Last night in New York City, I met my manager and a few others for a business meeting and afterward we went to visit a friend whose band was playing in Tribeca. It was a French bistro and they were playing Latin music.
 
When we arrived, no one was dancing, a contrast to every other place in the city where they pack the dance floors. The music was good enough to make a meditating monk get up and boogie. Yet still, according to the band, it's dead like this every week despite their efforts.

So my girlfriends and I, yogis all, did what we had to do. We put our purses down and created a dance floor of our own.

Within 10 minutes, 20 other people came out there with us--the same ones who supposedly never dance--filling the space, and having a great time. It stayed like this for the next 2 hours until a grateful and sweaty band was packing up to go. Where as the restaurant manager was telling them to keep it down earlier in the evening, he was clapping and supporting the party by the end. He was even up there with us at one point, shaking it like a Polaroid picture.

One of the band members approached us afterward and said, "It's so much better for us to have an energy exchange we can draw from. Thank you for being in such a state of perpetual celebration!"

That beautiful phrase struck me, and I realized that in order to create fun, adventure and magic wherever we go, we can each cultivate our lives into becoming constant expressions of our vitality and gratitude. The yogi understands that their innermost state is one of perpetual celebration, and then sets about doing the work it takes to keep themselves readily available to that source of love and light.

If we are always dancing on the inside, then why is it so incredibly challenging to access that feeling? After all, life doesn't always provide us with a bistro and a great band. We are sometimes asked to seek our vibrant center in the midst of heartache, grief and the stress of uncertainty. How can we find the beat when there doesn't seem to be music at all?

We can look to the yoga asanas for a clue. Our teachers ask us to enter into intense situations--like holding Warrior Two for what seems like an eternity. Then we are directed to channel the big energy of those sensations into something that lights us up, and moves us towards sparking more transformation instead of less.

We do this in part by learning to understand our satya, or truth, at its most distilled essence. A more superficial reaction might tell you that your burning quads are uncomfortable, and that could be true. But it's not your ultimate Truth, which, upon reflection, might help you see that besides being uncomfortable, that Warrior Pose is also giving you the opportunity to be powerful. Yogis don't run away from the fire of our existence. We walk straight through. And sometimes, if we lack outer support, like that night on the empty dance floor--we simply have to go first.

I remind my students that they are more than exercisers. They are conduits, channeling the heat of their inherent life force, prana, toward their most passionate expressions of who they are. This results in a strong, supple body, a mind able to focus on what matters, stories that we re-write to be empowering, and engaging in one of the  foundational practices of yoga--dissolving resistance to our greatness wherever we find it.

In this way, yogis face down any fear, any difficulty and endure the sensations of suffering until they find a way to use it to their advantage. Even if no one else is on the dance floor with you and you feel alone, your heart is breaking or people are disappointing your expectations, you can dive into that perpetual celebration inside, and even through your tears, bow to your next doorway to wisdom, integrity and living out loud.

Say "thank you" first--then, get to dancing!

Core Pose:
Dancing Fan Pose

This is a favorite variation on Fan Pose, one I use whenever I want to loosen up my legs, and access my creative source energy that can too often become constricted by tight hips.

Come into Fan, feet parallel, and spaced wide enough apart so you can bring your palms to the floor or onto a block.

Begin to bend one knee, and stretch into the inner thigh of the straighter leg even as you build heat in the bent one. Make sure to maintain healthy alignment with your knees always facing the same direction as your toes.

You can get more wild and free with this movement, swaying from side to side as one leg bands, then the other, or try a longer hold if you're loving the stretch. This will help you remove obstacles to your inherent sense of play, freedom and ability to dance  anywhere, any time.

Do Dancing Fan for one minute or more.