Archetypes that help move energy and take you out of the shadows....
Thinking about ways to move stuck energy, inertia, and re-occuring feelings that maybe "bubble up" that are uncomfortable.
When I first started dancing 20 years ago, there were MANY ...like every dance I left with a feeling of opening up pretty raw old held emotions and pain in my body. It took coming back to it for about 3 years, dancing 4 plus times a week, for me to begin to reach an authentic expression of joy. I felt grief, ALOT. My range of emotions was slim....grief, anger, sensuality, boredom, distraction....sadness....those I was familiar with. Beyond that I felt lost, unloved, confused. But had never really explored the thousand of other emotions and how I feel them. I would see others feeling so many more expressions and pleasure that I only felt in little "spikes". I had a lot of ego roots that I needed to dig up around self judgement, fears around being seen, feelings of shame in my body and identifications with "being a woman" and desired.
I kept coming as a part of me bigger or maybe deeper kept telling me "this is good" . These tears, this feeling that maybe was shame or judgement, I was learning how and where I held it....I was learning how to be with it. I was learning that, over time, with practice that feeling became less or shifted or moved entirely out. I learned that I could be present with my breath and feel moments where the music and my body were ONE. I knew on a deep level this was good even tho it looked different than how others looked dancing. It was MY dance. Over time I began to feel JOY that lasted longer. A feeling of anticipation and some dances where absolute bliss. It took time....and acceptance that each dance was meaningful even if it didnt take me to a place I wanted to be in.....it still was the medicine of learning from my body, listening, and practicing. I was building tolerance and love within myself and in that for others as well.
It was thru this process I came up with these 5 archetypes as a ones that helped me greatly in transforming from the heavy spaces to lighter and more courageous empowered ones.
These archetypes have shadow and hero sides. Awareness of each helps to move from victim to thriving in life.
The athlete: Go to sensation and be all about the "game", the practice, the team. Get your conditioning in so you can play for your lifetime....invest in your body's strength, flexibility, endurance, and TRAIN. Take out the stories and emotions and just MOVE. Move what you can, acknowledge what you can't without judging.
Shadow: Feeling inadequate or that you arent good enough. Creating a story about "not an athlete" or its too hard. Talking yourself out of showing up no matter what. Pushing thru an injury or getting very competitive.
Hero: Having sportsmanship and a good attitude even when sucking.
Healer: Everything is about sensation and finding balance or feeling better thru movement. Being present to all of it and aware of the details and perception of pain-pleasure continuum. LIstening and decoding what the body is saying. Savoring the changes in the body.
Shadow: Codependency. (lack of boundaries, seeing everyone as needing healing, feeling burdened) Healer heal thyself ( instead of mayrter) Feelings of despondency or resistance to emotions like grief or anger. Feeling "God like" or Ego driven.
Hero: confidence in the self healing body and personal responsibility.
Warrior: A feeling of purpose and loyalty ....devotion. Fierce stregth and fearlessness. Ready for battle, conflict and joyous in the challenges.
Shadow: Everything is a battle. Seeing conflict where there isnt any. Overly combative. PTSD .
Hero: Fearlessness and precision.
Dancer: The body and movement as a way to communicate, celebrate, create art, and express. This can be dance as in a ritual or rites of passage as well as performance art. The dancer sees everything as rhythm and patterns. Dancing is like air we breathe. Its a passionate connection to soul expression thru the body.
Shadow: Dancing thru injuries, beyond what feels good. Dancing overly competitively or self shaming and comparison.
Hero: Art in LIfe.
Child: PLAY. Looks at life innocently and with curiousity. Spontaneous and magical.
Shadow: Sad and frozen. Unable to find joy. Forgetting ones birthright and innocence. Getting caught in a story and being serious all the time.
Hero: Ability to laugh and play.
Key is to notice that behind movement there is always something driving the movement. Even in walking, what's behind the steps? Whats happening in the movers mind? Emotions? Finding oneself in the shadow can be a place of awareness to explore. Where in the body does the shadow of the warrior live? How about the chlid? What can you bring to this part of yourself that may help "It" remember its "hero" side???? Can you play it like a charachter role in a play?
These are a few ideas to bring to a dance and have as tools that may help change inner dialog and a felt sense of "hero" as well as balancing out whats happening under the surface of a movement.
Authentic movement and expression is very healing. These also may help bring more dimension when it’s needed or just for fun.
