#4 How to feed the soul and live a more creative life....DANCE


On those days you need extra motivation to make it to the gym, skip your appointment with the treadmill or elliptical and put on your dancing shoes.  New research shows that men and women who use dance to exercise have a more positive body image than those who don't.  Marika Tiggemann, Ph.D., author of a study published in the journal Sex Roles, says that dancing focus on health, movement and enjoyment rather than on losin weight.  "Do things to have fun," Tiggemann says.  Its not about how your body looks, It's about how you feel.  Alexandra Engler  Self Magazine 2/2015

New research on the brain has shown that we have a joy center that has the capacity to grow if we focus on building more joy into our lives, especially in the context of community.  We were created to get through the harshness of life with the help and company of community.

Brain science is helping us understand how six emotion centers are hardwired into the brain, creating a ring around a relational connection of a joy center.  Joy is in the center but is not hardwired in.  It must be developed in relationship and this is evidence that we are made in the IMAGE OF GOD.   The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have lived in relationship from eternity.  The neuronal pathways back to relational joy are formed in relationship.  A primary task of childhood/parenting is developing the neuronal pathways back to relational connection JOY from each of the six emotions.  Securely attached relationship augments capacity to handle pain, to suffer well, to handle stress, to meet challenges, to do relationships well, etc.  Community augments capacity.  If any of these areas are missing due to the absence of strong healthy childhood relationships, Jesus is the best at augmenting capacity to face old, unresolved trauma.  www.kclehman.com  www.carepkg.org also, "Joy Bonds" by E. James Wilder, www.deeperwalkinternational.org and "Attachments-Life's connections" by Chris Coursey, www.thrivetoday.org

God knows how we are wired and what builds our joy capacity especially in community.  One way is dancing.  The Bible speaks of many times dancing expressed and experienced joy in community.

"Praise His name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp.  For the Lord delights in His people; Psalm 149:3,4

After crossing the Red Sea, Miriam, Aaron and Moses' sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced.  Exodus 15:20

Focusing on our joy center and how we can build up more capacity of joy, only helps us handle the stresses of life.  Dancing is one way to feed the soul joy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creative Prayer- Conversing with God using art

Image
 Why pray?  "First, God.  God is the subject of life.  God is foundational for living.  If we don't have a sense of the primacy of God, we will never get it right, get life right, get our lives right.  Not God at the margins; not God as an option; not God on the weekends.  God at center and circumference; God first and last. Having a conversation with God may be less about you and more about God.  Your focus may shift away from yourself and toward your creator.  If you have a friend who constantly asks you for things but never really wants to listen to you, how deep can your relationship go?  Sometimes we forget that God has a personality and a creative side to Him, and wants to engage us at a deeper level.  Let prayer be a time to savor.  Look forward to spending time with God, using art as a tool to slow down and be with God.  Allow this to be a time in which God speaks to you and you actively seek Him.  An audible voice may not come booming out of the clouds, but many thing
Read more

Session #4 of Creative Prayer..Praying with the Body and Making Crosses

Image
  These ideas are taken from the book,  Making Crosses—A creative Connection to God, by Ellen Morris Prewitt .   Active Prayer   —Praying with your body Praying With the Body-Bringing the Psalms to Life by Roy DeLeon   Roy is an Oblate of St. Benedict and a spiritual director.   He teaches classes in “Blessed Movements”, praying with body, heart and soul, and conducts workshops at monasteries and retreat centers.   He lives in Washington state.      Warm up Active prayer with the Psalms Opening Alleluia praise prayer to begin anything.   This is also a way to get Scripture out of our heads and into the air and into our bodies. When we begin, we are reminded why we are praying, our intention is union with God, wherever we are, it is Holy ground and we need to be attentive and watchful for the inner movement of the triune God with us. The prayers are written in sections, with a Lectio Divine format, a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God,
Read more

Creative Prayer Workshop #3 Paint Your Heart Out! Painting your emotions

Image
  We had a wonderful workshop with Allison leading us in painting our emotions.  We started with putting a color on paper of what a description of anger, joy, peace and love would look like to each of us in color. The next paintings were guided layers of emotions, perhaps a lie we believed, and the truth that we know, all represented in colors and layers.  Some of the pictures from the evening are below.
Read more