Overview:
Meditation and the clearing of one's thoughts can come in unexpected forms. Music and dance can be just as effective.
Like many people, I suffer from occasional anxiety. If occasional means most days. The pressure of balancing work, domestic duties, several side hustles, and trying to make time to decompress feels impossible sometimes. So I when I went looking for a way to find that balance, I found that many people find it through meditation.
I’ll admit that I wrote it off as woo when it was suggested to me. But I looked it up, and there is sound science behind meditating. And as an answer to the chaos that is anxious thoughts, it seemed like a no-brainer.
So I paid for and downloaded an app that would help me learn to meditate. It promised to help me clear my head and help me relax. Of course, that promise came with the caveat that it would take time to learn. I had no illusions that after my first time, I would become calm and grounded. But at some point, I was confident that I would be able to quiet the hurricane of my anxious thoughts.
I sat down as instructed with no distractions in a quiet place and began my first session. I lasted about fifteen seconds before thoughts of dirty laundry and deadlines infiltrated my peace. No worries though. Fifteen seconds is a start.
After a month or two, I made progress. In fact, I doubled my concentration to thirty whole seconds of calm. Two months later, I was still there. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, my stubborn brain simply would not let me be.
Naked revelation
I was speaking to a friend of mine about not being nervous on stage. At first, I was, but before long, I developed a weird sort of trigger. My name would be called and I would have a slight butterfly or two, but I would step out, and Bam! That was it. My body took over. My brain purged itself of all thoughts except for that moment. Not even the crowd could reach me.
On the surface, I was engaged or appeared to be. But in my head, I only existed in that moment. The world faded. Laundry? What laundry? Bills. Nope. All of it gone. It was all waiting for me when my song ended. But in that moment there was nothing but my music and the way my body moved to it.
Until I started on my journey of meditation, I didn’t think much about how I felt when I was on stage. And until then, I described it as flipping a switch. One second I’m me, and the next I’m a performer.
But that wasn’t it. On stage, I had achieved what I had been seeking with my meditation app. It wasn’t the stage, the audience, or the lights. It was the music. Specifically, how it felt and how it affected my movements and thoughts.
To do what I needed to do, I had to stop thinking. I had to feel. The beat came up through my feet to move me. The vocals became my thoughts. The melody converted into energy and I ceased to be anything other than what I was in that moment.
To dance is to meditate. To give in to the music and push everything else out. It ends the chaos, and allows our bodies to become in tune with our environment.
While I do not expect nor would I advise, that everyone dance naked on stage to Pantera as a remedy for anxiety, I would advise that you expand your idea of meditation. Music moves us, and it does so in a way that can calm the chaos that our silly brains can manifest.
So the next time you are feeling anxious put on a song. Close your eyes, and let it move you. See if it doesn’t work as well as that expensive app on your phone.