Namaste Readers,
Sometimes my mind is a clutter, so to free it and add variety to my daily on-goings, I'm learning about the 14th Dalai Lama ( current ) while taking ballet classes once a week. A common theme in my readings is "interdependence" so it was easy for me to see the connection between meditation and suffering with ballet lessons.
There's something meditative about doing floor exercises over and over again employing one's body and mind using arms and legs. Arm positions: Prepare; circular arms with finger tips slightly below the belly button; arms raise keeping the roundness; arms open to 2nd position like wings unfolding in 3 tiers ( shoulder, elbow, and wrist ). Leg positions: legs turn out; tendu and point; demi plie ( half bend ); close in front of foot ( 3rd or 5th position ). Fold. Repeat to the right and left sides, and front and back. Now add the language of music and its sense of time. Etc.
Suffering in intro ballet is not as dramatic as death ( rude awakening of one's mortality ). Holding up one's arms and posture takes work. With head straight, stomach/torso in, one's feathery arms can become heavy lead. Upper body suffering is easier for me to bear compared to leg/thigh suffering. Forget about "developpe" or raising my turned out pointed toe up to my knee extending 90 degrees or higher ( the better ) like a blooming flower ( my "developpe" looks more like a flower that went straight into a wilt ). The straddle stretch position is another horrible image ( use your own imagination ).
I may not become a primo ballerino in 8 weeks, but I'm putting effort now. Maybe in eons I'll be and my "developpe" will reach its full extension and soar to the sky. My practice is not harming others; in fact it may be helping them smile ( and laugh assauging their suffering ). Ballet exercises are adding positive meaning to my day. In the law of interdependence, one positive act can develop into another.
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