The top 5 biggest connections between massage and dance for me: body awareness, expression, breath, letting go and trust.
One of my biggest transformations in massage school was the heightened awareness I got of my body. I didn’t realize how disconnected I was from myself. I lived so much in my head alone dealing with thoughts, would- ofs, could-ofs and should-ofs. Once I started getting bodywork, I realized my arms, legs, belly and feet were a part of me too! I began to feel and BE a whole person! Dancing has been all about body consciousness for me- moving to the varying beats and rhythms, moving just certain parts of my body…EXPRESSION of who I am in that very moment. I read a quote the other day from a beloved dancer Merce Cunningham,”You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.” One could claim a bodywork session is just this too. Through this expression and this greater presence to myself, I really got in tune with my breath- how shallow or deep it can be, how it can help me move through the session and power me through the dance! I have begun to allow my breath to move me…and in this movement comes a letting go. A letting go of of the tension I’m feeling in my body or the body,a letting go of the day I experienced that challenged me and/or inspired me. Learning how to let go in a massage session, giving or receiving, and in the dance, truly is teaching me to, well, at the risk of sounding corny, not to sweat the small stuff.
But then most of all, TRUST. Massage and Dance have taught me to trust and be trusted. How deep! Seriously though, it is an honor that individuals trust me to work with them in session; in the salsa dance, I have to trust my partner to not drop me and be with me. I can’t dance alone. It seems fitting then, that individuals have told me that the massage session they received from me, well, it was like I was dancing with their body. And to that I reply, I was. This dance, these dances have transformed my life and I expect will only continue to do so.

Every month, after the community connection spotlight has been introduced, SASS will offer a give-a-way gifted from this business. It’s easy to play:

1) Read Question
2) Respond by that Friday with your sassy answer and
be entered into the raffle.
3) WIN a FREE gift

terms: must live in Austin, TX to play; each Friday at 12am contest closes for that week; winner will be contacted that weekend for gift arrangement; winner will be announced the following Wed.

REMEMBER: This month, the super sassy FREEBIE is a 30 minute coaching session with Sonya Davis, marketing mama behind my business branding and Business the Feminine Way! Need a refresher on her business and inspiration?
Click Here

Super Sassy Raffle Question:

What area of your life could use a bit
(or a lot) more vibrancy?
Click here to answer and add your name to our email list

This month SASS spotlights: BUSINESS THE FEMININE WAY

Introducing Sonya Davis, owner of Business the Feminine Way and Soma Vida. She is the marketing mama that helped bring my authentic self into my brand, website and business. She totally helped me SASS it up!
She created Business the Feminine Way^TM principles, tools and techniques she crafted over 10 years as a writer, work/life balance coach, marketing maven and her own self-discovery. Her unique tools provide a pathway to discovering and unleashing your authentic self. She then draws that essence into the foundation of your business’ design and marketing.
I asked Sonya where she discovered the vision for her business and her reply was,

“I have seen that most businesses fail because owners are unable to unlock their own personal obstacles, blocks and limitations. Without knowing the authentic core of the business and creating the magnetism to attract clients, opportunity and abundance, the business will continue to “work harder” and produce little results for a lot of effort. This isn’t working anymore, and we are putting our personal lives, our authentic self and our families in jeopardy. We are finding ourselves unfulfilled and impoverished physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually,” says Sonya.
“I am ready to see individuals thrive in every area of their lives and that starts by knowing who they are and aligning their business and life with their authentic self.”

She is creating an AWESOME paradigm shift in the way we create business and I am just one example. See more about her at www.businessthefeminineway.com.

This year I’ve been driven- driven to revamp my business and meet these goals. Clear goal setting has been an important part in creating a life I love!

How it’s worked for me:

1) Use my imagination to create an inspiring-i’ve always- wanted-to-do-that goal
2) Write it down on paper
3) Post where I can see it everyday
4) Write out, step by step, the things I need to do to get there, detail by detail
5) Take pleasure in crossing each line item off

Apply these 4 steps towards your awesome goal, then email autumn@sassbodywork.com and share all about it with me

So while each year brings a new, fresh drive, my mantra will continue to be, “I work hard, therefor I play hard!”

Visualizing and Manifesting those awesome goals is what I call the Creation Station.

Are you ready for a SASSY month of balance, joy and vitality? We’ve got the information and connections you are seeking to truly find balance: body, mind and soul. This month’s newsletter is filled with juicy tidbits to get your life steadily moving forward towards optimum health. Our articles this month focus on ways to find whole body health through touch, exercise and emotional fitness. Our community connections spotlight leads the way to work/life balance! In the coming weeks, we’ll tell you more about our business spotlight of the month and offer another give-away, so stay tuned and stay sassy!

The Power of Touch By: Cathy Ulrich    (continued)

Massage for Children
Those early statistical studies showed how vital touch is to developing infants. Researchers are also finding that giving massage to premature infants can improve their growth and overall health. A study conducted by the Touch Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Miami found that when stable premature babies were given five, one-minute massages a day, they gained 47 percent more weight than their counterparts who didn’t get massage.
A 2001 study conducted by TRI showed that when mothers gave their infants a 15-minute massage before bedtime, these sleep-challenged kids went to sleep more quickly and were more alert during daytime hours.
Conversely, clinical research and sociological studies link touch deprivation with aggression. A 2002 study reported that adolescents with a history of aggressive behavior showed less aggression and were less anxious after receiving a 20-minute massage twice a week for five weeks.
Massage also reduces the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder so kids can concentrate better, and it’s even been found that the right kind of touch can help kids with autism relate better to teachers and family members.Massage for Elders
People confined to nursing homes rarely get more than daily hygienic care in terms of touch. Yet elders need touch as much as infants, studies show that when they receive regular massage, the elderly have less depression and anxiety, experience better physical coordination, and show a decrease of stress hormone in their saliva.

Geriatric massage is a growing field requiring specialized training, and many massage therapists offer it in their practices. Some nursing homes now provide massage to their residents. Elders appear to respond as well to bodywork as, if not better than, their younger counterparts.Moving Through Life

Moving Through Life By: Sonia Osorio   (continued)

Exercise As Medicine

Krucoff, who co-wrote the book with her husband, Mitchell, a Duke University cardiologist, advocates movement as preventive medicine, saying it’s an ideal way to combat the increasing number of inactivity-related health conditions such as heart disease and obesity. This could actually be expanded to include stress-related conditions. In fact, it’s often this combination of inactivity and increased stress that wreaks havoc on our immune system, endocrine system, and circulatory system. Every system in our body, in fact, responds to stress and inactivity. But, if this is true, then the inverse is also true: every system in our bodies will also respond to movement and pleasure. To make movement pleasurable and to use it as a way to reconnect with our bodies is, in many ways, the perfect antidote to the cycle of inactivity/hyperactivity and stress. As we move more in this way, we gain energy and health, we feel rejuvenated and relaxed, and we become more physically and emotionally aware.

Personal Health
Begin by checking in with yourself as you’re moving through your day: How does your body feel right now? How are you breathing? Where is this movement taking you? Do you feel good? Are you satisfied? Are you happy? If not, then change something. Change how you’re moving, where you’re moving toward, or look at what you’re moving away from.