Spirituality, to me, is a continuously evolving relationship of mind, body, and soul that guides me and helps me heal, express, and connect deeper to myself and the world around me. As a woman in today’s society, the weight of our burdens lie heavy on us. Whether this be facing social and gender norms or our own personal traumas, women’s bodies and spiritualities have been oppressed, over sexualized, and misrepresented. Individualized spirituality can help women feel more empowered and in tune with their bodies, act as an emotional and mental compass when dealing with adversities, as well as assist in catering to an overall customized sense of well-being.

When dealing with relationships to others and oneself, I have found myself seeking out ways to cope with stress but have not found something that I can advise until recently. Spirituality has never been a consistent aspect in my life until I started to incorporate movement.

Movement allows me to express and release the emotions and burdens that I have difficulty putting into words. Dancing can be a transformative experience that connects us deeper with ourselves, our ever-evolving spiritualities, our healing practices and interaction with the world around us. By incorporating dance into my spiritual practice, I find that it has become an everchanging progression of self-discovery.

Through observation of spiritual dances, the exercise of somatic and improvisational practices, and deep reflection and exploration of oneself I discovered the value of incorporating dance as a healing practice. I have taken my research and explored the various approaches through improvisations, meditations, journaling, and movement explorations.

My hopes is that by advocating for spirituality as an authentic practice that I can demonstrate the continuously changing perspective and healing capabilities for women. As we connect deeper to ourselves and address how our burdens interact with our personal selves as well as our relationships with others, we can find a spiritual and emotional release through movement that creates a continuous, progressive cycle that have the ability to unfold personal transformation and growth.