So you think you can dance....in the rain?

When was the last time you danced in the rain?  When you were 5 maybe?  As adults, why don’t we see rain as an opportunity for fun and releasing the inner child in us?  Why don’t we just let the stresses of the day go away and decide to dance in the rain instead of complain about how it is keeping us from doing something else?  After all, the earth needs the rain and God sent it so we should be glad in it.

One of my recent yoga classes began with a meditative thought of rain on the rooftops and the pitter patter of droplets as the water falls.  Our instructor described her early morning in the studio that day listening to the sprinkles on the sunlight that was up above us.  As she led us through the beginning of class she described the calming effects of the drops falling out of the sky, and she challenged us to look at rain as a refreshing occurrence.  It brings vast benefits to the earth.  But it benefits us as well.

The description of how the rain fell and how we could use it during our practice to find peace and tranquility was very soothing.  But then the instructor challenged us to take the rain as an opportunity to dance!  She told of children feeling free to dance in the rain, relishing in its falling and holding heads up to try to catch some drops, as if the drops were magical.  She asked us when the last time we danced in the rain.  Do we take the time to appreciate it and let our inner child go so that we can enjoy the experience?

Ironically, I had this very experience only weeks before.  As my family took an evening walk, it began to rain.  My twenty-something children started dancing through the streets as if they were 5 once again.  We all joined in and the freedom, the magic, and the wonder of rain falling from the sky was beautiful, peaceful. 

We were all able to let our inner child go.  The stresses of the day went away and we were able to enjoy the rain that God sent to nourish the earth.  But it nourished us, too.  We were able to dance in the rain, even as adults.  With not a care in the world, and with the wonder of a child, we enjoyed the magic of the moment as a family, and WE DANCED!