My physicality is an important and necessary part of my sanity and wellbeing. I have been blessed and cursed with an active mind that is hard to shut off. It feeds me great ideas and offers the ability to critique and study other ideas deeply but it also sometimes convinces me that those ideas are the most important thing. I identify with those ideas. They consume me.
Being in my body — my physicality — is the only thing that shuts my mind off. It always has. Rarely have I ever showed up to a practice unable to concentrate because of something else on my mind. I am more in the present moment when I am physical — when I am in my body. That truth should be obvious to any regular mindfulness practitioner. This is why I eventually gravitated toward yoga practices like Kripalu and Iyengar and meditation techniques like vipassana, all of which are very body- and sensation-based practices. Slow opportunities to pay attention...
I lost my physicality after having a baby… and it lasted for 4 years… until I found trapeze. In September of 2019 I happened upon a circus school by chance and then showed up for an intro class, to find out that by chance I was the only one who signed up because of an administrative error on their website. So I ended up with a private lesson, by chance. That hooked me. I explored a few aerial apparatuses (aka apparati for you Latin'ites out there) but I was drawn to trapeze… and so I focused. Nothing was chance. Trapeze found me when I was ready.
Now, 14 months later (minus the 6 months of the pandemic when this was inaccessible), I am fully committed to this new practice and share it for the first time today, in honour of my birthweek and scorpio season. I am admittedly afraid to share this video… I have wanted to share something for many months but couldn’t get the courage. I was afraid because this trapeze represents my soul, it’s a part of me, it is an expression of me. Literally it is me improvising all the tricks I know but philosophically and spiritually this is me finding my way back to my body.
When we are scared to share our art or music or writing or passion projects… we are afraid because we are being vulnerable and opening up our heart and soul to be critiqued. But we are also opening up our heart and soul to be loved and valued and appreciated. But just like the tricks in the air that scare me and I have to decide to do it anyway, I share my heart and soul today.
Call to Action: If you are afraid to share something, follow my lead… then let us know how it went. My guess is that even though it was scary… you survived and something beautiful happened as a result of it. By doing so, you expanded your comfort zone and, more important, you expanded your heart and soul zone. And the world not only needs that right now, but it’s also actually ready for it right now. So share. Share. Share. Love. Love. Love.