Feeling Stuck? Free Your Creative Power. Dance Your Life Forward!

Feeling stuck is a very common human experience. I’ve had my fair share of feeling truly purpose-less and paralyzed by fear and anxiety. Through it all though, I’ve realized that everything is always moving in nature, so feeling stuck is just a perspective. What’s really going on when we’re feeling stagnant is that we’re actually changing, and we’re being asked to let go of old patterns that don’t align anymore. So how can we free up our creative power to catalyze authentic momentum?

In order to move forward, you first need to connect deeply to your creative life force energy - to your desire, to what moves you at your core. To do this, you must move beyond fear and anxiety and shift into a more relaxed, receptive, trusting, energizing place. To access this inner power state that lives within you and in all of life, you must connect through your body. I’m offering a 3-step process below that involves body movement, breath, music, dance, sound, and reflection to help you unleash your creative desires and begin to plant the seeds of your highest vision for your life. I invite you to join me on the journey!

And on this journey, I encourage you to hold a very important mindset and heart-set - that you will hold anything that arises – emotions, experiences, etc. – as arising to help you grow. If you can choose to approach anything that comes into your life as an opportunity to awaken and open you to even greater possibilities for experiencing an ecstatic life, you will be able to navigate any situation and transmute it into a tremendous growth opportunity!

Ready? Awesome! Let’s go!

The first step is to dance to awaken your desire, to let go of your fears, and activate your power to create; essentially, you’ll be dancing to ignite a spark of desire into a flame of creative momentum that will propel you forward to manifest what you deeply long for.

EXERCISE 1:

1. Take out a journal and a pen, and reflect on the following question:

How do you want to FEEL in your life?

Jot down all of the words that describe the energetic, emotional and physical states you want to be in.

Examples: vibrant, ecstatic, energized, relaxed, calm, creative, powerful

1. Then, put on a song. I recommend the following song: “Toonmowi Tree” by Deya Dova. You’re going to dance to awaken your desire! Dance to let go. Dance to energize your power to create! Bend your knees slightly and begin to take deep breaths down into your low belly - down into your pelvic region – the powerful energetic center that is literally the source of where life is created in you. As you breathe in, imagine drawing energy up from the Earth through your feet and lighting the fire of creativity in your pelvic region. As you breathe out, sigh it out with the sounds “oh,” “ah,” or “om”. Making sound helps raise your creative vibration and clear stagnant energy. Begin to dance and move your body, focusing not on being “good” or “right”, but on cultivating and enjoying the feelings you wrote about wanting to experience in your life. Every now and then come to center and shake it all out. Shaking your whole body can help you release your hold of any anxiety, fears or old stuff that is not allowing you to feel the natural flow of vibrant energy that wants to move through you. Note: It’s natural for emotions to arise. Let any emotion come and move through you, whether it be tears, laughter, fears, etc. All of it is just energy that wants to be moved to allow you to open up and welcome in the refreshing life force that will move you towards new potentials and creative possibilities.
2. At the end, stand still, taking deep breaths, and let a smile come to your face. Really let the sensation of the smile move through your body. You may feel energy pulsing through your body, a warm fire in your belly, gentle trembling in the body, or a feeling of being lighter and having more energy. All of this is a sign that you’ve lit the fire of your innate creative life force! Whatever you experience, honor yourself for taking time to engage in this practice and of holding the intention of wanting to grow and evolve. This has great impact in and of itself! If you have time, take a few minutes to journal about your experience, which can help you further mine the deeper insights. Note: This exercise is based on the work of Leyolah Ma, Founder and Creator of Kundalini Dance. I would highly recommend repeating this entire practice 5-10 min. daily in the morning to start your day off with inspiration, clearing, and intention.

The next step is to dance to awaken your vision and your purpose – the direction you want to move your life in and how you want to get there.

EXERCISE 2:

1. First journal about an area or areas of your life where you feel stuck (career, relationships, wellness, etc.) – about how it feels and why you feel you can’t move forward, i.e., what you’re afraid of. Hint: your fears are usually the key here!
2. Next journal about your highest vision for your life in these areas. What do you desire? How do you want to feel? What do you want to experience? What do you want to create? It’s okay if the answers aren’t fully clear yet. Just take some time to reflect and see what emerges. This is the beginning of planting seeds that you will be able to further explore. And even just paying attention to these questions will begin to open you up to start to receive answers over time as you move throughout the world.
3. Put on another song. I recommend “Chapinero” by Thornato. Again, bend your knees, taking deep breaths down into your belly, imagining drawing vital energy up from the Earth’s core to ignite the creative flame in your low belly, and then up into your chest and heart region to connect with the center and feeling of love for yourself and life. Begin to dance and move, keeping your eyes soft (almost closed), and imagine what you see for the highest vision for your life in the areas you wrote about it. What do you see yourself creating? What environment are you in? Who are you with? How does it feel in your body? See what your body and subconscious have to tell you through your dance about what your soul craves. Again, no need to force anything to happen. Even just enjoying the dance and holding the intention that you want to call in the highest vision for your most vibrant life in the areas of work, relationships, health, etc., will initiate a process of awakening and transformation that will continue to unfold long after the dance!
4. Afterwards, take time to draw or journal about what came up for you during this practice. What did you see? What did you feel? What feels like a next step you can take in the world to further explore these seeds of vision and possibility?

The final step is to dance to connect with others who can support you in further exploring the seeds of your desire and purpose. A lot of us are stuck because we’re afraid of what others will say or that they won’t love or support us if we really try to go and do what we feel called to do. So, it’s time for you to plant the seeds of your desire (cultivated in exercise #1) and your purpose (explored in exercise #2) in among your relationships with others so they can be nourished and grow.

EXERCISE 3:

1. Draw a circle, and in the center list the names of people you trust and long to share your desires, fears, and personal growth journey with - people who love you and truly want the best for you. Even if it’s only one person, that is powerful. If you’re having a hard time thinking of someone, it’s okay. Make it your intention after this exercise to find someone who can be there for you, whether it’s healing a connection with someone from your past, or even finding a new life coach or mentor to support you!
2. Put on the last song. I recommend “Unci Maka - Grandmother Earth” by Ayla Schafer. Call to mind one person or a group of people who you feel are with you, supporting you in reaching for your dreams. If you prefer imagining a spiritual being or warm light or energy that is there to guide you, then feel free to do that. Imagine dancing with your loving supporters. In this way, engaging your desire and purpose becomes a partner dance with life so that you remember you’re never alone in creating what you desire. You’re being uplifted and celebrated by others, which helps put you in a space to be able co-create with life and will thereby lead to outcomes that are even greater than you can envision by yourself. As you dance, intentionally soften your body and imagine receiving the energy from this person, these people or beings, or the energy current coming towards you and nourishing you, like taking in sun rays on your skin.
3. After the dance, journal a bit about what came up for you. And most importantly, reach out to at least one person from your vision to ask them if they’d have time to support you with this transition you’re in - of wanting to move out of being stuck to cultivate your heart’s desires and explore your greater life purpose. Remember, you deeply deserve to be held in your process of figuring out what wants to emerge in your life and of taking steps to ring in this next evolution of YOU. In fact, connection with others is a key to growing your life into the next level of vibrant, loving expression!

We dance to reconnect with our embodied desire and energy, to see and feel into what our mind cannot on its own, to find true purpose and clear vision, and to reconnect with loving, supportive energy. We dance so we can shift into a fresh, more creative state in which old fears and anxieties no longer hold us back and the river of what we are uniquely meant to create in our lives can flow anew. I hope these practices help you reconnect with yourself in a deep way, that they inspire you to move forward with your unique style as only you can, and that they’re empowering and liberating!

If you’d like more support around your unique evolutionary journey, whether it be in your career, relationships, or other areas of your life, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! As a Career/Life Coach, Mindfulness/Meditation Teacher, and Dance Instructor, I enjoy bringing together all of my gifts to help you move forward inspired to create the career and life you desire.

Thank you for being willing to go on this journey with me, and cheers to you for committing to manifesting your most vibrant vision for your life! It is your birthright. Onward and upward, beautiful one! May you always keep dancing with life.

Additional sources for further self-exploration and awakening:

Dance With Life Consulting (career/life coaching, mindfulness/meditation, creative dance/movement): www.dancewithlifeconsulting.com

Kundalini Dance (ecstatic awakening): https://www.kundalinidance.com/

Four Forces, The Ollin Institute (core human desires of connection, expression, purpose, and growth): http://www.ollininstitute.com/four-forces-framework/

BIO:

Jen Earls is a Transformational Career/Life Coach, Group Facilitator, Meditation Teacher, and Dance Instructor and Performer in her practice, Dance With Life Consulting. It is Jen’s mission to ignite individuals’ and teams’ power to creatively channel their unique gifts with clear purpose and intention in order to lead fulfilling lives and generate powerful impact! She is passionate about engaging inspirational and intentional practices such as movement/dance, mindfulness, and creative visualization to help others move forward inspired to the career, life, and impact they desire.

Before owning her private practice, she worked at MIT providing career coaching to students and alumni, as well as with Aspire! Fulfilling Career Ambitions. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Tufts University, M.Ed. from Suffolk University, 360Reach Personal Branding Certification, Certificate in Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, Koru Mindfulness Teacher Certification, and Four Forces Facilitator Certification. She is also a certified Yoga Instructor (200 hr.,South Boston Yoga) and professional Dance Instructor/Performer, mainly in the genres of Salsa/Latin Dance and Contemplative Dance/Authentic Movement.

PHOTO CREDIT: 

DSC_9098 (photo of Jen in dancer's pose): by David Vendetti

IMG_0435 (photo to accompany my bio): by Samantha Murray Photography