The Waters of Yes and consent are alive for me at the moment. Consent in general is circulating in communities in particular. Locally, it is here in Asheville, in the ecstatic dance community…
You should know that very rarely am I not shedding tears of joy during an ecstatic dance gathering. Very rare. These gatherings touch my soul in ways that language defies. My soul and heart KNOWS that we are connected, all of us, all of life, in fact. And it is in our disconnection that we get lost. And hurt. Violence occurs out of pain and fear and we are exposed to this constantly in our news cycles and media. But when a container is created, with intention, for peace and love and connection to prevail, it is precious. Like water, the difference is between raging, chaotic rapids and an eddy, or even calmer.
Because I am curious, because I am thirsty and hungry to learn and explore, I have resurrected these “waters of yes” reflections to uncover navigation principles for these waters. And what’s up at the moment is this principle of consent between humans. The bow of a “namaste” from one to the other, acknowledging what is sacred in one another, sovereign and meeting there in sanctity.
This will likely be an ongoing reflection and discovery process for me, and I welcome it. A lot like a kayaker learns the rapids, a surfer, the waves or a rock climber, the rock face. And I have no interest in redefining what for so many others have crafted with well thought, well-discussed, and heartfelt explorations of what consent is and isn’t. A start will be this share, a link to the Asheville Movement Collective who have articulated their own navigation principles for the intention of their dance space and, in particular, around this idea of consent: Asheville Movement Collective – Space Holding Consent
Here is one facet of what I love about their acknowledgement and intention…the recognition of power, privilege and the imbalance that we all find ourselves in at the moment. And for a kayaker, a surfer, a rock climber and yes even a dancer or a lover, imbalance will assuredly result in a fall, and sometimes, that comes with some hurt, harm, injury even and in some cases, death.
The invitation for me is to learn that balance, that must originate from within but also, impossible to ignore, with what is outside of me as well. Honoring it all…the rapids and calm, the giant faces of waves and the ankle high ones, the granite and the sandstone, the yes and the no from another. The principle is choosing flow… to be in it, these waters, or getting out and re-grouping. Healing. Re-membering soverignty and inner balalnce. And then choosing to dance, to love, to climb, to paddle, to surf.
My one-handed bow, my yes, my “namaste,” is ackowledging your soverignty, your sacred, empowered and balanced choice to choose…a yes, or a no. A simple bow of acknowledgement that what we do share, and thrive in and choose are indeed these waters and this undeniable container of relationship. The next steps…will always be ours.
