Elevate your consciousness with ecstatic dance.....whats that mean?

Each week there’s an invitation to explore a concept thru the dance….and this week it’s “elevate”. To elevate is to lift up, raise, or bring to to a higher perspective. I wonder how this may show up in my dance??? Or yours? What and how does elevation effect my body? My feelings? My thoughts? How can we elevate another? What in the world is “elevate consciousness”?

I was asking myself these questions when I found an amazing scientific study on exactly that…..how ecstatic dance is an effective form of self care when done on a regular basis both alone or in a group could consciously create the blissful states of elevated consciousness every dance….beyond the range of feelings they may have come to the dance with. Also that these elevated states are absolutely essential to wellbeing and natural in their existence through history and in every culture. One other curious point this article pointed out was that different from yoga that teaches the awareness of letting go of the external world and going within…..ecstatic dance offers a different practice of expanding awareness and exploring more external expressions held in the body and releasing them through movement. States that can be reached are “released”, “transformation”, “ecstatic” and “blissful” states all that improve confidence, relieve depression, open possibility and that create wellbeing in all realms of existence.

So elevation of consciousness perhaps means bringing more space to the mind, like in meditation ….but through actually moving with music in a field of awareness, sensation, rhythms, and with intention. Moving out of stuck thoughts, old patterns, and murky emotions into ease and space. From a biological perspective breathing deeper and moving the body automatically creates some new neural pathways to develop, especially if we move in new and unique ways. The lower portions of the brain that fire up when we are in fight or flight, or where our body is just in survival mode, get a good rest when we are given space to rest, relax, stretch, yawn, roll, play, and find our natural time in movement. The outer cortices of the brain lighting up more when we see things “anew”, become “inspired”, or simply receive some great insight over something we were grappling with under the surface. These moments of allowing consciousness to “elevate” often precede a feeling of awe or bliss……They are the moments were we can rest and absorb good feelings and allow our brain to receive…..over time, many experiences of these begin to form a neural network that makes it get easier and easier every time. Our bodies and minds become acclimated to these states that are so nourishing.

One other weird and interesting thing i’ve noticed is I can’t “get into my head” too much or into “ trying” to access these states. It’s almost like I have to stumble into it each time….It’s almost like I am a catcher waiting for the ball to come….I recognize when I am nearing it, or fumbled into “elevated consciousness” by the blissful feel….but if I think too much, try to grasp too hard to keep it, or make that my main “aim”, it’s less likely to occur. Like in meditation, expectations of a result often get in the way of the actual practice ….which does a similar “wiring” of the brain outside of patterns. Practicing awareness, opening my mind, listening to my body and allowing the moment to meet me with a relaxed body seems to help.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic and the research behind it….Click link above