Making Moves
"Life is movement and movement is life!"
“Life is movement and movement is life” is what the wonderful Move Assure Coach said in our group chat last week. I felt moved to my very core, the beauty of this quasi palindromic phrase made my heart soar. It made my whole body tingle with love and connection.
Having had to scale right back down on my movements especially with dance and then again with the recovery from the detached retina while the rest of the world carried on has been devastating. It has been hard. It has been shit. And I have been very afraid. And I have hated the world with a deep all encompassing bitterness that would turn my hair white if not for the genes that for some reason mean that I have only found one grey hair in spite of all the pain, the moving, the change, the operations, the medication, the stress.
But even if this life is painful, I find purpose in it.
But back to bitterness. I have been told for decades to not be bitter, to not be angry. What people mean is that they do not want to see a person be bitter or have any of those unpleasant feelings. Which for a person like me who is in pain all the time, who is anxious all the time (because seriously I cannot see a thing without my glasses so hell yeah I feel scared) is like WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
Please let me feel these feelings, feel the ugly side of life, process the path that few were chosen to tread. To start to lose your sight, to lose your balance, to lose your strength is beyond hard. It is rip your insides out and scramble them around and put them back in all in the wrong place painful. And I hate that this is my life. I hate it. To consistently have to stop what you love, with those that you love, in places that you love is the worst. And to then watch the world carry on with people doing what they want to do while you take another nap or another dose of pain medication wasn’t what I had planned for myself.
But here we are. And what can we do with a life that is in pain and is challenging and that is forever changing? Now I don’t know where everyone else was when they were handing out challenges but I seemed to be right up there scooping out a lot of very demanding challenges. And to live a life that each step, each movement, every breathe could lead to more injury and damage is indeed a challenge. But even if this life is painful, I find purpose in it.
Move with Assurance
When I was in the deepest of shocks after my x3 laser eye surgeries, I signed up to learn how to be a wellbeing coach. Because I needed something to aim for, to bring something to my life. The Move-Assure coaching for mental wellbeing provides general well being support for those that work through the Move-Assure Dance for Mental Wellbeing programme. The content of the Move-Assure coaching for mental wellbeing sessions is based around the NHS’s Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing. The Move-Assure Dance for Mental Wellbeing programme was created by Lindsey Lovatt (who is an occupational therapist and mental health specialist), Dame Darcey Bussell (who is a former principal ballerina with the Royal Ballet Company and the founder of DDMiX, a dance fitness program) and Dr Peter Lovatt (a Psychologist with a special interest in movement and dance, and the author of The Dance Cure).
Well done for Well Being
And I am super pleased to announce that I have graduated and I am now a Move Assure Well Being Coach! I am passionate about how dance is crucial to well being and while my dance life has changed and I have had to scale it back, I can still do 20 minutes which is exactly what this programme is like. Perfect.
When I was recovering from the eye operations the weekly group providing me with an anchor point, stable and strong when the days were rough. So to graduate has been a real pleasure for me. Especially at a time when I was feeling low, angry, confused, agitated, bitter. So thank you so much to Move Assure for giving me such a positive direction. I may not be on the dance floor or teaching but I can support those that need it.
So come along and join me - more movement and changes to come. In the meantime stay well, be wonderful. xx