I have lived away from London for almost 2 years and what I have missed most after friends is dancing. I still dance a lot here, in fact I Love the type of music played in clubs and at parties, mostly reggae, dancehall and reggaeton, but the type of dancing I am referring to is not quite the same. The dancing I am talking about has few simple rules that make it a very different experience: No talking, no phones, no alcohol/drugs, no spectating and you must stay for the whole duration of the session. This may sound odd at first, but the best thing I can do is to recommend people to try it for themselves. It is one of the most liberating practices I have ever experienced.

I was so sad about leaving my dance group in London when I left that I thought about organising a dance group in Bocas when I 1st moved here a year ago, and wrote it on my to do list every month since, but never quite found the courage to do it. I have attended countless dancing sessions and a 3 day Dance Medicine Workshop I wrote a post about exactly 2 years ago, but I don’t have any dance qualifications and I let that stop me. That, and the fear of no one being interested in joining me to dance. That sneaky fear of failure that so often dims our light and prevents us from sharing the best of ourselves. Luckily my dear friend and life coach Alice  recently visited me in Bocas and when I told her how much I missed the dances, followed by the list of reasons why I couldn’t organise one, I realised they were all a bit lame and decided to put my excuses to the side and organise my 1st Women’s Dance Medicine Circle. She didn’t have to say much, but her caring gaze as I justified myself for not having done it was enough to help me see that I was actually being a little self-centered since I was sort of ‘depriving’ my sisters of this magical medicine, simply because I was worried about not doing it ‘right’. And I must admit that this fear came back to me a few times in the weeks coming up to the event. I had to change the date because I did not know about the Easter law in Panama which requires that ‘joyful music’ is not played (even in private properties) between the Thursday midday and the Saturday midday. I fretted a little when I found out but eventually surrendered to the fact that the event would be just as it should be. And it was. 

I will not share anything about the actual ceremony other than this photo of our altar, because I consider that ceremonies are not to be described, but rather experienced, But I am happy to share that at the end all my sisters who attended were grateful for the dance and the studio owner who is also a magical medicine woman simply said that it was perfect, and that means a lot to me.

The reason I share this is because it has been such an empowering experience to finally organise something that I had been stalling to do for a year. And the best part of it is that other women benefitted from it, which was my deepest longing, to share the practice with others. And it was only be overcoming my fear of failing that I was able to do that.

Funnily enough another dear friend reminded me of my 1st blog post, so I listened to my younger but wise self and started a new chapter and I am already organising the 2nd dance here in Bocas.