BRAVE Healing.

I looked up the definition of healing today.

Heal·ing /ˈhēliNG/

• noun - the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again: "the gift of healing

• adjective - tending to heal; therapeutic: "a healing experience"

This reminded me of when I first lost my daughter, Ari, and went back to teach at the dance studio only 10 days later. While eventually I found my way back, I was so completely devastated and triggered in the beginning, that teaching brought me more struggle. Pulling into the parking lot alone brought on so much anxiety and sadness. To see the faces of all of my tiny little dancers, knowing I was never going to experience this with my daughter.

Naturally, growing up as a dance kid and following that path to my career, I pictured that someday my future daughter would be a dancer, too. But that dream, like so many, was crushed. Creating, moving, and teaching these little girls was a constant trigger for me of all that was lost. And it broke my spirit.

What once brought me so much joy was now something that brought me so much additional pain.

I was feeling broken inside and it was affecting me not only emotionally and mentally, but occupationally as well. Being that teaching dance was my only job and a good source of our income, I had no choice but to deal with it, process it, and figure out how to manage my grief around my workplace. I could no longer avoid or fight the sadness, anger, hurt, and bitterness.

I knew that healing required movement and it was right at my fingertips, it was my job! Not too many can say that they have an outlet such as this right there waiting for them. Yet, at the time, it was my enemy.

One of the ways I looked toward healing was by embracing the way it felt when and after I moved.

As I slowly began the healing process, I realized that the valley of darkness turned out to be a gift. It was the seed to help me start my own grief wellness program, emphasizing ANY type of daily movement and its importance in grief.

Movement is a helpful tool; to shift emotional energy from the inside out. It's not about perfecting choreography or being physically fit, but an emotional release of the pain; moving to free up space and make room for more of the good. Dance and movement were personally important for my healing.

We are all dealing with hurts and pains. We all have wounds - physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and perhaps once like me, occupational. Instead of avoiding it, what if you leaned into the struggle and used it as fuel for healing? We can do it… together.

Movement was one of the keys to helping me find healing - my broken heart and my distracted mind. Healing is a decision, and it takes patience, but it is so possible. It is possible to release the pain and disappointment and allow our hearts to connect to the present, using compassion and love to make space for more hope to create, move, and heal.

What can you do to choose to support your healing today?