Healers

There's a New Ager on Facebook who I subscribe to.  She posted a YouTube video (*warning: it's on auto-play), where she asserts that we are all born as healers.

While I would like to agree with her, and have believed pretty much forever that I am one, the first letter to the Corinthians would disagree with her claim. St. Paul states that when we are bestowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we receive different geniuses.  One person might possess the gift of discernment, while another the gift of tongues, while another the gift of healing, and a person who becomes able to heal - not as an innate feature, but as a gift from God - can heal not only with the laying of hands, as the video only mentions, but also just by having his or her shadow fall on the inflicted.

Every so often, when the time is right, Leija's voice is very powerful to me. I wanted to believe her, and I put my hands on my trapeze muscles and commanded them to heal, but only if it were Jesus' will.  This is where I began to wonder.

Healers, such as Reiki masters, for example, do not accredit anything to themselves: all the power is (their understanding of) God's.  Leija states in her video that she is just a channel, and the outcome is not up to her.

So is she, to a Christian standard, blasphemous?  One of my favourite prayers is this Jesuit one, "Let me do my days work calmly and quietly, carefully and prayerfully, and above all, in the name of Jesus."  This healer is not using Jesus' name, but she is also not using her own name - a grave offence in the Old Testament.  Since she is recognizing herself only as an instrument to God, and since Christians believe that Jesus is God, is it possible that she is healing righteously?

"Whoever is not against us is for us." (See the entire passage about driving out demons, aka healing, here).

Editors Note: I came across this short book. Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers, here, in PDF; an interesting read.

Ballet tips

This might seem hard to believe for some readers of my blogs, given my topics of choice, but I am actually a pretty good ballet dancer. I currently teach ballet, and am also discovering I'm a good choreographer.

Just now as I was stretching out my sides, looking down at the floor, I made notice of my turnout. When I'm in first position, I'm impressed with my turnout, but when I go into fifth position, it doesn't look as closed as I think it should; especially given that I have a well over a 90 degree turnout.

It made me think of a routine I recorded the other week. I was on a diagonal, and I wished my fifth position looked more professional. But then I stopped my negative thinking.

1)  Ballet is not about turnout!  

Even professional dancers do not have a "perfect" 180 degree turnout, and anyone who comes close gets their dance career cut short with bad arthritis in the knees.

It is these disgusting "facts" that we create to make others think only the "elite" can dance, and I can assure anyone, this is bullshit!

2)  Another disgrace to ballet is the anorexic thin body-type requested of a dancer. But look at Anna Pavlova. Considered to be one of the greatest dancers of the early twentieth century, she was far from being a hundred and five pounds.

Our dance world is arguably run by the same women-haters that run Hollywood and the fashion industry, and it is a lie.

I have talked with ex-dancers who have been in companies, such as the National, and have learnt that the girls smoke and even do coke - amongst the usual eating disorders, which includes taking laxatives - to obtain a figure that is nearly impossible. Ask yourself, and answer honestly, would you rather be a sick "acceptable" ballerina, who is always obtaining injuries and constantly in and out of physio (which is expensive), or would you rather be healthy and happy, and let that reflect in your dance?

I have struggled with my body, but I am starting to accept that is fluctuates frequently, and I have learnt to work with it. Anyone who judges us, or thinks we aren't real dancers because we're sporting some extra weight in our backsides and chest can seriously keep their bigotry to themselves. I'm also a firm believer that women's bodies should never be up for discussion - especially in the work place, and even if it's a compliment.

3)  Ballet is for anyone who is willing. For me, it is not the ballet itself that is intimidating, but rather the music. Dance does not exist without music, and yet I hear professional singers, and see professional dancers with little musicality. It's quite amazing really, and for me only further demonstrates the corruption and nepotism in the industry.

In order to feel more confident as a dancer, I recommend music lessons, either in ear training or playing an instrument. It makes a world of difference in performance, hones the ability to "feel" where one is physically situated (a must in dance), and best of all, improves self-confidence, which for me, is the key to the door.

As dancers, we must believe in ourselves, because unless we have an exceptional coach, no one else will.