Thank you all for your reactions about my last blog (SAD, depression). To my biggest surprise, it has been so far the best read of all my blogs! This shows that we should talk more about depression and take it out of the ‘taboo’ and ‘shame’ corners.
Depression is sometimes described as “anger turned inward.” Many people were taught growing up that it isn’t ok to express anger and other ‘negative’ emotions. So we push down these “unacceptable” feelings for many years, but eventually these denied feelings may manifest as depression.
I see this in every goddess bootcamp, training or retreat I give, no matter the age, country, culture, religion of the goddesses. Especially when we dance the Goddess archetypes of Demeter (the mother) & Persephone (the daughter), who both suffer form depression and ‘swallowed anger’. Anger is, worldwide, the most repressed emotion amongst women… ‘Be Nice Syndrome’ is a plague most women suffer from around the world…
If you have been swallowing and suppressing anger and feelings, you may feel a sense of numbness and disconnection from your body and your surrounding. With the goddess dance, we learn to remove that wall and accept, acknowledge and love ourselves completely, and we may find that depression naturally dissipates.
By dancing the Goddess archetypes, we dance a feminine journey that demonstrates the need of every woman to escape her obligations and dive once in a while into the shadows; because self-empowerment requires a balance between the lights and shadows of our nature.
I used to hate dancing the Goddesses shadows. Until I started seeing the shadow not as a burden but as an opportunity. The shadow is the land of the unknown, the unpleasant, and the forgotten. I definitely believe that one of the major stresses of being a woman in modern, especially western, society is the assumption we must stay all the time in the joy and light. This unrealistic belief creates an imbalance in life, which eventually can lead to feelings of helplessness and despair.
By dancing the goddesses shadows, we learn how to cope with emotional pain and release it. The ancient wisdom of the Goddesses Dance unites mind, body, and spirit, allowing us to experience deep emotional well-being and restful awareness. By dancing these archetypes, we release the emotional toxicity stored in the body. Fiery shaking dances, watery sensual movements, breathing practices, and trance dances release the constriction and free the flow of the vital life-force energy held in the womb.
And as we continue our dancing healing journey, we know that the goddess in us, the real woman, isn’t depressed and never has been. Our essential feminine nature is pure love, pure joy, and pure lightness. By dancing the shadows and lights of the goddesses, we uncover the real us, we accomplish more than healing our depression: we rise into the light and experience life in a bright new way!
NB. Celebrities with depression: Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, J.K Rowling (the woman behind Harry Potter), Jim Carrey (The man behind some of the craziest characters on screen), Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud…
This is super valuable information. I will share with my tribe as it is a great description of the fact that women need to embrace the light and the dark to empower themselves. The I have to be nice undermines the natural self confidence and power of women. Thanks for writing this
It just goes to show that not even money, success, or stardom with its acclaim can ward off depression. I can’t think if a better way than dance to free anger-stifling causing depression. Let’s move!!
Yes, `anger is a natural feeling` (Elisabeth Kübler Ross) but sometimes it don´t feels comfortable for woman, because of the code of conduct… to me also important is, to give yourself time, to let your sorrow and tears come out. In our lives as women on this earth now, it´s normal to do everything: be a mother (also if you are a single parent and get no money from the other part), and also a successful woman in business, etc. For some women life can feel like hell sometimes; so don´t let anyone give you the ´stamp´ depression (except if you really don’t wanna live no more) it´s absolutely normal, to feel fatigue and sad in some cases,- I think letting your feelings out without judging is a good and healthy way to live.
I also believe, letting also the ‘dark’ feelings out without judging(anger, sadness, etc) is a good& healthy way to live. Some women’s life is like hell, combining everything in tough circumstances – so feeling sad&fatigue is absolutely ok. Not in every case it’s depression( except you really don’t wanna live no more)