by Dorothy Segovia

Ever find yourself so stressed that you don’t know what to do or what decision to make or maybe you find yourself just worrying about life in general? I imagine the answer is yes. We have all been there. It seems, our heads become so filled with the “what if” questions that we can’t see the answer to the problem, making it difficult to control the stress we feel. It is like the mind is cluttered with a constant questioning of what is right or wrong, what would be best, what would be worse and sometimes we begin to question ourselves, which only adds to the stress a little more.

Women tend to stress over life’s situations more than men. Maybe it is because of the way we are raised in society or maybe it is inherent as the primary nurturer. Either way, it is important to not let stress control our lives, but rather find ways to control stress so that we can live.

Often, intuitively the solution is right inside of us, but with all the clutter surrounding it; it is hard to realize that it is there. If we can clear away the clutter we can usually understand what the answer or solution is. So, now the real question is how do we do that?
There are various ways, but one way I found to calm my stress, remove the “clutter” and to stay grounded is to do what I like to call the DANCE OF CHAOS.

The DANCE OF CHAOS combines two methods I have learned from two highly regarded women who use different techniques to induce a very similar result.

Gabrielle Roth is a dancer and the producer of Endless Wave, a CD that consists of five basic rhythms. These rhythms are designed to help us find our own internal dance and to allow us to move without judgment; movement as spiritual practice. Roth believes we were all born to move; to surrender to our beat. She narrates the CD by naming which body part should take the lead.

With comparable intent, Dr. Lucia Capacchione created a method of journaling called Creative Journaling, a sort of dancing on paper with the use of crayons. The technique helps to access our emotions through drawing and writing. Dr. Capacchione is the author of “Living with Feelings”, which explains how she healed herself from a rare collagen disorder through journaling and other holistic methods in the 70’s.

She built her theories for accessing the right brain by using our non-dominant hand to draw, scribble and write. The right brain houses our creativity and intuitive mind while our left-brain is the seat of our logical mind. To fully integrate our emotions and our bodies, we need movement. Lucia herself uses movement CD’s such as Roth’s in her workshops.

Combing the two techniques opens the mind and body up to an even greater level. Begin by dancing to the Endless Wave CD (you may also learn that other music may allow you to dance without inhibition), it is meditation in motion. Continue this meditation with a crayon clutched in your non-dominate hand and release the clutter onto paper, this will help allow you to zero in on the answer or solution to the problem at hand. It will allow you to release stress and help your body to remain grounded. What you draw, write or scribble is not important. It is the process that allows you to release the negative energy.

The process of the dance opens the body and mind, while the process of the crayons to paper allows creativity to flow; thus helping you to intuitively find the answers.

Remember, inner freedom is the key. Allow yourself the freedom to move with the music, no thoughts on how, just do, the same with the crayons no thoughts on what, just release. Before long, your clutter filled mind will be clear and ready to take control of the stress that once controlled you.