Befriend your fears. Celebrate vulnerability!

Dear Amazing Friends ~

Today I felt inspired to send a message of love to you, and a reminder.

A reminder of the beautiful being that you are (you have always been and that you will always be).

If you haven't heard this lately, I am here to tell you how magnificent and completely LOVED you are.

Even in your darkest moments, in the shadows and heaviness.

Even in those moments when you feel cut off and disconnected from your light and your spirit.

Remember that we are here to experience the fullness of life in these human bodies.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

And when we remember to become more alive in the body through the breath, movement, voice, creativity and self-care, we are able to face those shadows and challenges, embrace them and move through them with grace, ease and wisdom.

It is no easy process. It takes work and dedication. It is my daily work. I was always one to stuff my real feelings inside (anger, disappointment, rage, sadness, guilt) and trick my loved ones into thinking that all was hunky dory.

It was easy for me to push away my emotions and numb myself from the pain. Raw vulnerability exposed my weaknesses and my humanness.

It is easy to skip vulnerability altogether. Not anymore. Let's dive in together!

And since you are here on this journey with me, you understand and embrace the fact that YOU possess the power and wisdom to create the life of your dreams and live your best and boldest life.

You know what it is like to feel complete joy and gratitude in your body. You are hungry for more expression, creativity, sensuality, power, and LOVE!

You understand (or are at least open to) the idea that in order to transcend our fear, doubt, worry and darkness...we must be willing to celebrate our vulnerability and feel the fear and the rawness of our experience.

One of my all-time favorite interviews that Oprah Whinfrey has ever done was with author and researcher, Brene Brown, on Super Soul Sunday just a few months ago. She talked about how courage is born through our vulnerability.

Here is a clip from this interview about fear, vulnerbility, and why we are terrified of our joy.

I applaud you for being brave and courageous. I applaud you for being willing to be vulnerable.

I have heard from many of you how much you appreciate the vulnerability I express on the blog, in my weekly e-mails and newsletters, and in classes and workshops. That you appreciate my encouragement and love as you move through your own fears and blocks.

We are all in this together.

My desire is that we are able connect more to that wise, powerful, embodied, sensual and expressive person that we truly are...every day.

Love,
Lisa

Calm an overactive mind in just 2 steps.

Greetings beauties~

I have a question for you...

Do you ever experience overwhelm? An overactive mind?

I do! Recently I felt as if my brain was going to explode with too much "to do". I felt as if I was falling farther and farther behind in my work and my life.

The yearly Summer Solstice workshop was about to begin.

Am I ready? Am I really ready? Can I co-lead 60 plus performers toward parade victory again? Shouldn't I be more organized and on top of everything? What am I forgetting?

Add to this big project, many other collaborations and personal projects that I am working on. My body was closed up, heart was pounding, and my eyes darted around the room.

Looking back, it was ridiculous and very silly. It was unnecessary to generate that much anxiety and stress and mind overload.

Because deep down, I have always known that things will work out beautifully. Deep down...underneath the layers of anxiety and stress that I sometimes create...there is a sea of love. A sea of beauty, flow and trust. There is a knowing and faith that is stronger than steel.

Find out what I did next, and how you can overcome the heavy, stagnant, dreaded feelings that come up from time to time when your mind is overloaded in this brand new lil' video I created for you...

Once my mind and body felt lighter and my energy was back, I connected to that sea of love within. This is where reality lives. This is where my truth lives.

Last Wednesday I co-led a beautiful first class of the Solstice season with Budhi. It was filled with some of my most favorite people on this earth. New faces, returning students, so much joy and exuberance filled the space and filled my heart. The dancers loved the choreography and the drumming. The drummers were blissed out and powered up by the inspiring dancers and by their teacher Budhi.

Of course it went well. It always does and it always gets better.

Sometimes we just need to kick those old ways of being and those old stories (I'm not organized. I'm not ready. I have too much to do) to the curb when they come to the surface.

So no matter how you are feeling today, remember that when anxiety and stress arise, you have the tools to clear and release them.

It is o.k. for these emotions and thoughts to come up. I am so glad they did for me. They are reminders. They are warnings. They are opportunities for us to reconnect to who and what we really are.

Keep moving. Keep writing. Keep living your best life!

Love,
Lisa

Why dance?

What are the benefits?

How do you feel after you've spent and hour or more dancing?

What happens to your cells and your muscles?

What happens to your mood?

Close your eyes and contemplate these questions for a moment. What images, sensations, and ideas come up for you?

I would love to hear what dance does for you.

When I dance, I come alive.

I become more of ME.

I am able to be bigger, bolder, more expressive.

I can fly and leap and soar.

And I can finally say that I have more freedom as I move my body in dance and drum.

As a very young woman, I despised my long skinny arms and thought I looked like a clumsy and awkward giant, especially when I was in aerobics classes and cheerleading practices. I was extremely hard on myself, but loved the music and the dance fitness aspect of it so I kept going.

No matter how much I compared myself to my cute friends, I kept doing it because of how it made me feel inside. The rhythms, stepping, sweat. All of it. I loved it.

I'm so glad I stuck with it.

Now I have overcome many of my body image issues and I celebrate my long arms. I celebrate their length, grace, and fluidity. I still have those long skinny arms (with a little more muscle thanks to a regular dance and yoga practice), but I choose to look at them in a different way. I celebrate them and no longer compare them to others. I can move them more freely and express myself in bigger ways. I use my arms to feel and appear BIGGER, instead of trying to hide them, shrink, and feel smaller.

I was so thrilled when my dear dancing sister and friend, Aparna Khanolkar, asked to interview me about dance last week. I could write and talk about this forever.

Here we briefly discuss why we believe dance is important for women and how it continues to be such a huge benefit in our lives.

Joy Now...a practice, a meditation.

The older I get, the more I realize and embrace the power I have to create my experience.

I cannot completely control what happens to me and to those around me, but I can control how I choose to react and what I choose to feel in any given moment.

I can choose to focus on harmful thoughts or I can choose to focus on joyful thoughts. 

Think of joy as your daily medicine. 

Being in a state of joy awakens all of your cells.

 Joy heals your body. Joy opens your world. Joy connects you to your essence. 

Cultivate Joy each day...even if all you can muster is 5 min. 

Make it a practice. 

Some ideas for cultivating joy this instant: 

Think of 10 things off the top of your head that bring you the most joy. Write them down and think of ways to experience them in coming week. 

Bring joy into your being with this beautiful guided meditation video I created for you: 

The more joy you experience, the more your life will feel lighter, purposeful, and expanded. 

Yes, there is a lot of drama and darkness that happens in our world. Will you allow the darkness to enfold you and turn you to a damp rag, or will you bring the light and shine it out into the world with your joy and your love?

It is o.k. to feel into the pain, sadness, and to fully experience the range of emotions in your body and in your life. 

But remember, joy is Contagious. 

Spread joy to all you come in contact with. 

Practice random acts of JOY. 

Watch your world change. 

In moments of darkness...breathe.

In moments of darkness, fear, disgust, sadness, overwhelm...close your eyes. 

Breathe into your center and remember that you are love and you are loved. 

Breathe out. 

Feel the pain and allow it to speak/sing to you and move through your entire body. 

Then, breathe in and allow the light in. 

Breathe out and imagine the stress and strain being released. 

If more emotion and darkness comes in, welcome it and ride the next wave. 

Then, breathe in and out and again and release. 

Stand in the sunlight and close your eyes. 

Allow it to wash over you and give you energy to continue with your day. 

The compassion that we are all feeling for the tragedies in Boston (and beyond) connects us to one another. 

We feel more. 

We are raw and open. 

We are one.

My Solstice Journey

In the summer of 2000, just a little less than one year of living in California, I was in my very first SB Solstice Parade. My new boyfriend, Budhi Harlow, was the lead drummer for Vanessa Isaac's dance classes and performance troupe and I was invited to perform in the parade with her and her students.

I was nervous, scared, excited, unsure, wide-eyed.

I was game. Dancing was too much fun. I had to do it. 

I remember back-to-back rehearsals, hours spent practicing and perfecting, but also the laughter, joy, and new friendships and bonds with musicians and dancers.

I remember the pride in working hard towards something as a group and then shining and sharing it with the adoring audience in that first parade. It was something I hadn't felt since I was in high school in concert choir and tennis.

I loved it.

Most of all, I was dancing again! Not just in a nightclub or in my bedroom. I was actually moving my hips and arms and legs and feet and enjoying the energy that I was cultivating in my body.

This was just the beginning.

Since 2000, I have been in 12 Summer Solstice parades. I drummed for about 1/2 of those parades and danced the rest.

Lisa and Vanessa 2001

With Panzumo percussionists in 2007

with Chris Borel and Panzumo 2009

Drum and dance has opened me, powered me up and cleaned me out. 

Drum and dance continues to work through me and help me shed stagnant, stuck energy.

Drum and dance has helped me to heal past pains and love my body more.

I feel more courage and clarity in my life. I feel more present and alive in my body.

Dancing for a giant audience in the Summer Solstice parade is an experience like no other.

When I walk out onto State St I am on 100%...and I don't stop until we park our float "backstage" at the end.

Shutting off or holding back the incredible energy flow is like shutting off my life force. 

It just can't happen and I give all that I have (and so much more) to that audience, to my students and fellow dancers.

It is an experience of sharing, completely and fully, my light and love and joy and purpose and passion.

I am fully embodied and alive. I love who I am and I love making other people smile and light up with my dancing.

I invite you to take a similar journey, wherever you reside. Decide now to become more embodied.

Feel more alive and on fire in your beautiful body through dance and drumming or any physical and/or creative activity that makes your body sparkle and your heart swell.

We are meant to feel joy and passion and vitality. The fear and excuses that may come up can be used as fuel to move forward with courage and vision.

Just do it!

Gratitude from an April Fool

Today, I am grateful for...

My legs for running, jumping and dancing.

California sunshine.

Low tide. Sea birds. Kelp beds.

Green smoothie medicine (kale, banana, dates, walnuts, hemp seeds, water, maca)

A sweet, loving, supportive partner and man in my life.

Amazing parents, siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts.

Grandma Fritzie.

Girlfriends.

Adorable pet children.

Leggings.

Coffee.

Raw chocolate.

Jasmine and rose blooming in the garden.

Dance. Drum. Song.

The most phenomenal community of students, teachers, artists, creators, friends.

Santa Barbara.

My life.

You.