Month: June 2019 (Page 3 of 3)

by Hannah Mahoney,
Foothills Member and Belly Dancing Instructor
Testimonial Given During Worship 6.9.19

My relationship with my body opened up when we were about 15. 

Something clicked for me inside, and I realized for the first time that I had a body that was my very own, that I was in charge of my body, and that this body would be my dwelling place on Earth until death.  I remember the day that this idea came over me, and I remember my young heart being filled with such a tender gratitude for my body, made especially for me.  The feeling was so powerful that I promised myself I would keep it in my heart no matter what. I decided to love my body, unconditionally, forever. 

This time in life can be very difficult for young people, changing bodies and extreme emotions, pressure and anxiety and uncertainty. My best girlfriends all struggled with eating disorders, and it broke my heart not to be able to help them see their own beauty and worthiness. I clung fiercely to my promise, my gratitude and grace for my body, and my sense of empowerment grew.  At the age of 15, the universe tapped me on the shoulder. I opened the phone book and found a belly dance teacher. Even then, Fort Collins had a vibrant belly dance community.  Many classes and teachers were available, and there were lots of opportunities to perform and to see others perform.  For the first time, I saw people of all shapes and sizes and ages expressing themselves with their bodies in a fascinating language, expressing their hearts through movements that seemed both ancient and fresh to me.  I knew I had found my people. 

A whole new world opened up for me during those first months of class.  I discovered more muscles than I knew I had, and learned to move my body in ways that I didn’t even know were possible. When things came easily to me, I caught fire! And when things were very difficult I rose to the occasion, practicing, watching the masters, paying attention to my own body and feeling my way. I learned to listen to my body on another level. 

I kept belly dancing, and at 18 I began teaching. Sharing the experience of belly dance with others is one of the greatest joys of my life. Getting to witness people as they begin to see their bodies and recognize their power and beauty in a new way is an incredible gift. 

This summer I’m 35, belly dancing for 20 years, and I feel like I’m just getting started. Learning the language of belly dance has required a lot of patience and practice, slowly working with my body to isolate and articulate and undulate and reverberate. As my body and I become more fluent, movements and patterns and shapes become known to my body, I don’t have to think about them in the same way–my body knows what to do–muscle memory. I can free my mind to trace the edges and refine and experiment as my body moves. And then like any language, when you reach a certain level of fluency, you can begin to flow, to transcend.

My body has taught me that together, we can reach these moments of transcendence. Putting in the practice together, listening to my body and giving it what it needs to get stronger and feel better, giving myself some grace and never slamming or forcing. 

As a young person, I remember being exposed to many dramatic and appealing and kind of self-destructive dance moves, and I have certainly injured myself when I’ve sold out for drama. As I grow I am always climbing and pushing, but I don’t betray myself in pursuit of a certain look or shape. I work with what I have and search for the next level of what might be possible. There’s always another layer to discover. 

Belly dance has connected me to my body in a deeper way. When we dance, we are one. My thoughts float away, I’m fully embodied, and I feel like we are connected with everybody who has come before and everybody who is here right now, and everybody who has not yet been born. We can transcend time and space and feel the depth and grace of our humanity, send a message of love to our brothers and sisters, and know that we have answered the call. 

To dance is to be alive. To be alive is to be embodied. To be embodied is to embrace yourself and let your heart shine out.

Katie Watkins

Katie believes the best things in life are the result of collaboration and diverse perspectives coming together to produce something greater than any individual could. She is passionate about systems, efficiency and collaboration for better community outcomes. She loves dreaming up the big picture and drafting the roadmap to make it happen. She has a background in operations, fundraising, communications and program development, as well as over a decade of nonprofit management experience in Northern Colorado.

Her greatest joy in life comes from her family. Her husband, Steven, a principal at Wellington Middle School, and daughters Emmaline and Esmae are the lights of her life. Together they love mountains, music and all kinds of food. She is passionate about women supporting other women in all stages of life and especially through the critical moments that make or break us. She believes that one of the most important things in life is to be kind.

Being outdoors makes her soul come alive. It always roots her in gratitude and is one of the reasons she loves living in Fort Collins.

Your body is welcome here, all of it.
Yes, even that part. And that part. And yes, even that part.
The parts you love, and the parts you don’t.
For in this place we come with all that we are
All that we have been,
And all that we are going to be.

It is from our bodies after all that all life flows and is experienced.
Our highest moments of connective pleasure and lowest valleys of pain – and every moment in between – play out on and within – a body. Your body. Your children’s bodies, your co-workers’ bodies, your parents bodies – all bodies, everywhere. 

Bodies are the place where the political becomes personal, becomes fleshy. Where toxic norms of good bodies and bad bodies, shameful bodies and ideal bodies, worthy bodies and dangerous bodies, ‘normal’ bodies and disabled bodies; collide with our lives. 

For many of us, our relationship with our bodies is unhealthy; having absorbed distorted messages of shame and unworthiness, having been a victim to violence and fear mongering because of the gift of our bodies. 

During this series take the challenge offered to us by black activist & author of This Body Is Not An Apology, Sonya Renee Taylor, to make peace with our bodies, to practice radical self-love for our bodies. 

But this is not just for us, Taylor contends that as we practice this radical self-love it opens up the possibility of being in true, deep, and just relationships with other bodies. l. As Taylor writes “Radical self-love demands that we see ourselves and others in the fullness of our complexities and intersections and that we work to create space for those intersections.” 

Bodies as sources of wisdom, agency and power. 
Bodies worthy at every age, every ability, every health status. 
Bodies as place of transformation — personal and political. 

Sunday Services

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean is Foothills Acting Senior Minister while Rev. Gretchen is on Sabbatical.
Responsible for Worship, Justice Ministries, Faith Formation Strategies and sits on Foothills Executive Leadership Team with Director of Finances and Operations Katie Watkins.

Sean was born on Treaty 7 land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and comes to Foothills after four years in New England where he completed seminary at Harvard Divinity School where he studied alongside future imams, rabbis, justice activists, and other Unitarian Universalists. Sean is a self-proclaimed nerd — particularly about history, current politics, science, and Star Wars. Outside of ministry you will find Sean hiking or cooking up a storm with his partner Charles, watching his son’s basketball games, all under the watchful eye of their dog Dollie.