Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

farther than the negative reinforcement I’d grown accustomed to in dance. I would need to be kind to
my body if I wanted it to heal and perform again the way I wished. Through this poignant revelation, I
found myself on a new path to being “awake,” to loving myself and discovering my true power.
Pilates, which up to that point, had been my secret “bionic” weapon, suddenly became the thing
that held the promise of healing. Helping me to rise from what I perceived to be a humiliating defeat,
it empowered me beyond anything I had known before. It was no longer just a means of developing
physical strength and power; it was the way to rehabilitate my body. Being a conscious participant in
my healing and witnessing my own tangible advancement facilitated my recovery; the difference now
was that I was aware of this miraculous process—I was the one healing myself. It was integral to
finding faith and rebuilding my self-confidence. It was game-changing.
The Birth of Waking Energy
After following a new Pilates regimen and implementing the novel idea of being kind to myself, I
defied the doctors’ prognosis and within weeks I was back on stage receiving accolades—a standing
ovation for my final performance at Royal Festival Hall, a tribute for the queen.
Against all odds, I danced that final performance and danced it well. I knew I had to continue my
Pilates journey when I returned home to the States, but it wasn’t the only journey I would continue. I
told myself that I would begin to unravel the mystery of my psychic unrest and the way it expressed
itself through my body. I would continue to tirelessly explore the elusive dance of the psyche and the
physical form, the sacred intersection of mind and body.
But, as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Rarely does a significant change happen overnight
(especially in the domain of the mind). Even though I’d had a significant epiphany, my ego
overwhelmed my inner wisdom, and I reverted to old ways of being. Intoxicated by the surge of
power I experienced after making my comeback with the aid of Pilates, I continued to push myself and
use my body as a machine more often than I was kind to it. This predictably resulted in another severe
injury—this time, to my lower back—a few years later. Even though I continued dancing and my
career flourished, I tolerated immense levels of pain each day. I moved through life feeling physically
compromised, a constant, dull, nagging reminder that, contrary to appearances, all was not well and
this physical and mental discomfort occupied way too much of my time and my focus—and drained
my energy.
I believed, and this was confirmed by doctors, that the source of my acute back pain was pure
overexertion, a legitimate physical injury; little did I know then that it was also and just as
legitimately my body’s way of finding a repository, a hiding place, for my psychic and emotional
pain. It would take several more years of my continuing to push myself past acceptable limits and
burying the pain, leading to a nervous breakdown and severe depression at twenty-one, before I
would embark on the deep excavation that would lead to a profound and life-changing realization—
that my physical pain had strong emotional roots and that there was no separation between my mind,
my body, and my emotions.
Attempting to heal my chronic lower-back pain, I had tried everything—acupuncture, various
massage techniques, chiropractic care, shamanistic healing, and others, and although these therapies