Structure & Freedom

Hiya, buddies.

I hope some part of your week has involved joy. I hope some part of your week has involved rest. This is my only holiday season wish for all of us.

Spoiler alert:

This is NOT a blackfriday-smallbusinesssaturday-cybermonday message.

Sorry to disappoint. I have no sales for you.

I'm not going to try to convince you that reading my emails or blogs or doing some of my classes are the exact and only keys to your entire life's purpose and contentment, but only if you pay for them this weekend.

(oops is my cynicism showing?)

To counteract my annoyance! I've been thinking about what brings me joy.

One thing that always brings me joy?? Dance. Dance parties by myself, dance parties with favorite buddies of all ages, watching cheesy dance movies, and watching totally-not-cheesy videos of exceptional dancers dancing.

(If you've been around a while, you already know this, because I'm pretty sure I end up using dance as a theme at least every couple of months. SORRY NOT SORRY)

This week I said to myself: Self! Allison! Why do you love dance so much?!

Probably only past Allison is interested int he answer, but present Allison is going to share it with ya'll, anyway. Sorry to future Allison, who tomorrow is going to be like, nobody asked for all that.

HERE GOES.

Athleticism and aesthetics, for sure.

It's impressive and thrilling to watch people do amazing things with their bodies.

Artistry, for sure.

It's impressive and thrilling to watch people making art. From composers and musicians, to choreographers, to lighting and costume designers, to of course the expressiveness and storytelling of the dancers. All of those people make a piece of art together that means something more than any one of them could make apart.

The balance of structure and creativity.

Of discipline and freedom.

Individual and collective (artistry/movement/voice).

Those are the big ideas that made me want to share. Because I think they can play a big part in our asana practices, and (naturally) in our lives off the mat. If you've ever taken a yoga class with me, you'll have heard me invite you to "smoosh around," or "move it around, be all smooshy," or some similar variation.

I LOVE A GOOD SMOOOOOSH IN THE BODY.

There's our creativity, our freedom. We don't know what we don't know until we do something we've never done in just that way before.

Other times, in our physical practice (for example, the peak pose style classes), we're moving much more technically. We want a foot at a certain angle, a hand placed just so, a muscle group working in one particular way, because they allow us to achieve something new. (The parts work together to achieve something they couldn't have done alone). We might not know some new thing we could do until someone gives us precise guidance to try that something we've never tried.

Hopefully, in our movement practices, we're finding some of each. We check our alignment and analyze (sometimes). We move with freedom in a way that makes us feel good or new or interested anew in our bodies (sometimes).

We do this internal (external?) work in order to be more adaptable and present out in the world. To be more expressive. To be more strong.

Like the dancer who trains with discipline every day, in order to find freedom in performance. We learn the outer trapping of our poses, we get aligned, and then we have the creativity to find deeper and deeper layers of subtlety and meaning in the movement.

Which is to say.

Can we give ourselves permission for a bit of both through our daily lives as we move through the coming weeks? This time of year has oh so many expectations on it. Every year. And extra much plus this year, because, well, 2020, you are EXTRA.

Expectations around:

The things we should do.

The things we've always done.

The things we should not do.

The ways we're supposed to feel.

The goals we're supposed to set and accomplish.

The resilience we're supposed to embody during this global crisis.

The lists to check off. The plans to make. The holiday Zooms to zoom.

I've spent plenty of time this year trying to create routine in my days that have no structure. Then sometimes I don't wanna. Sometimes I have to shake it up and splash paint on some paper or spend an hour listening to new music or take some kind of class I've never taken that scares me a little but I try out anyway.

Our bodies and minds are always seeking balance. Homeostasis. So if you're feeling really stuck, maybe a little discipline and structure can help burst you out of it? If you're feeling really overworked or fussy or restless, maybe you need the freedom of a good smoosh or a wild dance party?

We are all ever-shifting states of energy.

We need rest and activity.

We need structure and freedom.

We need rituals and novelty.

Let's help each other remember to accept these shifts with less judgment or guilt. To give ourselves and each other the gift of meeting right where we are.

'Tis the (almost) season.