Do you feel a strong sense of personal direction, clarity about your purpose in life, and confidence that you are making the right moves to get there? The A Blythe Coach Dance Through Any Difficulty Framework of Grounding, Centering, Orienting, Creating, Relating is woven into all of my coaching and teaching work and it helps […]
Centering and integrating generates power for movement and taking effective action from the core of your being, your core values and beliefs, and your deepest and most efficient muscle groups providing a strong and effective powerhouse.
I love to “shake it out” after the focused effort of dance movements and yoga poses. This way we can release excess tension that may build up during exercises. There are psychological and spiritual benefits of letting go as well, and I share a variety of techniques in this article.
Haiku #99 of 2021 by Blythe C. Stephens (inspired by Emerson) Poet as sayerrecognize experience,beauty, report back My Passion for Poetry I love poetry! I enjoy reading it, writing it, sharing it, using it for teaching and inspiring choreography. What do you use poetry for? Who are your favorite authors? Ever since I was a […]
In the last couple of years I’ve picked up bullet journaling as a component of my goal-setting, project-planning, annual, monthly, and weekly organization system. It resonates for me because as a kid I loved scrapbooking and collage, as well as personal growth, and as a coach I promote finding what works for my clients in terms of their systems.
While writing about the evolution of my morning ritual, I realized that the sacred time I spend preparing for my day is as much about what I avoid doing as the actions that I choose to take. That is, in order for me to focus and get into the head space I require, there are platforms and activities that I save for when my ritual is complete, later in the day, or that I skip altogether.
My daily ritual has grown to include practices that facilitate physical, mental, and spiritual well being and abundant creativity. When I complete these actions on a daily basis, I develop clarity and momentum, feel inspired and strong, experience less pain, and am able to coach, dance, teach, write, and engage with ideas and people in a well-grounded and present way.
Do you ever feel distracted, floaty, overwhelmed, or disconnected? Creating a stable, grounded, foundation is the first step in building a supportive yoga practice, dancing posture, and well-designed yet flexible life.
An interview with one of my most influential yoga teachers and friend Agi Fry, creator of Agi Ageless Living: we talk about what brought Agi to yoga, her lineage of teachers and connection to yoga philosophy, using it as a tool to balance the nervous system, relax, and heal, student-centered pedagogy, bringing things forth from the inside rather than putting them “on”, recovering from pain and trauma, her flight from the Hungarian revolution as a child, balancing multiple responsibilities and interests, bucket lists, and more.
A delightful conversation with fellow dance educator and UNCSA alumnus as well as super-talented and wonderful guy, Matthew Donnell! We talk about the highs and lows of being a multi-passionate jack-of-all-trades, his highlights as a professional ballet dancer, how to fall down and get back up again, the importance of révérence, character dance, and technique variety in ballet training, developing character in dancers and human beings, serving our communities, helping dancers find their voice, and assert that all people are valuable!
