Adam Blatner

I was wondering recently at the way my engaging in a session of dancing—either square dancing or folk dancing—can so lift my overall psychosomatic energy level. After a while of warming-up, what may have felt “tired,” “dragging,” “low key” disappears and I feel delighted, lighter, happier, more vital. What was it about dancing?! Then I had the germ of an idea—and, since I sometimes “have” or improvise or just make up ideas or theories, following intuitions, here it is:

I have seen pictures of diagrams of the soles of the feet, the basis of “Reflexology,” and it occurred to me that dancing energized in sequences different pressure points in the foot, coordinated these energies with sequences also of different movements of the various subtle body connections among the acu-pressure pointes noted in traditional Chinese Medicine, and the channels called “nadis” in Tantric Yoga. This is an appealing quasi-poetic image of activating different “subtle energy channels” in different sequences: Each dance has its own sequence, its own flavor, and resonates not only with the rhythm and melody of the music but also the group energies of others performing similar or complementary movements—, and so each dance activates and energizes the holistic body-mind in its own way.

I dunno, but it feels nice, a pleasant meditation that reminded me to experience my posture, movements, to kinesthetically savor, the inner-body equivalent of “pause and smell the roses” but without actually pausing, except mentally. It helps explain why each dance feels like an old friend that I get to meet again, play with again, be with again, and be in some sense “bigger” or “more alive” in a special way just because I could be with this friend-dance-group again. See webpage on folk dancing as soul celebration. (Also on this blog I’ve posted today another essay-ette on improvisation and confabulation.)