I’ve been a bit lax lately. Been eating more sugar. More dairy. Quite a few ice-creams. I can feel the results. The biggest thing is a sore foot. It has left me not wanting to walk much the last few days. It’s inflamed. Alarm bells are going off. I need to fix this. And fast. I instinctively know it’s because I’ve been eating more junk. My diet has slipped.

Luckily it’s easily rectified. Thank goodness. It just requires willpower. So no treats this week. And wonderfully my body doesn’t want them. It’s been easy to say no to the vast selection of yummies in the supermarket. I’ve had so much decadence recently that I’m actually bored of it. No one ever thought that was going to happen. No one ever thought I’d be excited to eat porridge for breakfast. In the summer. Oh yeah.

There’s something else though about this pain. And my emotional state. There’s definitely a link. I’m exploring it.

I’m so excited to be in this new housesit. It has got so much SPACE. I’m in heaven. No clutter here. No hoarding. No mess. No trinkets. Nothing extra to the essentials. Just wide corridors, big rooms and well made furniture. Peace and calm. A place to give my brain a rest from other people’s stuff and get some clarity.

Last night I danced in a deliciously huge conservatory. I started on a yoga mat, kneeling down and practised some belly dance moves from there. It worked surprisingly well. Lots of hip slides. Knees got a workout too. I was still wary of my foot pain. In the end though the music took me and off I went soaring upwards onto my feet. The foot pain disappeared as I shimmied and sailed around the room. Lots of hip thrusts and leg lifts along the way. Arm stretches too. Since my recent sea swimming expeditions, my arms have gotten stronger and they very much want to be included in the dance mix.

So all of a sudden no more foot pain. Interesting. Music took me beyond pain. Into a realm a liberation and ease. And fun. When I dance, pain disappears. I’m happy. I feel connected to something bigger than me. I want to celebrate. I want to move. The layers of music build me. Bind me. Hug me. Hold me. Melodies and beats engage me. Make me vibrant. I’m in tune. I feel elated and powered and free. I awaken a bit more. I’m in love.

So when pain enters into me, I feel it’s because I’m not totally happy. Life is feeling like a struggle and my emotional pain manifests in different parts of me as physical symptoms. As traumas. In the past these emotional parts of me have manifested as migraines, a stiff neck, an eye twitch, throbbing body aches and pains (lumbar region especially) or a sore foot.

Dancing is a way to shake out all this emotional build up. I release fear and stress. I whoosh away the cobwebs of anxiety and worry. I energise myself away from boredom and lethargy. By moving to my favourite kind of music I keep remembering to be grateful for every opportunity I’ve been gifted and every positive idea I have.

I adore Estiva’s album Spectacle. Rainbow is a super happy sparkly shiny track.