Meditation in Motion: A Journey of Dance, Yoga, and Remembering

The Dream of Movement

When I was a youngster, I longed to dance. Not just in a casual way, but with the kind of abandon that made my spirit soar. In my dreams, I danced on rooftops like the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins. I know it might sound silly, but as a child, I felt it in my whole heart. I was young, impressionable, and filled with the wonder of what movement could be. There was something magical about it—the idea that dance could lift me beyond the ordinary world and into something extraordinary.

As I grew, dance became my outlet for self-expression.

The Journey of Learning Dance

Though I was never a professional dancer, I was always a student of dance.

In middle school, I took a few jazz classes at a local dance studio. In high school, I studied ballet for a semester and danced whenever I could with my friends, many of whom introduced me to the rich rhythms of Latino dances—salsa, cumbia, merengue, banda.

Later in life, I married a man who loved ballroom dancing, and he taught me so much. I also explored belly dance, taking a couple of classes as an adult. But my love for dance went beyond formal lessons—I studied movement at home, watching videos, absorbing technique, analyzing footwork and form the way a football fan studies their favorite team. I couldn’t get enough. Dance wasn’t just something I did—it was something I lived.

When the Dance Moved Through Me

At a certain point, something shifted.

I began to dance while in alignment, while in meditation. The movement stopped feeling like something I was doing and instead became something that was happening through me. The dance began to move me without effort.

And then something remarkable happened.

I wasn’t just moving—I was remembering.

The dance that moved through me felt foreign, like something I had never learned in this lifetime. I asked God what I was dancing, and I heard one word: "Mudras."

A word I barely knew, and yet my body seemed to know it intimately.

A Fascination with Sacred Dance and Mudras

That single word sent me on a journey of discovery. I began watching videos of sacred Indian dance, fascinated by the graceful, intentional movements. I studied the meanings behind the mudras, learning how they symbolized elements of nature, deities, emotions, and spiritual principles.

Though I never formally trained in Hindu dance forms like Bharatanatyam or Kathak, I filled my desire for understanding by observing, learning, and absorbing the deeper meanings behind the gestures. What struck me most was how dance could be more than movement—it could be a form of devotion, a way to express something sacred.

The more I explored, the more I marveled at what my body had instinctively done in meditation. It felt like a remembering—an ancient knowing rising to the surface. Whether it was past-life memory or simply the universality of movement, I may never know. But what I did know was that dance, for me, had always been a form of connection—to myself, to energy, to something greater than words could express.

Movement Beyond Dance—Discovering Yoga

Shortly after this experience with mudras, something similar began to happen with yoga.

I took up a yoga practice and started studying online at https://courses.onlineyoga.school. The same intuitive movement I had experienced with dance began to flow through me in yoga.

I would begin in Mountain Pose (Tadasana)—standing tall with feet grounded, spine elongated, and hands at my sides or in prayer position. It is a simple yet foundational pose, a posture of presence and balance. And from that stillness, I would start to see and feel the yoga poses moving through me.

It wasn’t anything elaborate—I was never standing on my head. But I did naturally move into poses that I later realized were designed to support core strength, balance, and spinal health—and boy, I needed that!

My point is that through alignment, the poses came to me. I didn’t have to memorize them. They flowed naturally, just as the dance had before.

Even so, I studied the poses to build a solid understanding of what they could do for me. I wanted to know how each movement supported my body, how it encouraged healing and strength. And what I discovered was profound: just 20 or so poses in a brief morning routine brought my body healing energy.

Yoga became more than stretching or exercise—it was a form of energy work, a way to nourish my body and restore balance.

A Changing Relationship with Movement

I don’t dance or do yoga like I used to.

This past year, I have almost given them up entirely due to spinal stenosis. I’m still recovering from the surgery I had last October, and my body is relearning what it means to move. Some days, I feel the absence of movement like a phantom limb—a part of me that longs to stretch, twirl, flow, and lose itself in the rhythm.

But just because I don’t move the way I once did doesn’t mean I don’t dream of it. I still love it. I still imagine myself cutting a rug in the living room, feeling the music pulse through my bones. I still envision stepping into a yoga pose and feeling the deep breath of alignment move through me.

Though I don’t practice yoga the way I once did, I still incorporate it into my life. As my body recovers, I continue adding more poses, slowly building my strength and balance again. Even in small doses, the energy of yoga continues to heal me, helping me reconnect with my body in a gentle, intuitive way.

Energy Never Disappears—It Transforms

This has been one of my greatest lessons—not just about dance and yoga, but about life itself.

Energy does not disappear; it transforms. The same vitality that once propelled my feet across the floor now moves through my voice, my hands, my writing, my spiritual practice. What once found expression in movement now finds its way through other channels, just as creative energy, when consciously directed, can manifest in countless ways.

Maybe I will dance again the way I once did. Maybe I won’t. But what matters is that the energy of movement, the essence of what it means to be in flow, still courses through me. It is still alive in the way I live, in the way I express myself, in the way I connect with the world.

Returning to the Dance

Mastery of energy is not about suppression but about sacred transformation. Whether through dance, art, music, yoga, or spoken word, true intimacy with life comes from conscious expression. The child in me who once danced on rooftops had already touched something sacred—an understanding that movement, when aligned with spirit, is a form of divine communication.

And perhaps that communication is timeless.

Perhaps, one day soon, I will find myself dancing again, even if it’s just in the living room, barefoot, with joy in my heart. Because dance—true dance—is not about the steps we take but about the energy we embody. It is about being fully alive, fully present, and fully in tune with the rhythm of the universe.

And that rhythm never stops.

Jennifer Lasell is a seasoned Psychic Medium with over 30 years of experience. A dedicated student of the wisdom traditions, she integrates profound spiritual wisdom into her practice, helping clients navigate their spiritual journeys with clarity and insight. Jennifer sees clients in her one-on-one practice—book online at www.jenniferlasell.com.

She is also a Co-Teacher of the One-Year Psychic Development Program at Age of Aquarius in Paradise, California (www.ageofaquariuschico.com), where she guides others in their spiritual awakening and self-discovery.

Jennifer has spent decades using Dowsing for Spiritual Reading. She now teaches Dowsing to Remove Blocks to Creative Flow and Journaling, a new workshop designed to unlock creative potential and remove energetic obstacles.