Dancing with COPD ~ Get Going!

As we COPDer's know, we either "use it or lose it." Exercise is so very vital to improve our quality of life. Before the diagnosis of COPD, I went dancing all the time. My friend, Alden, and I. We danced all over the city and then some.

It kept me thin, happy, and strengthened my lungs.

So I had to ask myself why did I stop dancing? As with most other things, I had to make a few adjustments to dancing but, hey, it is GREAT exercise and a wonderful antidepressant. This is why I share the following article that arrived in one of my newsletters today.

All I want to do is, All I want to do is dance, dance, dance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just finished dancing. I put on music I love, and I danced on my elliptical trainer and danced in the living room. I feel SO SO SO much better!

I am not an “exerciser.” I really don’t enjoy a gym or weights or anything that smacks of “I should do this because it would be gooooooooooood for me.” My activities need to have some passion to them. That is what gets my blood flowing and my mood soaring.

But I’ll let you in on a secret… as soon as I haven’t been rejoicing in movement for awhile, it gets harder and harder and harder to get moving! Is it the same for you?
I’ve had the thought that I want to be more active—to stretch, dance, and move—at least two dozen times in the past week, and I have not acted on it until this morning. What’s UP with that?

Each time I’d have the positive thought, the thought of what I desire (health, vitality, flexibility), it would be followed by The Indictment: YOU ARE GUILTY of NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH yesterday, or the day before, and _____, ____, __________, and _________. (Fill in your own reasons).
It’s interesting how it’s so easy to move from the positive, action-oriented vision of what we desire to what we do NOT desire. And with that shift from what we want to what we do NOT want, have you noticed that there is a corresponding, instantaneous shift in emotions??? We go from a flash of inspiration to dark depression.

This… is a CLUE. Our emotions are guiding us in where to direct our attention. So this morning, what I did was get up early, meditate, read a spiritually inspiring book, and then stayed focused on my positive vision of my health and my body—my personal internal image of Thriving Rick. And each time a thought that was not a match for my vision came in, before, during, and after the dancing, I just noticed it, noticed the shift to a negative energy, and brought my thoughts back into focus on my positive desire.

Did I have to use

EFT and tap? Yes, once.

“Even though I have not cared for myself, nor moved the way that is healthy for me over the past few weeks, I deeply and completely forgive myself and I choose to move forward towards my positive vision."

I encourage you to dance. Fast, slow, even in your imagination if you are not able to move physically. When I was recovering from my back surgery years ago, I remember listening to music where I could feel myself moving freely, gracefully… soaring with the eagles. I wasn’t literally moving. In fact, I was moaning every time I tried to roll over in bed! Yet, my time in bed was eased by those imaginings, and I have ended up far more flexible and mobile than I was ever before.

So dance in your heart, dance in your mind, dance in your whole body! Dance in joy and gratitude for this wonderful life and the chance to dream.