the burden of judgment in dance

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judgment creates turbulence in our minds. judgment and learning don’t play nice. mental turbulence and learning don’t go together.

try going through an entire day without once judging, labeling, or defining people and situations. first thing you notice will be how exhausted you are by day’s end. second, you will notice the sheer amount time we spend on a daily basis judging, defining, and labeling people and situations. 

you’d be surprised to realize how much of the world you see as a shadow of your own thoughts, and not as it really is. or how much time you actually waste judging people, nanoseconds after you view them.

in the world of dance, where seeing physical reality it’s absolutely critical to learning, it’s imperative that we kill the judgments, definitions, labeling, and analysis.

the less we judge, the more we actually see of what is really there. when our mind is silent, we use the quiet space and are lucky enough to see what the instructor is doing, without the mental white noise.

this results in improved performance, reduced anxiety, and a stronger ability to adapt what you learn for your own fullfillment and expression, since labels and definitions tend to reduce possibilities –not increase them.

in zen, we sit in meditation practicing non-judgment, knowing that we will be able to take that same calm, centered, peaceful mindstate to our learning and day to day lives.

1. in class, don’t judge or label your effort as successful or unsuccessful, because there is no such thing. simply observe and change what doesnt suit you, to something that does.

2. practice short periods of non-judgment during the day. begin noticing when you are labeling, defining or judging people, places or situations. be careful please, because you will beat yourself later on with that same stick.

3. meditatation serves to quiet the mind and judgment, allowing you to notice what’s around you for what it is. start by meditating before bed. see the difference it makes during your day with your interactions and your emotional well-being.