DancEssentials: Breath of Life

   

 When the world gets chaotic and you begin to wonder how you're going to juggle all these problems on your plate, there is one essential thing you must remember.  Breathe.  It's so simple it's second nature to us, though sometimes that can be the problem.  We forget that we are always breathing, so we forget that things happen even when we don't try to make them.
     For example, take a look at your body and your anatomical functions.  There is so much going on in there, not even a doctor can fully comprehend it all.  So how does it all function at once?  How do we exist with so much going on?   Breathing.  This one steady element consistently allows everything else to function.
     In life, you need to be like your lungs.  When there's too much going on, just breathe, and remember it is that breath which sustains your energy.  Each breath should calm your mind.  We do not have to work hard in order to breathe, it simply happens naturally.  Sometimes all you need is to let yourself do what you know how to do, and watch as everything else begins to fall into place.
     As dancers, breath is essential to us.  It feeds our limbs to move and our muscles to stretch.  It gives us power and agility.  Some dancers will even count their choreography according to their breath lengths and timing.  If we forget to breathe, we will lose our full power and be less than we are capable of.
     Through my studies I've realized how important it is to take time in the day to simply breathe.  Hearing the sound of my breath takes me back to when life was simple and it was all I heard.  It takes me back to when my mind would wander free and full of possibility.  My breath reminds me that anything is possible, and that simplicity is achievable.
     When I'm in dance practice, sometimes my mind will get so clouded with the difficulty of what I'm trying to do that it becomes a blockage for me to overcome.  I find that nothing clears the mind like a gulp of fresh air.  Taking a moment to breathe it in and let it out straightens out my mentality.  If I remember to breathe during my dance practices, I'll remember to breathe during my competitions.  If I'm breathing during my competitions, then instead of trying to make everything work at once, I will have one steady element that controls it all.

     Focusing on my breathing doesn't mean trying to breathe.  It means listening to my breath, feeling it as it happens naturally.  I don't have to remember to breathe and my body still operates in full.  Maybe if I 'just breathe' through life, things will happen with more simplicity.

-RumbaQueen