Shall We Dance? – Dancing on the Edge of Discomfort

I am at Week One – Day Two of an online retreat, led by Christine Valters Paintner, an amazing Benedictine Abbess. She resides in a monastery in Galway, Ireland (www.abbeyofthearts.com) and teaches online. This course is called “A Midwinter God – Making a Conscious Underworld Journey”.
Her daily reflection includes an exercise about the breath and about residing in discomfort. Her instructions, briefly put, are to use a 4 part breath cycle slowly. Inhale…pause …exhale…pause. In my shamanic training we used this breath to experience “little death” – that space of no breath and the sensations that arise.
Part of Christine’s lesson is about “dancing on the edge of discomfort”.
For a brief time I sold my daughter’s fashion line of clothes; in the early days I “cold called” on boutiques. When a buyer looked puzzled as to why I would do that, I would say, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” And they would smile and nod and we would go from there.
Many times in my life I have had an opportunity to do things at the edge of discomfort. Sometimes the willingness – saying Yes – was all that was required and I didn’t need to do it (whew!). However far it went, I felt rewarded by the Universe in practicing willingness. It was the right thing I was supposed to do. Frequently, the rewards of my attitude of willingness far outweighed the effort I had spent.
This year, from what I am hearing and reading, looks like an opportunity for all of us to notice our current dance. We may be learning new dance steps. To literally dance a new dance, we need to be balanced and when we need to move we need not be caught flat-footed. And as always, breathe.