Mindfulness and Square Dancing:
Do-Sa-Do Awareness
by Maya
Frost
When I was 12, one of my best
friends was a square dancer. Twice a week, her family
would pile into the Country Squire station wagon and
head to the Grange Hall, where they'd gather with
their square dancing club for an evening of music,
friendship and do-sa-do. (That’s the correct
spelling, by the way.
As a regular guest, I was
fascinated by the form but, in the height of my coolness-conscious
years, also acutely aware of the overwhelming
dork factor. These people lived to square
dance.
They skipped around for two
or three hours at a time, twirling and smiling and
dabbing at their foreheads between dances. They hunted
for holiday-themed fabric months before special dances
in order to whip up the perfect ruffled dress and
matching shirt for each occasion. They packed their
petticoats and headed to Penticton, British Columbia
every summer for a regional square dancers' convergence.
The square dance girls were
just as boy-crazy as my regular friends, but they
had a built-in way to hold hands with the guys they
liked. As for me, I had a major crush on my friend's
older brother who, at 15, was an articulate, ambitious
student body president with piercing blue eyes and
blond hair to his shoulders—it was 1972, after
all.
In one of our (for me, anyway)
excruciating conversations involving much blushing,
he told me that square dancing was like meditation.
"It's a way to forget about everything except
what's going on right now. You have to pay attention
to what the caller says, and let your mind and body
make sense of it naturally, without trying too hard."
At the time, I had only a
fleeting familiarity with meditation, and I didn't
see much similarity between these suburban, gingham-clad
dancers and the Hare Krishnas who offered carnations
to passersby on downtown street corners.
Years later, I have to marvel
at his insight.
Square dancing IS like meditation.
There's no focusing on memories of the past or worries
about the future. Instead, a square dancer
must remain in a state of acceptance and anticipation.
The caller will determine the next move, and no amount
of second-guessing or outsmarting will help you become
more effective—or more popular.
As a square dancer, you're
surrounded by other dancers but not really attached
to a particular one—your matching outfits notwithstanding—because
you are constantly moving among the others. Your attention
is directed toward whatever comes up—in this
case, the caller's command and your subsequent focus
on that engagement, however brief.
There's a continuous current
of possibilities, and your state is that of relaxed
readiness without any judgment. Other than the moment
your crush happens to be holding your hand, there
is no partner or move that is better than any other.
The beauty is in the
flow of it all and the awareness of being fully there.
For the square dancers, their
Wednesday-and-Saturday-night gatherings provided fellowship,
fitness and an opportunity to really let go. Despite
the hopelessly unhip pointy white shoes and the Hee-Haw
setting, the dancers had discovered a way to make
mindfulness, well, FUN if not exactly cool.
Perhaps it never crossed their
minds that they were engaging in anything but entertaining
exercise. But if a 15-year-old boy—cute or not—could
see it, I'm guessing that others recognized the sense
of connection they gained in an evening of fully-present
partner swinging.
We tend to think of
mindfulness as something to be experienced only through
meditation. WRONG. Mindfulness involves us
100% in the present moment, but we don't need a cushion,
maple bench, or incense to get there.
In our mindful moments, we
are at our finest and most human—open, forgiving,
focused, compassionate and connected. Sitting, standing,
or swinging your partner, that's a good place to be.
Yee-haw!
© Copyright 2004, Maya Frost
Maya Frost
has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her
company, Real-World Mindfulness Training™, she offers
powerful, playful eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation.
To read her free tips and tricks for everday awareness, visit
http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com
