They say that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world.
How do I know if this is true? Is it something I can prove right or wrong? And if it’s true, how can I influence this? Can I influence this at all? And if I can, is it wise to do so or shouldn’t I interfere too much with destiny?
These questions have popped up in my mind recently. Knowing that I can get lost in my philosophical thinking, I didn’t expect to find answers. Still, the assumption of life being a mirror of our inner world kept me wondering and observing.
But then the next question appeared, what is the definition of a mirror in this context? What are the qualities? I defined it like this: A mirror is an honest reflection without judgment. Crystal clear, sharp, and full of details. Then the mind comes in, it gives the reflection a different dimension, some colours pop up here and there, maybe fog appears to blur out some details. It makes it harder to truly see the reflection in the mirror.
I’ve been contemplating on this and realised that DANCEmandala is a tool for me to look into my mirror. Either standing on the inside looking at my inner world or standing on the outside and looking at my outer world. Through DANCEmandala I am able to explore those two worlds. When I move my body and surrender to the music and the guidance, I reflect. Here I become aware of patterns in my behavior, thinking or life events, sometimes this can be uncomfortable or confronting. But then, I am aware, I know, some fog has cleared. Merely this awareness can already create a shift.
When I practice DANCEmandala I have the opportunity to look into my mirror.
It often is a choice, sometimes it happens by coincidence. The image becomes clearer of what is going on, the judgments and assumptions move more and more to the background. By giving my emotions, thoughts and feelings the space on the dance floor to be there too and express, often a little present appears soon after. A present or miracle if you like to call it that way, offers itself in the form of a supporting conversation, inspiring words in a magazine, or music on the radio that soothes. They are easy to ignore, to be missed or taken for granted. However, I realised that these little presents are a reflection of my outer world after I’ve been shaking up my inner world.
Recently I went into the dance with a lot of frustration. Minutes before the session I had a conversation that really triggered me. The frustration stayed with me the whole dance, often during skeleton dance I am able to shake things off and find the softness inside again, but this time it stayed. So I decided to give it the whole dance floor, to be with it, to sit with it, to feel it. Without trying to find out why it was so strong or going into the monkey mind figuring out if I was right or wrong. I just danced it, this frustration, this situation, this conversation, the thoughts that were connected with the trigger. It wasn’t the first time this happened, it was clearly a pattern and I was deeply touched by it this time. At the end of the session, I gave myself the advice to accept it and let it go like I would talk to a good friend. I turned off the screen, still feeling this vibration buzzing the background and went downstairs again. The person I had the conflicting conversation with was not around but someone who witnessed it was. He was surprised that I could keep my calm during this conversation, that I was able to go into the session and that I came out of it with this softness in my eyes. We talked about the situation and my experience during the DANCEmandala session. This conversation allowed the fog to clear more and more and raised my vibration. I felt a shift in my perspective and the feeling of acceptance in my body. This conversation was a gift. Because I danced it first and had a look in my mirror, I was able to put things into words and change my way of thinking and feeling. Usually, I would go to pen and paper after a dance to reflect, this time I used this conversation. And later that day, to my own surprise, I had a great conversation with the other person too.
DANCEmandala keeps me sane in daily life and helps me to stay authentic. It’s a practice where I have the opportunity to keep learning about myself and life.