Guest Blogger Jeannine Salemi, “Gifts of surrendering to the Darkness.”

Beautiful post from a fellow dance/movement therapist.

Dance.Movement.Therapy.

picture taken from: http://faerymother.blogspot.com/2012/09/windhorse-rich-meaning-of-tibetan.html

Jeannine Salemi is a woman I’ve learned a great deal from about dance/movement therapy.  She is a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist (BC-DMT), Graduate Laban-Certified Movement Analyst (GL-CMA) and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (not to mention a great friend).  I first met Jeannine when I began my internship, where I now work, as she was my internship supervisor.  As my supervisor, she helped guide and foster my growth as a dance/movement therapist during my nine months as an intern.  Jeannine both served as an example for me and gave me space to figure it out on my own.  We talked ad nauseam about what the heck dance/movement therapy was in the first place, teasing out differing theories and approaches, and I am forever thankful for her patience.  Her words below are absolutely stunning and certainly more eloquent than my own.  And although she says it differently…

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Dance/Movement Therapy and Autism: Dances of Relationship

In this, the first of a series of dance/movement therapy lectures produced for the public by the American Dance Therapy Association, Dr. Christina Devereaux explains the unique capacity of dance/movement therapy to work directly with the core deficits of autism.

It is important to note that there are many sources on the internet and on Youtube that casually use the term “dance therapy” or “movement therapy” for their dance classes. There is a difference between a dance class that produces “therapeutic” benefits and the mental health profession of “dance/movement therapy.” Dr. Devereaux is a board certified dance/movement therapist and an expert in this field (check out her bio on the YouTube video page!)

An excerpt from her talk:

“There is a true reality here. The lack of social reciprocity from children with autism as well as their behavioral disturbances and language deficits, tends to make this disorder difficult and stressful for parents in a manner that is different from other developmental disorders. Parents rely as much on the child’s communication signals as the child relies on the parent’s signals. So, the loss of this engagement and intentional, interaction can feel devastating. Unfortunately, there is no treatment right now that can address the “biology” of autism, but dance/movement therapy can certainly directly address this deep “human effect” of autism. By helping parents experience how to attune, join, connect, and understand their child through the use of nonverbal language, Dance/movement therapy can support parents in forming warm, empathic and satisfying relationships with their children.”

April is Autism Awareness Month. If you know someone who would benefit from this information, please share. Relationships matter. Dance/movement therapy can help.

The Girl Project: A Revolution in the Making

I am in Lexington, Kentucky this weekend, attending the premiere performances of The Girl Project.

In the words of the creators…

“The Girl Project is a highly original performance piece incorporating spoken word, poetry, movement, dance and multi-media. This original work was written by 18 teenage girls culminating from workshops throughout the year with guest artists from around the nation. These nation wide teaching artists explored topics of identity, power, sexuality, beauty, history and more to inspire these teenage girls to share their personal experiences and struggles with body image, self-esteem, objectification and oppression within their schools, in the media and beyond.”

Tonight, at the preview performance, I witnessed a collaborative theatrical production of such importance, such relevance, such power – with brilliant girls who are incredibly brave and inspiring in their authenticity, vulnerability and conviction. A theatre project for teen girls of the caliber of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues, this performance will resonate with women of all ages and will evoke self reflection in men and women alike. Mark my words – The Girl Project will be on a stage in your town someday. This is theatre in its most powerful form – alchemical and transformative for both performer and audience.

If you are within driving distance of Lexington, Kentucky this weekend, go see this show.

The article and video below provides behind the scenes insight into the ensemble’s creative process. Expect to see more press about this project.

It is a revolution in the making.

The Girl Project: art meets activisim not just for girls

Dance/Movement Therapy: Greater than the Sum

https://vimeo.com/69276823

In February I presented on dance/movement therapy as part of a panel on creative arts therapies at the UCLA Integrative Medicine Conference. I was asked to provide a concise overview of dance/movement therapy along with a brief experiential. (Ten minutes was a challenge indeed!)

In this brief video I highlight how dance/movement therapy is different than the healing that is inherent in the act of dancing. The experiential is a brief example of how a dance/movement therapist develops movement: beginning in the present moment, where the client is “at” and then facilitating a movement improvisation based on what the DMT observes in the clients’ evolving movements. (So, yes, my movement and my “suggestions” were because I observed person(s) in the group already moving in that way. The dance/movement therapist “picks up” movement from the client.)

Facilitating a group movement improvisation with a room full of scientists and doctors was a fantastic experience and I was proud to be a part of this panel.

As always, if you have any questions, please ask. I’m happy to respond.

Enjoy.

YES! THIS is What Dance/Movement Therapy Looks Like!

I could write an infinite number of blog posts with this very title and each one quite possibly could include video or movement description unlike any of the posts before it. That said, there is a video currently circulating the social media sphere that has beautiful footage of dance/movement therapy.

It is worth every moment of the seven minutes it takes to watch it and I have linked it below for your viewing convenience.

As a preface, I must remind you of some basic truths of dance/movement therapy:

Neither the dance/movement therapist nor the client knows ahead of time what will transpire in the impending session. Even within a structured format, the experience is unpredictable. Guided by the present moment, the process is unique to the persons involved, their needs and the treatment goals.

Dance/movement therapy is an improvised process – both 1:1 and in a group setting. It begins “where the client is at.” Ten dance/movement therapy sessions with the same person might start differently each time and may “look” different each time. Dance/movement therapists respond to the movement and words (yes, dance/movement therapy involves talking too!) that emerge in the PRESENT MOMENT. The present moment is beautiful, mysterious, surprising… It can be extremely powerful and it is worth every bit of attention it is given.

I must also underscore that dance/movement therapy is NOT a dance “class.” This is a distinction that is growing ever more important to convey as more and more people worldwide declare dance or Zumba®, for example, as their “therapy.” Dance is ABSOLUTELY therapeutic and inherently healing. But “dance/movement therapy” is a clinical practice, facilitated by trained mental health clinicians with masters or doctoral degrees. It is essential that this distinction be understood and observed. (Please see An Invitation to Those Making the World A Better Place Through Dance for further clarification on that distinction.)

by Corporación Dunna -alternativas

Below is wonderful footage of dance/movement therapy being introduced into cities in Colombia to counter the trauma of violence and conflict and to facilitate empathy and connection. The movement is interspersed with brief interviews with the facilitators and students learning the methods. (It is in Spanish but has English subtitles. Even so, movement is a universal language and the dancing speaks volumes regardless of your native language.)

So, as I declare “YES! This is what dance/movement therapy looks like!” I simultaneously ask that you remember that other dance/movement therapy sessions do NOT look like this. (In fact, if you’d like to compare and contrast two very different videos, please see my previous post to view dance/movement therapy with hospitalized children.)

As you watch this video, perhaps questions will arise for you:
What is happening?
How does that process evolve?
How is it not a “class”? It looks like a class… (I intend to dedicate an entire post to answering this particular question so stay tuned…)

I would genuinely love to answer your questions. Please don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section. If YOU have that question, somebody else likely does too. 🙂 Ask away.

by Corporación Dunna -alternativas

TO WATCH VIDEO, PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK:
Dance/Movement Therapy as a tool for achieving peaceful coexistence and reconciliation in 5 vulnerable cities in Colombia

Dance Matters… As Do Films About Dance

“The power of creativity to transcend fear and live a courageous life.”

Those are words I believe in, words I would have liked to have written at some point if I hadn’t read them elsewhere first.

These are words that were written by the makers of the film How to Become an Extreme Action Hero, a documentary about the work of self-described “action expert” Elizabeth Streb. Sometimes referred to as the “Evel Knievel of dance,” the NY Times has said “Streb’s rough and tumble dances are about velocity, physical stamina and her unwillingness to bow to gravity without a fight.”

In the own words of the project…

How to Become an Extreme Action Hero, directed by Catherine Gund, will defy the traditions and expectations surrounding documentary film. Opening with seven extraordinary events that took place during the 2012 Cultural Olympiad in London, the film will track twenty years of Elizabeth Streb’s dance work. There will be scenes of dizzying commotion and breathtaking suspense, but also moments of tenderness and laughter. The film’s overall purpose is to push limits and uncover sources of bravery. It’s about using the power of creativity to transcend fear and live a courageous life.”

Please take a moment to check out this documentary’s Kickstarter campaign and get involved if you feel moved to take action. The more dance there is on film, the greater the awareness in the world of the life-affirming and life-changing power of moving the body. This is a wonderful opportunity for supporters of film and supporters of dance to join together under a shared purpose and shine a light on that brave inner spark that fuels us both to create.

Why Dance Matters

This week (July 23-28) DanceAdvantage.net invites the world to participate in a social media based campaign united on the importance of dance: “Why Dance Matters.”

My dance/movement therapy colleague, Donna Newman Bluestein, has done this exquisitely well in her blog, Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read her post. You can bet I will be quoting her words for a long time.

I, however, am finding it harder to describe the power of dance as she has, so summarily and eloquently. My response seems to be emerging in vivid memories – moments that have stood the test of time over the decades and remain in my consciousness, reminding me of the power of dance to enliven, to connect, to pierce isolation. To express – joy, grief and everything in between. To not only encode memory but also evoke it.

If only I could provide a YouTube link to these unforgettable moments etched in my bodymind. Alas, I will attempt to rely on clumsy and inefficient words to describe what dance does so effortlessly. (Ah yes, how could I forget that one: dance communicates. Dance communicates what even the most skilled wordsmiths can only silhouette.)

And so, I offer these mere silhouettes and hope they do some justice in verbally conveying what was first experienced, so perfectly, nonverbally.

~~ Why Dance Matters ~~

As I reflect on these words, one of the first images that floods my mind is that of me dancing the Two Step with my grandfather and the Schottische with my grandmother at rural community dances when I was a young child. My grandfather passed decades ago and my grandmother is now an amazing and vibrant 90. Those moments of physical touch, of loving gazes from twinkling eyes, of our laughing and moving together will always remain in my heart and bring joy and comfort to me all my life. To have danced with my grandparents…

~~ Why Dance Matters ~~

Every week I enter a room at some psychiatric hospital, prepared to lead a dance/movement therapy group with inpatients who are in crisis. As I enter, I witness withdrawal, disconnection, paralytic depression, isolative preoccupation. Often those with thought disorders are talking to themselves or imagining some delusional yet terrifyingly real threat to their personhood. Attempts at facilitating a group discussion are. . . well, mere attempts. Focus, interaction, listening, organized verbal expression: all these things are nearly impossible to facilitate amongst such a diverse group of individuals challenged with such severe psychiatric symptoms.

But the dance…

The music plays and an ever-surprising, inspiring and magical dance emerges that I feel blessed to witness and partake in every time. I never know how one patient will respond or who will be inspired by whose movement to express themselves in what way. But they do: Respond. Interact. Dance. Sometimes alone, almost always, eventually, with each other as one group. Maybe the group cohesion is only for a few moments but those moments are gold. The voices quiet (or at least are ignored for a bit), the isolation melts, joy – that ever elusive joy – is felt, embodied and expressed. Or perhaps there is sadness and despair or anger – but these feelings are permitted, embodied, symbolized, expressed. People are accepted for who they are and embraced. Nonverbally the dance says We are all welcome here and we have something to say and we shall say it with our bodies.
Every time. It is both commonplace and miraculous.

Every.
Time.

~~ Why Dance Matters ~~

Elsie. *

Eighty-something, she lived alone in an apartment in an enriched housing apartment complex. I did a portion of my dance/movement therapy internship there after grad school. Elsie would never leave her apartment for activities. In fact, she wouldn’t even leave for meals, often insisting the meals be brought to her apartment where she dined alone. But all I had to do was knock on the door and say “Elsie, there is a dance downstairs. Would you like to dance?” Her eyes would come alive with a fire and a joyous anticipation.

Well, let me just change my shoes…

She was the belle of the ball every time, even if our “ball” was only a circle of folding chairs in the tv room in the middle of the afternoon. She was there to dance.

And did she dance.

~~ Why Dance Matters ~~

There are so many other stories. . . patients frozen physically with severe Parkinson’s disease coming alive with dance like the Wizard of Oz’ Tin Man with his precious oil. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease – withdrawn, unable or uninspired to speak or connect– sharing stories with the group as their spontaneous dance movements evoke memories long since forgotten.

Every day I dance with someone there is a new story.

I cannot imagine my life without dance. I only began dance studio training when I was 16 but I’ve been a dancer in my heart since I was old enough to walk. I am not the most technically trained dancer but I am no less a dancer.

We are ALL dancers.

Donna, so brilliantly, writes in the above-mentioned post that

“While it is true that not every one feels comfortable dancing, it is only because of limiting cultural beliefs. If we taught otherwise, it would be otherwise.”

We ARE all dancers.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I have never known as much joy and aliveness as I have when I am dancing – on the musical stage, in the club, in my living room, in a Zumba class, with a lindy hop partner. I have never been so in the present moment as when I am in my dance. And now, as a dance/movement therapist I get to witness and experience the meaningful and, yes, at times life-changing impact of dance on my clients.

Dance is inherently healing – it always has been.

Why does dance matter?

Because it DOES.

We move in the womb. Our hearts beat a pulse. We respond to rhythm as babies with joyous movement even before we can walk. We only stop completely moving in this world when our lungs no longer inflate and our hearts stop beating.

To be alive is to move.

To dance is to be alive.

That is why dance matters.

(You can share your own reflections on Why Dance Matters on Twitter. Just use the hashtag #whydancematters. Also check out the Why Dance Matters Facebook page or the Why Dance Matters website for more ideas on how to get involved in this important campaign.)

* Name has been changed.

A Dance Therapist in a Candy Store – Yes, Please!

Once a year, dance/movement therapists from around the world congregate at the American Dance Therapy Association’s Annual Conference, hosted each year in a different city in the United States. This year will mark the 47th Annual event, Exploring Vistas and Soaring to New Heights: Dance/Movement Therapy 2012 and Beyond. It promises to bring hundreds of clinicians and dozens of grad students to Albuquerque, New Mexico in October.

Perhaps comparing attendance at a professional conference to entering a candy store seems a mismatched metaphor to some, but for this dance/movement therapist it is right on target. The only downside to the conference each year is that I cannot clone myself to attend multiple seminars at once. I really wish I could clone myself. No, really, I do.

When I attended the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in 2009 (a MASSIVE conference with over 7000 attendees) I listened to current leaders in psychology and medicine – Ernest Rossi, Daniel Siegel, Bessel van der Kolk, Eugene Gendlin, Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, among others – all address the mindbody connection in their work. It was gratifying to hear each of them acknowledge the role of the body in healing and it was uplifting to know that so many other scholars with significantly larger audiences are researching and applying concepts that have always been central to dance/movement therapy practice and theory. Oh, the fruit that could be produced from widespread research collaboration between psychologists, neuroscientists and dance/movement therapists! That day is coming, I feel it. But it can’t come soon enough.

In the meantime, I am extraordinarily proud to have earned the title of board-certified dance/movement therapist and to stand among my colleagues who advance our field and thereby also deepen an understanding of the mindbody connection that informs all approaches to healing. It brings me joy to call attention to the work of my peers and to further emphasize the advanced scholarship and clinical skills that are necessary to call oneself “dance/movement therapist.” (If this is the first post you are reading from my blog, I invite you to read “An Invitation to Those Making the World a Better Place Through Dance” to understand precisely what is required to earn that title.)

In the service of calling attention to the work of my peers, allow me to provide a glimpse into the candy store awaiting conference attendees in October in New Mexico. The conference is open to all. If you are a mental health clinician of any variety and seeking continuing education or even an aspiring student (in dance, in psychology, in social work, etc) our doors are open. Most workshops will be a combination of lecture, discussion and experiential work. There is even a special pre-conference interactive intensive for non-dance/movement therapists (allied professionals and students) to personally and kinesthetically be introduced to basic concepts of dance/movement therapy so that the conference workshops will be more meaningful.

A sampling:

Dance/Movement Therapists and Schools in Collaboration A Multi-Cultural, Embodied Approach to Violence Prevention with Rena Kornblum

Photo courtesy
disarmingtheplayground.wordpress.com

Beat the Odds: Social/Emotional Skill Building Delivered in a Framework of Drumming and Movement with Ping Ho and Kathy Cass

A Closer Examination of Repetitive Movement and Healing Trauma: Why DMT has Psychology’s Attention with Patricia Lucas

The Dance of Attunement: Utilizing Dance/Movement Therapy to Develop Skills for Affect Regulation with Children with Rebecca Finnoff

The Use of Dance/ Movement Therapy in Dialectal Behavior Therapy (DBT) with Luke Addington

Mutuality in Motion: Integrating Movement Within the Child-Parent Psychotherapy Model to Restore Healthy Attachment with Nancy Toncy

Dance Cuba! Dance/Movement Therapists’ Cross Cultural Collaboration in Cuba with Christina Devereaux

Dance/movement therapy group. Courtesy of ADTA.

Dancing with People with Dementia: Expanding the Roles of Dance/Movement Therapists with Donna Newman-Bluestein

These are but just a few of the 49 workshops and intensives being offered at the 47th Annual ADTA Conference. You can read about the workshops above and others here. And if you are Facebook-inclined (who isn’t?) you can get updates, photos and more at the ADTA Conference Facebook page. (Oh, and I’ve been invited to present a half day intensive on Zumba Fitness® Through the Lens of Dance/Movement Therapy. More on that later …) You can also read the bios of all the presenters here, which I highly recommend if you want to get a glimpse into who dance/movement therapists are and what we do. Our work is quite diverse and I am fascinated by the unique career paths dance/movement therapists find themselves on. I think you will be too.

(Last updated/edited September 9, 2012.)

An Invitation to Those Making the World a Better Place Through Dance

More and more press is being devoted to people who are benefitting from the inherently healing power of dance.

Recently, the Orange County Register reported on a former Laker girl who offers dance classes to cancer survivors.

Another online article highlights the work of a social worker using dance and movement in her work with a boy with Asperger’s syndrome.

It is always inspiring to read about people’s lives being positively affected by dance, whether it is through Zumba® Fitness or in classes taught by former dancers who know from their own personal experiences how healing and cathartic it can be. Dance IS inherently healing.

The pioneers of the profession of dance/movement therapy were also exploring the use of dance as therapy in the 1940s and 1950s, planting the seeds of the modern profession of dance/movement therapy with their respective groundbreaking work with World War II veterans, psychiatric patients and clients seeking deeper self-understanding.

Dance/movement therapy has come a long way as a profession since the American Dance Therapy Association was established in 1966. We have accumulated nearly four decades of published scholarship and dance/movement therapy professionals practice in over 30 countries. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of dance/movement therapists in this country is estimated to increase by 15 percent by 2018. (Source: International Business Times.)

To all the dancers, teachers and therapists impacting people’s lives through dance, I invite you to consider undertaking the training to become a board certified dance/movement therapist (BC-DMT.)

With graduate level training, your skills can benefit from the knowledge that dance/movement therapy scholars, researchers and practitioners have cultivated over 60 years.

Under the tutelage of renown clinicians, you can learn to hone your compassionate instincts into the refined nonverbal and verbal skills of a trained therapist, one who understands thoroughly the nuances of how to best employ dance and movement to facilitate healing.

Dance/movement therapy group. (Photo courtesy of ADTA.)

Dance does heal. Yes! Absolutely! It is therapeutic, cathartic, empowering! Dance has been a healing force in communities since time immemorial.

The practice of true clinical dance/movement therapy (DMT), however, is a complex and nuanced one, involving graduate level understanding of all of the following:

psychological theory
human development
multicultural perspectives
group process
behavioral research
psychopathology, psychodiagnosis and assessment skills
dance/movement therapy theory
expressive & communicative aspects of verbal & non-verbal behavior
movement observation and analysis
human anatomy, kinesiology, and basic neuroscience
and clinical applications of DMT with individuals, families & groups
(Source: ADTA.org)

Even though DMT has been an organized profession since 1966, many people exploring the therapeutic use of dance today feel they are creating something “original” and pioneering a new path.

One truth is these paths were actually pioneered decades ago…

Marian Chace: a pioneer of modern day dance/movement therapy.

AND, yet, another truth is that, in fact, we are ALL STILL pioneers.

Dance/movement therapy graduate students at Drexel University

Dance/movement therapists belong to a community of trailblazers that have been on the cutting edge of mind/body medicine since the mid 20th century. However, in a population of over seven billion people, it is hard to hear the voices of less than two thousand dance/movement therapists dispersed around the globe.

But, the number of voices is multiplying. Adding to the chorus, amplified by the power of the internet, are an even greater number of voices proclaiming throughout the world that dance and movement is helping them cope – with cancer, with Parkinson’s disease, with depression, with autism, with Life. If you are a person who is helping others express their emotions through dance or cope through dance… we need you and you need us.

I remember reading once that, by flying in a V formation, geese can fly 71% farther than if they were flying individually. This happens because each flap of the birds’ wings creates an uplift for the birds that follow.

Your flock awaits.

I invite you to learn more about the profession of dance/movement therapy and consider it as a career option. For those of you who already have a Master’s degree in a mental health related field, you can pursue board certification via alternate route training or pursue a PhD in dance/movement therapy. For those of you in the midst of your undergraduate schooling, you might want to take a closer look at these graduate schools offering Master’s degrees in dance/movement therapy. (Note that if relocation to one of the seven graduate programs is not possible for you, alternate route training is also an option.)

Together, let’s grow the research, the scholarship, and practice of dance/movement therapy so that all might understand its efficacy and have access to the healing inherent in dance.

“Barefaced and Beautiful” and I’m Worth It!

Today I stood in front of my classroom of 93 college students and taught my lecture on nonverbal communication wearing no make-up.

An act worthy of a Congressional Badge of Bravery or just another day at the office? I guess that depends…

To many women, the mere idea of being in the spotlight wearing no make-up might instigate sensations not entirely unlike a panic attack.

To others, fewer in number likely, the idea of going au naturel is not out of the ordinary at all but an embraced way of life.

And to the men — well, they have never had to contemplate whether they could walk about the world make-up free, have they? Because men are “good enough,” as is. Or, at least, their eyelashes, skin tone and cheek color are good enough, as is. Ahhh… the double standard – a rich topic worthy of many an hour of discussion! I would love nothing other than to have that conversation over lattes with The Beauty Myth author, Naomi Wolf, herself! Someday perhaps …

But back to today:
Why did I choose to appear in public sans make-up?

This week (Feb 26- Mar 3) is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and today marked the start of “Barefaced and Beautiful, Within and Without,” a national campaign dedicated to promoting healthy body image. This campaign is sponsored by The Renfrew Center, a leader in the field of eating disorder treatment since 1985.

This campaign invites women everywhere to join together for one day and go make-up free to “promote a greater understanding that real beauty and self-esteem truly begin within.”

A noble goal, sure, but what does make-up have to do with eating disorder awareness?

Susan Kleinman, a board-certified dance/movement therapist with decades of experience treating individuals with eating disorders, speaks to this connection at length in the article, “The Connection Between Make-up and Mental Health.”

In a nutshell, people who suffer from an eating disorder also contend with a negative body image. A recent survey done by the Renfrew Center showed that almost half of women polled voiced negative feelings about themselves when they go without make-up. Kleinman distinguished between make-up worn as an accessory and makeup worn as a mask, perhaps concealing underlying feelings of inadequacy and shame.

There can be a connection and Kleinman connects the dots articulately in the article.

I’ll fess up. I was a bit anxious as this day approached. But just a little. My husband laughed at me lovingly as I did “not” get ready for work and told me I was beautiful. I told him he was very smart.

When I actually walked into my classroom today, make-up free, I had more confidence than when I walked in on the first day of the semester all dolled up to make a good first impression. On this day, at this point in my life, addressing my students bare-faced didn’t faze me.

But had I been sitting in one of those chairs as my 20 year old self, I don’t think I could have participated in the campaign. I certainly could not have when I was a teenager. High school and college were the years that I, myself, was battling my own eating disorder, bulimia. Those were the days when I would actually miss mandatory classes because I perceived myself “too fat” to be in front of other people – a dock to my permanent grade was excruciating but somehow less painful than letting others see me when I “knew” I looked disgusting.

When I remember that young woman, I wish I could go back in time and hug her. I wish I could look her in the eyes and convey to her that there is a way out of the cage. I wish I could tell her that she will someday be me, a woman who loves her body just as it is and loves herself, just as she is.

As I walked to my car after the class ended today I had a spring to my step. It was cold and windy and the rain had just stopped – the clouds hid any ray of sunshine. But I was invigorated. I felt light and the world around me looked glorious. I felt glorious.

Everyone across the country who participated today will have a unique and emotionally complex experience to reflect upon, undoubtedly. But my experience on this day was one of victory. Knowing on an embodied level, at long last, that I am enough because of WHO I AM rather than WHAT I look like is a triumph. It has been a long time coming.

I teach again tomorrow. I think I’ll forego the makeup one more day and enjoy 15 more minutes of sleep.

You know what, L’ Oréal? I’m worth it.

Barefaced and Beautiful, Without and Within!