How I remain grounded & positive (even through the storms)

3 tips belly dance egyptian grounded hacks how i remain how i remain grounded and positive joana life hacks positive saahirah through the storms

It´s been a crazy ride - this year, this decade, this life.

Whoever knows me, even superficially, often comments on my unwavering positivity and strength.

- Even when you´re in deep s"#$%, you´re still going up and delivering inspiring work! The sadder you are, the more positive you seem to be.- A friend recently told me with a mix of admiration and criticism.

-You´re always on the move, accomplishing your dreams, no matter what. - People have always told me.

It´s a fact: come rain or come shine, I´m rocking.

I may be down, up, lost, or found; I may feel like crap, amazing, or so-so; I may be filled with hope, despair, or anger; it may be night or day in my internal world but, baby, I assure you I´m rocking.

You may call it resilience, stubbornness, delusion, even fake (yes, I´ve been told I couldn´t possibly be down and up, simultaneously by someone who clearly doesn´t know me or the intricate functioning of a Gemini mind).

You may call it whatever you like.

I call it Joana´s SURVIVAL KIT. It wasn´t given to me, taken from a book or from a course; there are no degrees, certificates, or added lines to a curriculum involved.

My SURVIVAL KIT was created from a combination of life experience - my experience - and common sense, two resources most of us tend to underestimate.

Because I´m a compulsive sharer and we do need a few guidelines on how to navigate the crazy times we´re living in, here is

1. I see Happiness and Success as a Dynamic Adventure of ups and downs, gains and losses, light and darkness.

Although we´re sold the idea that happiness is the equivalent to an ever-permanent-smiling state of joy, life has taught me otherwise. Happiness is also about the unpleasant and tragic downtimes.

Happiness is a default mode, a neutral internal place, garden or home, where we come back to after a blow, a shock, a sad experience; a "joie de vivre" vibration we can bounce from and back to as life unfolds.

Happiness can be found in sadness, in darkness, in what we didn´t want to experience and cannot understand.

I don´t expect life, or dance, to always feel good, flow, smiley, and sweet. Living, like dancing, is a multidimensional, multicolored, often contradictory experience and I embrace it in all its glory.

The same with success - building a long-term successful career has been one of the pillars of my life. I´ve been doing it for 20 years, non-stop, with no excuses, always expanding.

Success can look like glamour, shine, and making things happen in the outside world and it can also look like going inside our shell, allowing a chapter to die so a new chapter can manifest itself, slowing down in order to create something better, bigger, more meaningful.

Success can mean getting the gig and also not getting it; success can mean having the approval of our industry or building something so out of the box our industry doesn´t know what to do with us.

Success can be a course that sells like hot bread on a Winter´s morning but it can also be a course that sells to less than a handful of students while opening the path to a pioneering road.

Redefining, widening, and strengthening our concepts of Happiness and Success is an essential part of our survival. Try it.

2. Nothing & no one define me except me.

We live in groups and we´re social creatures. We want and need to be liked in order to survive and thrive but we also need to build a solid sense of SELF-WORTH totally independent from the exterior world.

Most of us will feel in heaven if we´re going through a phase when the world seems to adore us, no matter what we do, and feel like garbage when the world ignores or dislikes us.

We measure our self-worth according to the approval of others and that´s not only dumb but dangerous.

As an artist who´s shared and lived from her work for more than 20 years, I´m familiar with the trends and the volatility of external validation: today you´re the best; tomorrow, nobody likes you; today, your work is brilliant, you´re a genius and there´s nothing you can do, wrong; tomorrow, your work is weird, you´re weird, nobody gets you.

If I´d tried to build my sense of self-worth based on the interest or disinterest of the world, I´d be dead meat.

No amount of compliments will inflate my ego; no amount of criticism, or indifference, will demolish it. My ego is mine to manage and so is my soul.

I, and nobody else, define my worth.

3. I Keep creating and moving forward, no matter what.

If you can run, run.

If you can walk, walk.

If you can crawl, crawl.

The goal is "to keep moving forward".

We often presume that if we cannot do as much as we´re used to, we´re powerless, stuck, unable to take charge of our reality. I´ve learned otherwise:

Sometimes, I do a lot; other times, I do less; but I keep doing, rolling, stepping towards the horizons that fill me with purpose.

Sometimes, I´m super creative; other times, I´m not so creative; but I keep creating.

Sometimes, I´m fast and sometimes I´m slow. No matter what, I keep moving, thinking, feeling, reacting, and acting upon life.

Limitations are NOT impossibilities, just conditions. We can dance & live beautifully with limitations. Using obstacles, or adverse conditions, as an excuse to fall into victimhood - I can´t, I´m unable, I´m worthless - is easy and very tempting but it´s not constructive.

Work with what you have. When you have more or better conditions, you´ll use them too.

Create in darkness and in light, in sadness and in joy, slowly or fast. Create out of despair or hope, create to express yourself or/and to save your life.

Create.

4. Back to the Basics

You've heard it a million times and for good reason: health is the most precious gift we can have. Still, we overlook it, especially when times are hard and our focus gets lost.

Optimal health is an essential part of my Survival Kit. I said HEALTH, not "fitting into a beauty standard" or following the sheep in any shape or form. Because I´m a practical, results-oriented, do-it kind of person, I keep it simple and sustainable.

What´s the use of recommending megalomaniac strategies that aren´t realistic for most of us? I´m all for DOABLE & SUSTAINABLE.

~ Eat & drink healthy, consistently.

No processed food, excessive sugar, or bad fats; more vegetables, fruits, and chemical-free food. Drink water, natural juices, and other organic beverages that don´t come from a factory.

~ Exercise in moderation, consistently

Walk, run, do yoga, dance, do gymnastics, whatever you fancy. An active lifestyle promotes happiness hormones, blood circulation, muscle and bone density, flexibility, and energy for the brain. We need those goodies in order to remain grounded and optimistic.

~ Feed Positive THINKING, SPEAKING, and DOING.

Monitor yourself: be aware of your thought patterns, the words you utter the most, your attitudes towards yourself and others.

Choose - mindfully - the thoughts, words, and actions that come from a positive, loving, and truthful place. Try to apply them as much as possible in your daily life.

~ Invest in Sleep Quality

Rest is as important as activity. The rest you get from sleep is the most important of them all.

Sleep restores our system, allows our hormones to reorganize themselves, helps us digest the experiences life provides, allows our Being - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual - to renew itself.

Consider your sleep, sacred.

Eat dinner and drink your water at least 3 hours before you go to sleep.

Create a soothing, comfortable, clean environment in your bedroom. I personally value a good-quality mattress, pillows, and sheets; having an oil diffuser with lavender working in the bedroom a couple of hours before we sleep is also a favorite of mine.

All the money spent on the quality of sleep is money well spent.

Don´t allow machines in the bedroom - mobiles and computers with or without wifi stay outside the bedroom.

Have a nice book and a cup of lavender tea nearby in preparation for dozing off.

5. Daily Meditation

I´ve been an advocate for Daily Meditation since I started practicing it, consistently - that means at least 10 mins a day -, 3 years ago, and witnessing its effects on my dance and life.

Aside from the basics, a daily practice of Meditation is a golden tool for a grounded, positive attitude at all times.

If you wish to know more about this amazing life hack, check our Online Workshop "Meditation for Oriental Dancers" available at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School.

6. Be clear on your VALUES and live according to them

There´s nothing more grounding or positive than knowing what we stand for and living by those principles.

For me, values like respect, honesty, dignity, courage, and kindness matter. They´re my pillars in terms of what I believe is correct but also, and mostly, according to how I navigate this life.

Walk your talk - be the embodiment of the values that matter the most to you.

7. I embrace the Kali Within

When it´s time to erase, let go of, or finish something, I take a deep long breath and I go fully into it.

Most of us presume that life is about creating, ignoring there´s no creation without destruction.

In order to create, expand, and remain positive, I´m all for destroying the things that bring me down.

Destructive people, circumstances, and behaviors aren´t tolerated. Clearing our environment from destructive elements is essential.

8. I focus on what matters the most

In an age of a thousand distractions and dispersion, being FOCUSED and pruning - cutting the accessory - is seen as something heroic.

And it is.

In order to stay grounded and positive, I focus on what matters the most to me - the work, projects, relationships, activities, and dreams that nourish my soul. Everything else stays outside my focus, as a secondary landscape, or simply ignored.

Zero f"#$%s given to whatever´s not essential.

9. I never lose track of an often forgotten fact: we´re all going to die.

The awareness of my pending death - it can happen at any moment; it´ll happen, sooner or later - keeps me grounded and positive. Big time.

I´m here, now - I may not be here tomorrow. So, let´s get a grip and make the best of the time we´re given on this earth.

Resentment, hate; wasting time and energy on less than positive stuff or people isn´t a part of my life.

Major reality check - remember you´re not here, forever.

10. Last but not least, I OWN & CELEBRATE MY LIFE.

I mean, unconditionally.

Celebrate the fall and the rising, the sadness and the joy, the sweet and the sour.

Celebrating life as it is maybe the most empowering, grounding, and positive thing you can do.

Bring it all in;

Embrace the entire deal;

Make a party out of every phase, every bump in the road; every victory, too.

We deserve it. Life deserves it.

For further inspiration on how to stay GROUNDED & POSITIVE, even through the storms, check the FREE BOOK CHAPTER I´ve offered our community - "The Art of Falling & Rising Up".

Click HERE to claim your FREE BOOK CHAPTER

Joana Saahirah´s Official Website