💃 The Emptiness of the Embrace: Salsa as the Portal to Presence-Centered Surrender

Salsa teaches us that the highest expression of Self happens when we radically surrender the need to control, embodying 'no-mind' through the art of the Follow.

I started salsa lately. It was meant to be just a dance class, a bit of fun. Instead, it became the most exquisite, pulsing mirror of the unfolding process of being.

For so long, in conversations and deep reflections, I’ve been wrestling with how to put words to the ineffable. How do you describe the unity, the oneness, the gorgeous flow that permeates us all, when the words themselves feel like a clumsy net trying to catch liquid light?

In a world obsessed with grasping—for certainty, for control, for a solid self—contemplative traditions often offer us the stark, dry path of "no-mind" or "emptiness." But my heart, and my body, knows a richer, more vibrant truth than the dry void.

I saw it, heart-stoppingly clear, in my third salsa class. I saw that immanence dancing as emptiness is the glorious, heart-stopping rhythm of the dance floor.

The Magnificent Metaphor of the Lead and Follow

Imagine yourself on the dance floor, enveloped by the intoxicating Cuban beat. As the Follow, you are not passive; you are the living, breathing canvas upon which the movement is painted. You are being danced by life itself.

I am a natural leader, so learning to Follow has been a glorious unlearning. Here is the first, beautiful lesson I learned: I follow so much more beautifully when I dance with my eyes closed! Insane, I know, but it is true.

The Lead (Life) offers an impulse—a direction, a suggestion with a small nudge. But the true choreographer is the space between you, the music, the moment. Look closely enough, and you realize you are not dancing; you are being danced.

The Moment the Mind Resists

At one point, there was a misattunement. My partner gently pointed out that I had pre-empted the move; I took charge of the step before he had even initiated the lead, forcing him to adapt to me.

Ha! What a wonderful portal to see how the mind resists the beautiful flow of surrender and trust in life!

The flow was only undisturbed when I would touch his fingertips so lightly and allow my whole body to become liquid fire, fluid. Trust must be inherent in our relationship to the dance, and to life.

If I could break down what allowed this deep flow, it would be these things:

* My willingness to absolutely throw myself onto the dance floor and give it a go.

* My open trust in the partner dancing with me—a direct mirror of our relationship to Life and our life's partners.

* My exquisite attunement to the moment, which means noticing the mind not moving to its habitual patterns: predicting, filling in gaps, taking charge, demanding the next step.

Hold Lightly: The Power of No-Grasping

Now, pay exquisite attention to the connection: How do you hold your partner’s hand?

You hold it with a magnificent, knowing looseness. Your fingers curl just enough to feel the texture of their skin, the subtle pressure that gives birth to the next turn.

But if you grasp—if, for a split second, you tighten your hold, trying to force the step or predict the move—what happens?

You lose the step. You become heavy, rigid, and the flow breaks. The moment becomes effort, not grace. If you grasp, you are no longer dancing; you are fighting the music. And in this sense, fighting life.

Our minds constantly want to cling—to solidify a feeling, to grasp a belief:

* "This feeling is mine."

* "I must know the next step."

* "This moment must last."

This is the very tendency of the mind. The task is not to fight it, but simply to attune to the deeper intelligence that lies beneath it.

The Divine Feminine Surrender

The art of the Follow in Salsa is the art of radical surrender. It is the feminine principle in its most powerful, dynamic form.

As I danced (mind you, I’m only on class three!), I realized I disappeared as emptiness dancing. This is the pure feeling of Immanence:

The Divine flow is not outside of us, commanding us from a distance. It is the very movement that moves your feet, the vibration that pulses through your chest. You are inseparable from the flow—a momentary expression of the music’s will.

Contemplative traditions might ask you to sit on a cushion, but my pointing is this: Pick up passionate things you love, and then HONE your awareness right in.

Taking the Dance Floor Into Your Life

How do we take the fluidity of the dance floor and apply it to the beautiful, messy rhythm of our daily lives?

* Emptying: You must empty yourself of your own next-step agenda. You must not project or preconceive. This is the Emptiness of No-Self—the sublime realization that there is no fixed "I" that needs to be in charge.

* Listening: You feel the world (Life's hand) with soft, receptive attention. You are utterly present. You can do this with your morning cup of tea or while washing the dishes. YOU choose your dance floor!

Take a small pause, find your breath, and hold your attention to the effortless movement of your body. Do you have to decide the next moment for your breath to be here? Can you SEE how it just happens?

An Inquiry: Who is Moving All This?

Here is a little exercise that just came as I type:

* Take a notebook and write down anything you see around you that simply happens without any personal effort. Look at examples from nature, your body, your room. Make a list. Make it long.

* Sit and briefly look at your list.

* The inquiry here could be: Is there a WHO that is moving all this?

Stay with this question for some time. Notice when your mind is moving to "next steps" to find the answer. Can you, here, let life (your Lead) point you to the next move in your own consciousness?

Because you are empty, already, you can instantly receive the next impulse and move with effortless grace. You are the expression of the moment.

The paradox is that by letting go of the need to control the step, you become a better dancer.

By holding your fingers loosely on the hands of your thoughts, your feelings, and your life circumstances, you allow yourself to be danced into the highest expression of your being.

Let the beat drop, darling. Hold lightly. Embrace the emptiness, and you will find yourself caught in the wildest, most ecstatic dance of your life.

Where in your life is your mind grasping? Is it your career, your relationships, or maybe just the next breath? Tell me in the comments below: What is your "dance floor" for radical surrender?