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The Surrender Point by The Daily Love

This is such a great article I had to share.  It's always a pleasure receiving 'The Daily Love' Newsletters everyday.  Please sign up..

Paz Amor Luz,

Tru Essencia Dance and Wellness, Inc.

The Surrender Point is the point at which we try and try and try and nothing we "do" seems to work. Maybe we get so impatient, so fed up, so frustrated that we just want to give up and/or let go. OR perhaps we have been in an addictive pattern and life has gotten so unmanageable that we don't know what to do.

 

The Surrender Point is a time in our lives when we get sick and tired of letting our ego and fears run the show; we don't know what to do and we just want to give up.

 

The Surrender Point isn't just a one-time thing; we can have many Surrender Point moments in a year even. But, I believe there is Grace in Surrender Point moments.

 

The Grace is this...

 

Compared to Uni-versal Wisdom, that is the wisdom of the higher order of The Uni-verse, our fears, insecurities and ego have small minded, unaligned agendas.

 

Unaligned? Yes, we cannot think two thoughts at once. We cannot simultaneously think a thought of love and a thought of fear. And as a wise man once said, "Love is what we're born with, fear is what we learn here."

 

So flow with me on this thought for a moment. When we let thoughts of fear dominate our lives, we step out of Love and are no longer in alignment with our Highest Potential. So, like a drop of water separated from the ocean, we separate unknowingly from the Love that sustains us. As a result, our lives, our passion and our hearts begin to become even more consumed with fear. This cycle continues until we hit a Surrender Point. We hit a Surrender Point because the pain of continuing in our fearful habit is finally worse than the pain of changing, facing ourselves and realigning with Love.

 

When we reach a Surrender Point, it should be celebrated. It means that we have finally let go of a lower and unaligned way of living and given in to a higher order of Life. The wisdom and value in the Surrender Point is that we SURRENDER our fear and ask to be filled and aligned with Love in that moment.

 

We step away from our past habits and addictions that have distracted ourselves from ourselves and instead decide to face our shadow. Not with fear, but with Love.

 

Surrender Points are painful in the moment, but in the long run we will see them as some of the greatest moments of our lives.

 

Are there any habits or addictions that you have that you want to give up? How much longer do you want to subtly suffer knowing that you are participating in an unhealthy and unloving habit?

 

How much more pain do you want to endure before you give it up?

 

Do you want The Uni-verse to bring you a Surrender Point, or can you walk away now?

 

I'm urging us to take a deep look at our lives and see what unhealthy and unloving habits, addictions and thoughts we can let go of. Not because it's so painful, but because we know that in doing so, we will liberate ourselves to live alongside a higher order of things.

 

As always, the action happens over on the BLOG; head on over there and leave a comment on my blog "Why it's awesome if you're ready to give up!" The TDL Community thrives in the comments and it's a GREAT place to get support!

 

Love, 

Mastin

Hip Hop Dance and Fitness Workshops in the Boogie Down Bronx 2012

Hip Hop Dance Related Injuries: Knee Strength

Mind, Body, Heart, Soul, Spirit

This is a very familiar topic for dancers of any genre. The injuries.. and if you are lucky and you have health insurance.. God Bless you, but many in the arts are not so lucky and use other means to heal in time for the next gig or job or opportunity.

I am no stranger to injuries related to dance from knees to back pain and spasms. I learned through experience what NOT to do. Starting with:

Improper Warm-Up
I injured my knee while performing a move I was not properly warmed up for. Not a smart move and I paid for it the following morning and there after. I was aware of the importance of warming up, but I was young/naive and took that for granted. My excuse for not warming up thoroughly.. Laziness...

Attention to Time Frame
I waited too long before I actively did anything to properly heal my knee. I did see a doctor for an MRI so I was aware of the damage. The doctor encouraged me to continue with my strength training and rehab it instead of surgery. I knew has a good chance to build my knee strength with proper training. So I focused on building muscle to be better and stronger.

Wear and Tear Over Load
As I trained, my legs were stronger and my knees felt better. But then i craved more and more weight in my training sessions. I would challenge myself by testing my strength squatting 270lbs, Leg Press 720lbs, benching 180lbs.. I would give myself a target and work on reaching it. It was a necessary phase in my workout strategy. My next step was to get on stage and compete. The wear and tear with the weight over load.. intense leg workouts combined with restricted calories and lack of hydration was enough. I went in for orthoscopic surgery shortly after my competition in 2005.

My healing process was challenging, but rewarding.. and it was work. Not only physical work, but mental and spiritual. Stress, lack of proper nutrition, Sleep, mind and body connection to recognize the body signals are signs to look for. Solution, injury prevention through strength, cardio and flexibility training, energizing nutrition, plenty of restful sleep, proper hydration to name a few. Injuries are also self inflicted sometimes without knowing. Everyday we do damage on a cellular level when our spirit is not being nourished. Instead we feed our bodies with negative, judgmental thoughts that causes a reaction that can later produce harmful effects from depression to disease. Developing a strong positive structure in the mind, body, spirit and environment will lead to a longer, happier life.

Easier said than done in many cases.. Start small.. Find a quite peaceful place, even if for just 10mins a day and meditate on the life you want for yourself. Not sure how to meditate? There are plenty of guides online that can help you.

Hip Hop Dance Knee Strengthening
I developed a passion for building muscle at an early age but did not think it was attainable. Now my training sessions are moderate intensity, enough of a challenge for my cardio and strength endurance with less pressure on my joints with heavy loading.

I love leg training days. They are the most challenging for me and requires my focus on form and load. Even as a personal trainer I enjoy workouts with other trainers. I need that extra push of motivation as well. Especially when I am preparing for a competition.

A typical leg workout for me consist of:
A circuit of each element available at most gyms; Machines, Free Weights, Cables and Functional Calisthenics.

Leg Extension, Leg Curls, Free Squats, Leg Press, Deadlifts, Walking Lunges and cable work. I train with weights and without to keep the balance. Calisthenics are just as important. In my opinion it's better to keep the variety and not just one and be consistent. It's fine if you need to take some time off from strength training, a week to a month. But very important to return to maintain your overall well being.

Comment Below;-)

Snap, Pop n' Lock is Snap, Pop n' Rock

The name of our signature hip hop class was created to honor one of our favorite childhood cereals 'Rice Crispy's tagline 'Snap, Crackle, Pop'.

The name was created before the structure of the class was formed. The fact that the name 'Snap' coincides with my dance name SnapShot and 'Pop' with WandeePop is all divine rhythm. So people can stop asking who is 'Lock' LOL

Using 'Lock' was the perfect style to include in the name because it was the Funk Styles we wanted to teach in conjunction with our hip hop party dancing. But we are NOT masters of Locking. We have learned Locking Basics from the creator Don Campbellock, as well as Skeeter Rabbit (RIP), Jazzy Jay & Sugar Pop. But our initial Locking influences are Mr. Wiggles and PopMaster Fable before we had the women's influence in Breakin 1&2 with Loli Pop and Original Locker Toni Basil. So for those who want to learn the Funk Style of Locking please follow one of these instructors, as well as Shabba Doo, Original Locker.

Locking is not a major part of our class structure, but we do perform Locking drills to help with Points, Wrist Rolls, Angles, Locks & Scoops.

WandeePop and I only want to teach what we learned growing up in the Bronx too keep the authenticity of who we are, which is why we are officially changing the name to Snap, Pop & Rock. We are pioneer BGirls in the 80's Hip Hop Party Dancing Style with a taste of Rocking.

Latin Rocking is the original style from the Bronx that we rocked in the jams. We just loved to get down. As well as top rocking. It derives from Latin Inspired Dances such as: Rumba, Salsa, Samba and Mambo.

We are currently changing all Logos and Promotional Materials and will debut the NEW logo soon.

PAZ