Tight But Loose. Huh? No, we’re not talking about your booty or your thighs!
Tight But Loose is a principle in the Nia® dance/fitness program I trained in for many years. It’s about being intimate with the music. It’s about knowing your choreography inside and out. So that during the dance, you are creating from a space of play and possibility in the moment. In essence you know where you are going, yet you are able to change anything on a dime. You are tight but loose. The choreography is tight but loose.
Above all, tight but loose refers to creating a system that is changeable. For me this is applicable not only in dance, but also in living and creating!
Tight but loose is a crash of paradoxes . . . that works… and here is what I’ve noticed.
When I’m only being tight without being loose, in creating my life and my business, I manifest a contracted body and being. Likewise, my creations have little breathing room in them. I create such high expectations, get attached to results and I tie myself in knots. Then my writing, my projects, my videos reflect it. When I’m being tight, my creations lack flow and they lack vulnerability. They lack humour. They feel plastic. My creations are begging for some “loose!” Can you relate?
When I’m being only “tight,” I’m trying to get it right.
And the same goes for when I’m only being loose, without being tight. It shows up like I haven’t taken care and I don’t know my craft. As a result, I’m winging it and my audience is asking, “Is this all you got?” Or “You’re not saying anything of relevance to me!” Or, “I’m bored or confused.” My targets of excellence, elegance, education and enthusiasm are missing! I’m on the fly piecing together something that has little to no substance or content. I lose people’s interest.
When I’m only being “loose,” I’m giving a “tri” without the “umph!”
Being tight or loose without the other isn’t wrong or bad. It just is. When you are creating or connecting with an audience, striving to get a message across, tight but loose is something you may wish to practice.
Another way of saying it is being on the ball, practicing your craft, and being willing to let go of how it has to show up!
Questions to inspire and elicit your body’s wisdom…
- If YOU play on the tight side of life, where can you loosen up and what can you let go of?
- If YOU play on the loose side of life, where can you tighten up, hone your skill and do the work?
- What would practicing tight but loose create in your life and your business?