As in many activities, dance is something that is practiced
over and over again. The ballet bar is a perfect example of
using repetition to achieve perfection. No matter where in the
world a ballet class is being taught, it is taught in basically
the same way. As a beginning ballet student you learn the same
steps that the most advanced performer is still doing many years
later. Every day.
Standing at the ballet bar you hear the same instructions, over
and over. Pull up, straighten your knees, bend from the hip,
stretch out – over and over and over again. From beginner to
advanced.
There is a purpose to saying the same thing over and over
again. It is to assist you in building a strong base that will
allow you to “fly” later. It is to help you learn what is
important and what is not necessary.
A beginner dancer uses every part of their body to do even a
small movement and that is why a beginner often appears awkward.
The polished dancer uses only what is necessary. A dancer’s
grace shines through in what they are not doing as much
as in
what they are doing.
Doing it over and over again you learn to let go of what is not
necessary to achieve the movement. It is learning to balance
strength and stretch in order to achieve what looks like
effortless movement.
One time I had a revelation while taking a ballet class. After
10 years of taking class the teacher said the same thing she
always said, and I HEARD IT DIFFERENTLY. In fact I heard it so
differently that a light bulb went on in my head that totally
changed how I approached dance from that day forward.
Why?
Because we change our perceptions in every moment, depending on
a large variety of circumstances. And it is our perceptions that
determine what and how we see and hear and act. I had finally
advanced enough, or cleared enough other stuff out, to hear it
so differently that I shifted to a totally new level of
perception.
It is not a bad thing that we are told over and over and over.
It is a good thing. Each telling shifts us, and each time we act
on what we learn we shift again and then the next telling brings
us higher in an ever-expanding circle.
This is not a circle that brings us back where we started from,
but an expanding spiral that brings us around to hear it again,
in a new way.
How many times do we have to be told – anything? We have to be
told over and over. All lessons are basically the same. Instead
of despairing over this, we should rejoice. Someone loves us
enough to keep reminding of us of our innate perfection. We keep
shifting our perceptions and growing enough to hear it
differently. There is no greater feeling than hearing the same
thing we have always heard and hearing it so differently that
the world shifts into brighter hues.
No matter what your dream is, it involves the same lessons as a
ballet bar. Using what is necessary in each moment and letting
go of what is not achieves grace in all areas of life. Going
back to how it was – is not going forward.
Repetition can sometimes be a beautiful thing. It lifts us up
and out to greater heights of awareness. Keep telling and keep
listening. Revelation is a shift of perception where you see
what has always been here, and how it is here for you.
Article by Beca Lewis author of Living in Grace: The Shift to Spiritual Perception. Find her book at Perception Publishing or visit The Shift for more free information on spiritual perception.
