How do you tap into your lighter side?

Leonard Cohen (RIP, Z’L) wrote and sang:

“Ring the bell that still can ring, forget the perfect offering,

There’s a crack, a crack in everything.

That’s how the light gets in. That’s how the light gets in.”

Summer has passed. Times of transition are upon us. At times it can feel that the world has gone mad and it is difficult to breathe, which is when we need to look for more light in the world, hold onto our lighter side and allow ourselves to feel safe by being in the moment. We cannot help our world until we are able to ground ourselves. As real life community affiliation has dwindled with the continuous growth of social media communities, it is also essential to come together - to hope, sing, and play together! This is a time and season when we know and feel – particularly if you live in a cold winter climate – that our surroundings are changing. While we may have days that shine warm and sunny during any season, the leaves will change colors and growth will be underground, as in the crack between things.

As we enter a new season and welcome this time of transitions, how do you let your ‘lightness of being’ emerge, often when it could feel far underground.

As I write about in many of my blogs – wherein you can find specifics guidelines, there are many ways to SHIFT your energy to a more lighthearted way of being.

As Leonard Cohen writes, forget the PERFECT way to look at yourself and how to ‘do’ your life. We always have the choice – even if it’s a few minutes at a time – to slow down in order to listen with compassion for what we are curious about, accepting and surrendering to where we are so that we can nourish our own growth. I find when I move my body playfully I can shift my thinking and feelings in new curious directions. .

I love noticing and facilitating those little shifts that help myself and others turn on the light even if it is just a flash of it. By allowing ourselves to open the spaces in our bodies and notice our imperfections with compassion, we can lighten up and say ‘’no big deal.’’

If our attention remains in dark places for too long we truly forget how to lighten our own worlds, and while there are people with chemical depression, many of us don’t step out into new light, and our CHOICE of focus can be putting too much attention on the darkness. In mindfulness training we learn to lean into the darkness (and our shadow), as that is one way to go through it and find our light emerge in contrast.

My approach to lightening our world is with lightheartedness playful movement and laughter as a practice, and my new PlayDance Experience allows participants to experience the fun through their bodies!

One way to lighten your world is to make a list of the people in your life with whom you feel ‘lightness’ of being, fun, laughter, curiosity and exploration and make it a priority to get together. If you don’t have enough of those people in your life, don’t stay in the darkness with others for long. Find ‘another room,’ another activity or hobby or place in nature and turn on the light from another direction to let the light in through the cracks. The choice of the phrase let light in your cracks even brings a smile and lightheartedness to my face. Allow yourself to, at very minimum, smile at the concept of how we are at least a little bit cracked.

As we enter the fall season, my wish for you is to find some extra color of light in the cracks and celebrate it with your full attention! Connect with me if you would like a consultation on how to begin doing so!

Here are a few of the offerings to come together and lighten up:

The PlayDance Experience (read about it here):

Sunday Oct 29, 7-8:30 FOR INDIVIDUALS at The Yurt in Woodbridge RSVP required

Sunday, Nov 5th 7-8:30 FOR COUPLES at the Yurt in Woodbridge RSVP required

November 19th 2-3:30PM at I Love Yoga studio in Dania Beach FL

November 19th, 3-4:30 – MIAMI – location TBD

ALL SESSIONS ARE $20 but require an RSVP to: PlayDanceExperience@gmail.com

Wishing you all a light-filled and colorful October!

Playfully yours,

Stacey,

Stacey Battat, M.A., Author, Speaker, Coach

Mindfulsexualitycoach@gmail.com