After tonights Dragon Dance practice I realized I am becoming more and more comfortable with being in the dragon. I am starting to experience moments of joy and happiness. To some that may not seem out of the ordinary, but I have not always felt this way when it comes to dragon dancing.
My very first year of the IHC included learning to Dragon Dance and performing in the dragon for the Chinese New Year's banquet. That was a year of many firsts. I was constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone and the dragon caused me an enormous amount of anxiety. I actually had my first panic attack that year as a result. Being attached to 8 other team members and knowing that if I mess up it would affect everyone else as well. The dragon is a team of 9 people all relying on each other. Once in motion there are a lot of moving pieces. The responsibility feels enormous.
Our dragon dance performance that year did give me a measure of accomplishment but mostly I was just relieved to be done. Afterwards I thought I would never get back into a dragon. I had done it and checked it off the list so to speak. I did take a bit of a break from the dragon and then eventually stepped back into it off and on. I was even able to take part in the dragon dance performance again at our last in person banquet when Logan earned his black belt. Still out of my comfort zone though.
Dragon dancing has slowly become less stressful. In addition to the team work and communication required I feel like dragon dancing is a bit like sparring. And even though we haven't been able to spar much in class over the past two years I am still finding ways to apply the lessons from sparring to other activities and everyday life. Being a part of the dragon requires me to be aware of what's going on around me, and my fellow dragon dancers. I also need to be able to react and make adjustments while in motion. Staying calm and breathing come into play as well. I am happy to say I am becoming more confident in myself and actually beginning to enjoy the dragon. I am happy to have made it to this point and am enjoying this journey.
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