How I found movement again
When you really sit in the burn of the squat or really meditatively go into the form of the burpee that is raising your heartbeat, that is making you sweat, that is making you feel alive, that is when you release.
One year ago, I would have never though I could do burpees or squat for nine minutes straight. That felt like something that is not natural for me at all - that is something that I'm incapable of.
Of course, it still is a very long time to be squatting or doing burpees. But what I've learned through my experience with Shake the Dust TM is that once you become present, you become aware of your body, you become one with the movement, the time will not feel so long. You will have so much more power than you ever imagined. And when you really sit in the burn of the squat or really meditatively go into the form of the burpee that is raising your heartbeat, that is making you sweat, that is making you feel alive, that is when you release. Many of us are searching for release in so many ways.
Why can I not cry? Why do I feel so tense? We go to therapists, we go to all sorts of therapy modalities that are great. And the truth is that, of course, you need therapy every once in a while, but your body also is the medicine, the movement is the medicine. And once you start to actually get present with what is, with what you feel like, that's when you can release. When you start to go into your body, into your emotions, into your sense, your felt sense, that is when you start to learn. Where is my body aching? Where is my body storing maybe some emotions, some tightness? And how can I let go? How can I let it be and at the same time let it go?
And for me, presence over preference, as our the creator of Shake the Dust says, presence with the burn, presence with the uncomfortable feelings, presence with whatever makes you feel like, fuck this, is what actually takes you through it. Being present with the feelings that arise from doing hard things is how you get the hard things done. Once you realize you can do hard things softly, with trusting in your body and staying present, it changes the game altogether.
For any of you who feels like dynamic movement that really makes you sweat and your heart beat fast is not for you, I encourage you to try Shake the Dust. It combines all of those hard movements with presence, with being in sync with your breath, with your body. It gives you the permission to feel shitty but still keep going.
That is something that for me was very helpful when I was trying to get back to that more dynamic (Yang) side of movement. After being a looong time in the Yin, the pull for Yang became intense - I wanted to move and SWEAT again! So if you feel like you've been a bit too much in the yin, in the surrender, in the being, maybe it's time to start DOING, maybe it's time to start living fully again, to move again, to be present with the burn, to enjoy the burn.
I promise you, if you start to softly explore raising your heart rate and sweating, it will pull you in! And I’ll be there to guide you along the way <3
If this resonates with you, check my next events here.
