UNLOCKING AND EMBODYING JOY: savoring grace, making things, and having fun

UNLOCKING AND EMBODYING JOY. I am deep in my spiritual journey and yet I feel so new and renewed. What does it mean to unlock and embody joy? How does one savor grace? How does the making of things connect me to the Mystery I seek? And really? Can having fun bring me in closer connection with the Unknown? (Art (c) by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for LOVE! Hallelujah for the LOVE that expands you, gives you breadth and depth, and engages you in NEW WAYS OF BEING--like unlocking and embodying joy!

Hallelujah for Cynthia Winton-Henry, who I LOVE for her body wisdom garnered and distilled through decades of experience and shared in her book, Dance the Sacred Art: The Joy of Movement as a Spiritual Practice and her Monday "virtual" sacred dance classes, "Dancing the Ruby Way."

Cynthia Winton-Henry, online Dancing the Ruby Way

As a newly minted InterPlay Leader still waiting for the stamp of certification from my InterPlay mentor, Phil Porter (who is brilliant in his own right and co-founder of InterPlay with Cynthia Winton-Henry), I am a busy woman intently distilling and making my own meaning of my InterPlay education and training as I teach my first InterPlay series, InterPlay Alchemy.

Can you imagine me facilitating others in savoring grace, making things, and having fun? These are the three keys that Cynthia leads readers through in the chapter, "Unlocking the Dance of Joy," and that she shared in a Monday night's (February 16, 2015) online "Dancing the Ruby Way" class.

Well dear readers as the saying goes, "The best way to learn is to teach," and I know that Cynthia doesn't mind the sharing of her ideas and practice! Thank you Cynthia!

It is a deeply profound and joyful experience me for me to be embodying these ideas about unlocking and embodying joy in this way:

Step 1: Read Cynthia's sacred dance book.
Step 2: Then participate in 60 minutes of online sacred dance with her and other people from around the United States and the world (one from Australia and another from India). 

Cynthia is skilled at the modern technologies of inviting class participants on and off the screen to greet one another, dance, and notice while muting and unmuting the class as necessary or inviting communications through the instant messaging function. Who would have thought that ancient wisdom and something as vital as a spiritual practice could be transmitted through the softly lit screen of a computer and a dancing mystic in California?

Step 3: During the "Dancing the Ruby Way" class, in addition to participating in the dance and discussion, I take notes and skim pages of the "Dance the Sacred Art." 
Step 4:Then the next morning, I synthesize my class notes and passages from Cynthia's book--ta dah...MAGIC! I have an outline for one of my InterPlay Alchemy play sessions.
Step 5: Embellish the magical outline with other InterPlay forms like babbling, one-breath songs, and DT3's and find the music I want to use. 
Step 6: FACILITATE INTERPLAY ALCHEMY!!!

INTERPLAY ALCHEMY PLAYSHOP. Cold temperatures and icy conditions kept many of our InterPlay Alchemy participants from joining us this morning as we played around with savoring grace, finding humor, and making things through using our voices, telling stories and creating dances.  (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

In this way, I am getting newly reacquainted with myself. I am finding my FLOW through finding MY dance. By moving in community with others, being witnessed and witnessing, I am beginning to unlock and embody joy. 

In this image that I created, I am expressing how my body feels as I breathe in and out (BIBO). I am both daughter and mother, leader and follower, dancer and that being danced. Ahhhhhh....

I will conclude this blog post with something I jotted down as Cynthia spoke during one of the "Dancing the Ruby Way" classes: 

Welcome the wisdom of the body and its energy systems.  It’s amazingly easy in our world to forget how much grace is in our body. Savor this grace, this complex quilt of our layered experience—joy, spaciousness, and ease.

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me about your way of being in this world. Where do you find grace, make things, and have fun? I want to know.

There is so much more to say about this topic of unlocking the dance of joy in your body. I recommend getting Cynthia's sacred dance book and joining us with Cynthia online for Monday nights at 8:00pm (EST) for "Dancing the Ruby Way." Experiencing movement with the co-founder of InterPlay is something you might really LOVE. What an invitation: to dance the way YOU dance!