Joy. Check out Michelle's New Self-Care Mastery Course for women at www.sexysacredsensualyou.com.

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Tags: creativity, Dance, Freedom, Healing, Sensuality

Category: Arts

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