Dance N2 LIFE

Newsletter

Brit Anders   360-927-2454 www.insightsoftheheart.com

April 7, 2011

Volume 1, Number 1

“Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself.”

~Havelock Ellis

“For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.” ~Proverbs 30:33

“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” ~ Buddha

“Anger indeed causes pain both to the body and the mind and we make ourselves ugly when we are angry. You will know the truth of this if you see a photograph taken when you are in foul mood.” ~kamakoti.org

Welcome to MY 1^st Newsletter

Namaste and hello.  I intend this to be a bi-monthly or if it is received well, a weekly newsletter with hints and tips on how to take what you learn in couple dance off the dance floor and into your daily life.  In this way, perhaps you will gain additional tools and methods that will help you feel like you are dancing every moment of your day.  It is a joyous and harmonious way to live!  There are a huge numbers of lessons that can be gleaned from couple dance and brought forward to enhance your relationships at home, work, play, and even in your spiritual practice.  Feel free to suggest topics that you would like to see addressed or suggest ways to improve this newsletter.

This newsletter will always be offered free of charge, however, if you gain something from what is written and wish to help support my efforts to life a harmless and helpful life, please feel free to go to my website and use the donation button.  Ten percent or more of everything I acquire is given to charity.  Since I know there are SO many things to read, if you don’t wish to receive anymore of these mailings, please reply with “Off” in the subject line and I will immediately take your email address off my list.  My list will never be sold, bartered, or given to anyone and I will strive to always offer useful and WANTED material.

Also, please share this newsletter with anyone you feel might benefit from it.  I will do my best to answer any questions about Dance-N2-Life and how these methods might be used in your particular case quickly and fully.  Unless agreed to by writing, all correspondence will be held in the strictest confidence. However, non-identifying rephrasing of general questions may be used so that the answers may help others going through somewhat similar situations.

“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. “ ~Author Unknown “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”   ~Buddha

What can Dance teach us about Anger?

When one begins to feel the energy of anger, one begins to immediately lose one’s correct perspective. This is because we desire a certain outcome and feel we are being denied it. Because of our attachment to the outcome, we do the very thing that will make the desired outcome recede from us. In reaction to our own energy, those we get angry at raise the walls of defense. We find, if we can stay conscious during a fit of anger, that we are much less likely to want to hear truth, instead, we find ourselves wanting to hear only that which will justify our anger.

On the dance floor, the energy of anger is manifested (though perhaps not recognized) through increased bodily tension. We WANT our follows to go here but they seem intent on going there. Grrr! So we tighten up our frame, which of course causes them to tighten their own frame to protect themselves. So, experientially, we find ourselves in a type of tug-a-war with our partner, instead of experiencing the smooth flow of communication that normally is present.

So, what does a skilled dancer do to return to smooth communication? He or she relaxes. A deep, conscious breath followed by an intentional wave of release throughout the body/mind. This release of tension has the effect of triggering a release in the body/mind of our partner as they suddenly feel they no longer have to defend against injury, thus enabling a return of the smooth flow of Dance.

Jim and Karen of Coquille Martial Arts (541-396-5576), demonstrated for me, experientially, how this skill of conscious tension release is effective in a navigating one’s way through a crowd. Karen is a small woman while Jim and I are both somewhat average in height and weight. He and I stood shoulder to shoulder as though we were in a tight crowd. Karen then inserted a hand between us and as she began to “flow” through us, she consciously released all the tension in her body, effectively opening a path between Jim and me as our bodies released tension in harmony with hers. Thus she was able to easily squeeze through, even though I was alert and on guard to what she was attempting to do!

So, in the event of a loss of one’s inner peace to the energy of anger, IF one can stay mindful or present enough and is more interested in truth than self-gratification, then an effective skill one can cultivate is to close the eyes, take a deep breath, and while letting out the air, imagine the body as a balloon, releasing all tension. Then, place one’s awareness at the top of the head and picture each portion of the body relaxing and releasing as one directs the attention down the entire body. For each breath, allow the body to deflate.  With practice, this skill can be accomplished in less than 5 seconds, during which time, self-control and a sense of stableness will return to the body/mind.

This same skill is effective in becoming a more relaxed, skilled and comfortable social dancer, public speaker, friend, family member, or Being. But don’t believe me, try it for yourself now and see how it affects you.

May your day be filled with the harmonious joy of dance in everything you do.

About Brit (Headline Version)

I ran away from home while still quite young and traveled all over the US. During this time, I supported myself through busking with balloons, mime, and slight of hand magic. Working odd jobs and even dancing for a while as an erotic dancer at several well-known clubs, sometimes living in mansions, sometimes on the street, it was a very interesting time to be sure. J

For as long as I can remember, though, I have been interested in teaching. Before I learned to couple dance, I taught children through the agency of entertainment with balloons, magic, and clowning. With my introduction to couple-dancing in 1985 in Cincinnati, I was hooked; a dance teacher for life. I studied vigorously and persistently for the first several years, often spending 16-18 hours per day practicing or teaching. I only briefly flirted with the idea of competing, but my love was most firmly in teaching, not competing, and I have never regretted my decision to focus on teaching.

Much has happened in the 26 years since I first stepped on the couple dance floor. Learning to teach dance required me to study psychology, interpersonal communications – I am dedicated to learning so that I may better serve – and most importantly, myself. This self-study was boosted when I began a meditation practice in my early 30’s.

Watching people grow in dance has fascinated me since day one and so I have specialized in teaching beginning and intermediate dancers. This requires a certain set of skills in order to break down the information into something the student can relate to. This, in turn, has led me to the knowledge that EVERYTHING is couple dance-related. I can think of no instance in a person’s life that cannot be related to couple dance.

For more information about me, please visit my website.

I offer private and group instruction, drawing on knowledge from three different syllabi. You can download a free copy of my book, “Yes. You CAN Dance” HERE.