Apologizing to the Body

I was sitting at the local tiki bar with a few old classmates the other night listening to the area legend play standards on her piano and the topic of The Artist's Way came up. One of the challenges of this work is apparently giving yourself permission to express yourself creatively. This is also one of the basics of the master's degree program I went through a few years ago.
The anecdote of what to do if you do not read someone else's work for a week and include watching television, or for those like me: Netflix binging, came up. What do you do if you don't read or binge watch sci-fi series? Apparently people do other stuff in the evenings. One couple's solution was to put on music while they made dinner. Soon they found themselves dancing in the kitchen.
I can relate. My hubs and I do this a lot as well. Sometimes it might be Ronnie James Dio while another time if might be Queen. Currently, it is Niyaz. I love Niyaz. Never heard of them? Go ahead and Google it or Youtube it. I'll wait.

thebasketmakerswife.com

Confession: I have a total crush on her. What a voice...and she zills.

Anyway, us dancing, me dancing, him dancing, it doesn't really matter. We even dance with the cats. Not all of them are fans.

This one though makes a great partner if you can handle all 20+ pounds of Link-alicious feline.

I've been bellydancing a lot the last few days. It feels good. I discovered bellydance because it was my self assignment for my master's program. One of those "give yourself permission" assignments.

Best. Assignment. Ever.

Bellydance:connect.cc

^^Irony^^

I did not dance yesterday. I played several hours of Diablo 3. Serious gamer attention given over to the eradication of the Lords of Hell. My monk is even more awesome than she was before.

Her name is Tigerlilly. 

The one I've been leveling lately though, is Little Sister. As in Winchester. I make no apologies for being that kind of fangirl. Judge me if you must. 

Little Sister can take it. She kicks ass.

However, my body is more than a little perturbed today. I did the take breaks, do some stretches, get away from the screen and do some yoga to keep myself from being completely frozen in a seated typing position. Alas! Body is cranky with me anyway. 

Solution: dance. The excruciatingly slow version of figure 8's, undulations, and chest circles feels so good! To stretch my hips over to the side and slowly roll it down and back into neutral seductively stretches those muscles exquisitely. Layering those super slow moves with a free shimmy or shoulder shimmy feels amazing.

I never really got into the whole "give yourself permission" definition because I never viewed it as needing permission. However, if giving yourself permission means stop making excuses and just do it because you really want to, well then yes. I gave myself permission to dance tonight.

Again.

Bellydance is the bomb.

Ruby Beh: the only time I ever contemplate growing out my hair.