As I stepped out in January 2010 to begin work in schools and share with churches, I had no idea about the journey that God would take me on. I’ve learnt a lot along the way, it’s not always been easy, but God has been consistent and faithful throughout all of it.
That’s the most important thing that I hold on to, that God has always been there, he has carried the purpose of UC Grace, and I have tried to be obedient to that. Sure, I’ve made stumbles along the way, but my desire remains the same, to take people on a journey of a deeper conversation with God using dance and movement .
The further into 2020 we have gone, the clearer it has become, not only how important it is to be in relationship with others who desire to use dance and movement as their language to God, but also to encourage others to encounter dance and movement to deepen their journey with God.
Putting this video together, brought lots of memories back, so many different children and adults that I have had the privilege to teach, encourage, share, and grow in their journey. Sometimes that led to further dance, other times it acted as a stepping stone for them to continue on the journey that God has for them.
My prayer as I continue to grow UC Grace from 2020 onward’s, is that I will rest and lean into what God has planned. That pausing is okay, silence is okay, from out of the silence God will speak more boldly, more extravagantly. To have the courage to try new things, and trust God with the outcome that comes from them.
So whether you have been part of the UC Grace Journey from the beginning or you have joined us more recently. Enjoy the watching the video, where I share a bit more about the journey, relive some highlights from the past 10 years and share some testimonies.
If you’ve not joined the UC Grace journey yet, we would love to have you join. There is lots happening even through this time of change we have experienced. Get in touch for more info, or look on the website.
Keep moving and trusting in Jesus that the plan he has for you, is the one that you are destined for. God will get you there, you might want to take some twists and turns but Jesus will always been there, pick you up and carry you when needed.
Who saw the UK Blessing video yesterday? It was great to see the unity in the church.
Myself (UC Grace) and Prinith (Movement in Worship Birmingham Base) have felt led to organise a UK Dance/ Movement blessing. We want people across different dance ministries, and individuals that simply have a passion for demonstrating their faith through movement, to join us in creating this blessing.
Dear Dancer
We’d love to invite you to take part in a UK project to draw Christian dancers together and create a blessing to people across the UK.
The Vision
To dance to the song The Blessing by The UK Blessing (original Kari Jobe) using this version – https://youtu.be/PUtll3mNj5U
Gathering the videos together we will compile it into video for everyone to share across social media and their networks. We want it to be an opportunity to display the vast ability of dancers, their heart to worship Jesus and share their faith through dance and movement. During covid 19 lockdown, dance places, workshops and performances may have been shut down, but a dancing army have continued to move in their homes and outdoor spaces as they feel led. Dance impacts more than we know and this presents a fantastic opportunity for many to gather and move for our God. Would you like to join us?
The details –
We plan to air the video on Sunday 17th May.
All video submissions need to be received by Sunday 10th May.
Videos must be recorded in landscape
Please do not wear any branded clothes.
Feel free to use banners, flags or other props
Please dance to as much of the song as you feel led to.
It particularly seems so relevant now as so many of us are dancing and moving more than ever have before. 1000 Reasons to dance for our King, is a project about acknowledging all those reasons that we choose to dance for our King, what pulls at our heart, the emotions we bring and experiences we have, the answers to prayer.
I know not all of you dance, but I expect at some point you have been impacted by dance in some way, that is also a good reason to dance for our King. In a time when when everyone needs to be encouraged, when people want to witness the effect that God has on people, when people are asking questions. Let’s be deliberate in understanding why we are moving, what initiates us and takes us on the journey. From there, we have the opportunity to be equipped to share and explain the gospel in a more comprehensive way.
So, my question to you, will you join me on this journey? I know that why you dance today, will be different to why you dance tomorrow. Or how dance impacts you today, will be different to how it impacts you tomorrow. Over the next few months and the month previous, the journey each of us will go on will test our faith, movement and resilience to stand firm with our faith, lean into God and dance for our King. Check out the video below to hear more before the project.
Comment below or drop me an email and let me know if you’re up for it.
Then as you dance and move over the next days, weeks, months, pop me a message and share your reason why you dance for the King. You can do this via email (click here) or phone.
Please do share this with anyone you think would love to join this movement. The #dancingarmy is growing at an immense rate, it is awesome to see God move and witness people choosing to #dancealittlelouder.
Today we celebrate our risen King. Let’s dance somewhere not seen before. Let’s build God’s kingdom and change the atmosphere.
We begin by joining in the 3rd day after Jesus died, the day that he rose again. The two Mary’s found an empty tomb. And an angel told them Jesus was risen just as he said he would. Go and tell the disciples the angels said.
Skipping forward to after the encounters we hear how Jesus then gives us the commission. Let’s read it in the message version. Matthew 28.18-20.
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
I will be with you… He says it, claim it, Jesus will be with you.
As I prepared for today I asked God to be specific about what I could bring on a Easter Sunday like we won’t have again in our lifetime. What could I challenge you, encourage you, show you as we celebrate, remember and share this awesome day of risen King.
He turns our mourning into dancing
Our weeping into joy
Our pain in to laughter
He calms the seas
And he stands, always with us.
At the beginning of the commission it says ‘go out and train everyone you meet, far and near in this way of life.’ (The Message)
Ponder these questions –
What could ‘train everyone you meet’ mean?
What ‘way of life’ in your life could you demonstrate to others?
This is the churches time.
The Rend Collective song, ‘Build your Kingdom here’, speaks of “change the atmosphere”, of building God’s kingdom in amongst whatever is happening in the world. You know my passion of the impact that dance and movement has on those around us, as we witness Gods word and action. We have seen change through responding to the call to stepping out and responding in dance and movement.
So my final questions to you is –
Are you ready to change ATMOSPHERE?
Take a flag, streamer, ribbon, piece of material, anything you are comfortable with. Step up and change the atmosphere in a place that is near to you. Watch the video and see a snapshot of my heart from the song ‘Build your kingdom here’. Let’s dance louder with our movements to the song. Stir the atmosphere as you move to the chorus particularly.
https://vimeo.com/406604627
This is part of our Prayer Dance Bite programmer. We meet 3 times a week to move, dance and pray using scripture and other themes. You can check out more info here.
Many of you have heard me speak about raising up a #dancingarmy and encouraging people to #dancealittlelouder. The reality of this happening has snowballed, and it is awesome to see how God is using such a simple concept to gather people, to gather movers and dancers whose whole heart is simply to worship, praise, prayer, live life and more through Jesus. If you’ve not joined us yet for a Prayer Dance Bite can I encourage you to do so. Let’s step out and live our journey of faith through movement, however big or small that might be.
During this crazy time that we are living in at the moment. It can send many of us into a spin with an unclear way out. In another one of my late night/ early morning awake times with my son, my head was in a spin about the latest news of the more intentional lockdown we were about to enter. So many people would be feeling so many different things. What was God saying in amongst it all?? PEACE. PEACE, BE STILL.
I knew that I had to dance to that. That myself, and many others needed to know that God says, Peace Be Still… Let your Faith arise. Jesus is the one that calms the storms with 3 strong words, He is the one that will bring us comfort, strength, peace and protection over the coming months. We need to choose to let our faith arise and lean into all that He has available for us.
As I shared with others my passion for moving to this song, they wanted to also dance, before I knew it, there was indeed a dancing army, proclaiming God’s word, safety, protection and peace. That’s what this video is. A culmination of 8 dancers stepping out to move in prayer for all. God moves mountains, he changes water into wine, he raises people from the dead, he heals the sick. He stands by us no matter what, walks with us during our darkest hours, and carries when it gets too much.
Remember this ripple I keep talking about? How a ripple can change the atmosphere. For just by one starting, others will follow. Let’s make this ripple shake and move the heavens. Let’s be bold in our conversations, our prayers, our movements. Let’s shake the heavens and show people how great our God is.
Join me, #dancealittlelouder. Be a #dancingarmy.
We’d love to connect with you further, so why not sign up to our newsletter where you can hear more about what we are doing and how you can get involved. Head here.
Wow. What a period of unknown we are entering into. I’m sure each of us have many different feelings at the moment. One thing for sure, is that we need to stand firm on our foundation – God’s word and Jesus. It has struck me that we need to be active with our dance ministry in this period of change moving forward, God has been speaking to me about raising a worship dance army.
That my heart cannot be held by circumstance. For my eyes are locked on the God who sees the end. So when this world around me cries out, “Who can stand?” I know That I will not be moved for my feet are planted in You.
Lyrics from Firm Foundation, Selah
I want to share with you four ways that you can choose develop your dance ministry during this time of change. Ways that you as an individual can grow and develop your dance ministry, or ways you can do it for your group.
1. We are called for such a time as this.
During some of the many hours I am up with my son, I had quite an intense time of searching with God. There are many things on my mind at the moment, but the biggest one is that God is calling us dancers and movers to step up. Step up and move, dance, declare God’s glory, peace, power and love across all that is going on.
The words from the song Firm Foundation have washed over me during the past week, speaking affirmation, encouragement and joy into a situation that looks quite bleak! We share our faith through dance and movement, demonstrating our faith, deeds and action.
Part of my response to this conversation with God involved embracing the lovely March weather. Heading to the beach, because that was where God said I should dance, and putting movement to this song.
So the first way to develop your dance ministry is by being willing to respond to Gods call.
Moving forward as a dancing army
Last year I shared about the golden whirlwind picture I was given, where essentially there were little tornadoes above each person’s head. As dancers and movers moved the little tornadoes gathered together into a big one.
All those little ripples merged together to create a change in the atmosphere that was unprecedented (you can read more about it here). I had already begun to see this picture start to come to fruition at the beginning of the year. But going forward our ability to move and dance as one will be even more important.
God is leading me to encourage a Dancing Army. By this I mean, making the choice to use our dance and movement to cause an even greater shift in the atmosphere. We have this magnificent opportunity to demonstrate worship and faith in different way going forward. Your dance ministry can help this grow by being bold and stepping out, building a dancing army. Choosing to simply be Jesus with your movement and encouraging others.
Dance a little Louder
The song Raise a Hallelujah has a line in it ‘sing a little louder’ where every bit of me wants to do more than the words give. God is calling us to move more, to dance strong, dance it loud and dance it from the heart. Now is our time as dancers to step out into all God has made us to be. To pray, to move, to go deeper with God.
Part of this requires gathering with other dancers and as we become more of a dancing army – our dance, our song – is getting louder.
Dance ministry is hard work, it requires dedication and always choosing to put Gods pathway first. It also requires stepping out to encourage others and be in the gap when others can’t. Dancing louder with more vibrancy, declaring Gods heart and putting his word front and centre.
Create an online dance ministry community
Community brings cohesion, the opportunity to join together and move as one consistently. You cannot beat face to face dance ministry. However, you must adapt to the circumstances around you, which is why at UC Grace we are launching Prayer Dance Bites. Short 20 minute gatherings online 2-3 times a week, to read and respond to scripture. All ages welcome.
How could you create community online to encourage others with your dance ministry. Choose to get people moving and dancing their prayer. Creating fellowship, catch up and time together.
Want to join us online?
There are several different ways that you can join UC Grace online.
Prayer Dance Bitesprovide the opportunity to connect scripture and pray through weekly sessions via zoom. Further information is available here.
Scripture Promptsbring you scripture right into your inbox once a week. They offer 3 ways to engage with scripture in a way that you might not normally. For more information head here.
As more and more people have asked me this over the last year I
found myself having to think really hard about what the ‘UC’ was for. I knew I had
written a sentence that encapsulated it, but what that was I couldn’t remember.
Not because there wasn’t ever a reason to not remember, but because in the
beginning it was front and centre in my mind, as I set my name and started my
business. But as time has gone on the ability to recall those details has been
harder, there’s been shifts in my aims, my logo design and branding, as well as
the ‘info’ that I display about UC Grace. Plus, the reality of life and just
being busy!
How UC Grace began in 2010
Let’s open the door…
But, there always comes a point when you need a spring clean, a
bit of a shake through to remove bits of info that have served it’s time and
that’s what happened with the ‘UC’. The logo changed to the letters and wording
beneath it changed, I revamped the website, once, twice, many times, I
rebranded, I acknowledged by values for the business and the way I wanted to
push forward. But the reasoning behind the name was always there, it’s just
been hidden behind different layers.
The logo in 2011
So, let’s revisit our roots and share in more depth how the ‘UC’ came about, the biggest thing to recognise first, was that it was a 2 fold development (see Golden Whirlwind for info about why I teach).
So what was the starting point?
In the early days as I sat with my notebook writing down lots of
different names, I settled quite quickly on the word Grace, acknowledging that
as part of our Christian walk, grace was so important. I realised that I wanted
people to ‘see’ grace in dance, in our movements, actions, connections and
relationships. So initially all I had was ‘you’ ‘see’ and ‘grace’. Deciding how
to coax that into a name was super hard. The development of single letters
happened quite quickly ‘uC’. Notice the little ‘u’ and the big ‘C’. That was pivotal
as I felt it showed where the emphasis needed to be. The idea of opening up our
eyes, seeing things that we wouldn’t have seen before, releasing something,
and, so began the next stage.
We we entered 2012 there was a slight change, feeling that I needed to put ‘dance’ within the name and encase the tagline to a more succinct one with just my key words.
Defining what the ‘uC’ was about, working out what would create the foundation. I settled on it encompassing these words – uncapped unceasing unchanging uncover uncontrolled
The addition of dance didn’t last long. By the end of 2012 I’d reverted back to just ‘UC Grace’
This became the saying that best described what the ‘uC’ was
about, and it sat beneath the name uC Grace.
You can see the progression of the logo in these pictures.
As I moved forward with the company, another 3 words were pivotal
in under pinning our tagline
– encouraging | growing | releasing –
these enable us to put Gods word front and centre in the
company.
Encouraging – each person to grow into who they are
meant to be
Growing – each person in their skills, knowledge and
confidence God has given them
Releasing – each person into their dreams, ministries
and journeys God has for them
The last change before the major rebrand was this. The debate about whether I didn’t dance in my title had trundled on, so I wanted to add an image that would explain a bit more about the company was rather than putting dance.
But what does it all mean?
Let’s go back to the ‘uC’, where I had the little u and the big C. You might notice that now the little u is a big U. At the beginning of 2018 I undertook a rebrand of UC Grace. Initially it was just going to be an update of my logo, but after a few months of thinking and praying I realised that UC Grace had changed so much that it deserved a logo that would reflect it’s true heart. Big and bold YOU SEE GRACE, grace in our everyday, the way we think, move and act. Colour displaying individuality, fun and integrity to Gods promise. The dancer with a ribbon displaying the ability worship in different ways (You can read more about ribbons here). A yellow ribbon, to demonstrate JOY. JOY of movement and remembering someone who danced with such joy for Jesus throughout her whole life, Lyn.
Lyn Cave. The joyful dancer.
What ‘UC’ is going to be important for you going forward?
We all see
different things in life, that means we see the importance of things on a
different level. Take a moment to think about your present life, what areas
might you need to see things differently? What areas might you need grace?
This is what the UC is all about!!
Going forward UC Grace is committed to demonstrating and sharing Gods word through dance and movement. The saying below is what developed in 2010 when I started UC Grace. It encapsulates so well what it means to generate a deeper conversation with God through dance and movement. We hope it connects with you and encourages you in your journey.
We’d love to connect with you further, so why not sign up to our newsletter where you can hear more about what we are doing and how you can get involved. Head here.
God encourages us in those moments we need it most, even if
we haven’t recognised that we need it. Whilst I was away at Rivercamp, there
were several things that struck me.
The first being we all dance and move with the same heart.
The second that a whirlwind is created as each of us moves in someway.
Let me share some more.
Part of my journey with UC Grace has been overcoming
people’s perceptions of what I do and my heart behind it, as well believing and
trusting that I was good enough to do it, and there was a need for it. It
hasn’t been easy, at the Going Deeper weekend in July I shared some of this.
That in the beginning of UC Grace I judged my ‘success’ on the number of people
that came to my events and if I didn’t have many, I wasn’t good enough and doing
it right.
Yet I knew the foremost reason that I was doing UC Grace was
because it was about the hearts of those that came. The hearts that God needed
to work with, take on a journey and grow. That’s what my heart needed to do, in
order to recognise the gift God had grown inside me. A passion to share,
motivate and grow others in movement and dance with Gods word as central.
During my time at Rivercamp I noticed a group of people that
always congregated near a space at the side at the front, and claimed the space
so to speak, and as the meeting got underway I realised they were movers and
dancers of varying degrees of ability. As I began to watch them, a wrestle began
in my spirit. A wrestle to watch, receive and bless what I was seeing, but at
the same time resentment, longing, and feeling put out and it was unfair! Lots
of emotions that had crept up and I didn’t know where to go with. Except I did,
but only because of the journey I had been through with UC Grace.
Let me unpack this.
When I am in an environment where my emotions seem to be
getting the better of me, or, better put, the Devil is trying to windle his way
in. I check myself. I take a pause, a visible breath. The negativity that I was
experiencing was pulling up my insecurities, ones that I had defeated. But there,
in that present moment, in a new situation they were trying to come to the
surface again. I just kept saying to myself, ‘they have a heart to move too,’ ‘they
are worshipping God their way.’
In those moments in the worship, where I was desperate just
to be lost in it and dance myself, I had to deal with this before I moved forward.
I had to deal with the elephant! So, I began a conversation with God, asking
what I have got to learn here, what did I need to deal with, recognise, bless,
repent. Tough going!
As I relaxed into his presence, he encouraged me that it
wasn’t about me being ‘left out’ or ‘not included’, it was about opening up
opportunities for others to experience God.
The essence of UC Grace….
As UC Grace has grown, part of my battle has been addressing
how UC Grace is seen, or what it is. It’s only been the past few years that I’ve
acknowledged that it is a business. I say this here because it is through that acknowledgment
that God presented me with opportunities for UC Grace to grow and develop.
Over the few days after that initial encounter in the tent
at Rivercamp, I thought about it more, the impact of my reaction to what I had
felt, and asked God to reveal more about it.
I had the most amazing picture.
This is the reason for this post, but I wanted you to understand
a few things before I shared it. Every dancer and movers journey is different. You
will experience some negativity at some point on your journey about dancing and
moving, the key is how you deal with it when you are presented with it.
My heart is to release and equip others with their faith
through dance and movement. Jesus will always be the number one person I go to
for decisions, reasons and conversations, and that includes business ones. UC
Grace is a business, it’s a business God has blessed with growth over a very
big journey, the picture God gave me, not only encouraged me in my journey with
UC Grace, but the journey of Christian dance organisations, businesses, and
individuals. Whether they are moving now, will be movers, or will simply just
experience the soaking of the Holy Spirit through someone moving around them.
So the picture…
During one of the last worship times at Rivercamp, the tent
had come to a very hushed quiet, what I began to see were small whirlwinds over
the tops of groups of people. As these whirlwinds began to move around the place,
gold started to be threaded through them.
All the whirlwinds then converged into one. Into a tornado. A
tornado of GLORY, filled with gold. As it moved it changed the atmosphere,
transforming those it moved over. The more it moved the more different colours
came into it. The more it moved it was clear that it was the interaction of
what was inside the tornado that was causing the shift in the atmosphere.
As the image faded away, it was an ah ha moment. A moment
where I recognised why God had to reiterate to me before about how precious
each person’s movement was, and how each individuals movements when converged
with others creates something far more powerful than we can ever fathom. It creates
a movement in the heavens that transforms those around it.
This is something that I knew, but sometimes you can loose
sight of it, when you’re tired and been giving out lots.
There is however more.
My friend told me about a picture an artist had in a tent, that I needed to go and look at. This is it… what do you see?
Two things were brought to my attention. The whirlwind
effect of colours spiralling with the reaction to the environment around it. But
also, how it fits in with the UC Grace logo. The lady that painted this is Helen
Yousaf a prophetic artist and an amazing worship leader.
I was just astounded (again) at how God brings everything together. Are you a dancer? Are you ready to change the atmosphere that you move in? Are you ready to take your whirlwind where God tells you? Get in touch as I would love to hear from you.
Want to be kept up to date with all things UC Grace? Head here.
The quadriceps are one of your power house muscles in your
body (alongside your core), that really need to be strong and stable. The
muscle groups in your legs work together to ensure that your balance and
stability are in the right place when your body needs it, as well ensuring your
knee flexes and extends as needed.
Having strong quads will aid the stability
needed for the knee joints, which can inherently be unstable and depend on
ligaments and muscles to protect them from injury.
The inner thigh muscles also provide internal
rotation, which counterbalances the external rotation from your outer thighs and
glutes.
Like any major muscle groups they require care
and maintenance, stretching in particular is important as no stretching can
lead to a shortened thigh muscle which in turn means your knee won’t be able to
flex effectively.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your quad strength.
Squats – super easy to integrate into
your day when you’re brushing your teeth, making a cup of tea, cooking tea and
more! You need to have you feet hip or shoulder width apart and a straight
back. Remember to scoop in your core and engage it. You want to bend your
knees, ensuring your knees stay behind your toes, and your chest stays higher
than your hips. You have the choice to do normal squats down and up, or add in
a pulse at the bottom before you come up. Aim for 15 reps.
Standing leg raises: Standing up tall
with your tummy scooped in. Raise your leg up in front of you so it is slightly
bent and then lower back down, let your big toe tap the ground but nothing else
and lift leg back up. If you need to hold onto something to keep your balance,
rest your hand lightly on a chair. The lifting of the leg must come from the
thigh not the knee. Aim for 15 reps on each leg.
Our core can be something that we obsess about, what it
looks like, how strong it is and the exercises that we do. During my time as a
dance teacher and Buggyfit trainer I have seen many different exercises to work
the core.
My conclusion, simpler is the better and
conventional is not always best. What I mean by this is that sit ups and burpees
are not the answer, they don’t target our inner core.
Our core is a complicated part of our body, and
many different things impact it. What we forget is that our body is made up of many
different layers. Conventional exercises focus on building strength in the upper
layers, whilst inner core work goes deep down.
Training these muscles is essential for
stability, joint control through motion and ensuring all those inner muscle
work together to propel you forward in the best way.
Exercises to try –
If you can do the 2 exercises 2 – 3 times a day. You will
start to feel a noticeable difference in your core strength.
Box scoop: Kneeling on all fours ensure
your knees are directly below your hips and your wrists are below your
shoulders, have your back in neutral alignment. Relax your tummy, it’s really
important that you really let it all go! Otherwise the exercise won’t work
effectively. Inhale and let your tummy fill with air, as you exhale slowly
scoop your in and up. You want to begin from the top of your pubic bone and
finish at your belly button. Your aim is to create a C scoop as you draw your
tummy in. Take 4 counts to exhale and 4 counts to inhale. You need to have
control through both directions. 5 reps. This can also be done standing up, but
by doing it on your hands and knees, you work against gravity more, so your
muscles work harder!
Candlestick Dipper: This will work your transverse
abdominus and your obliques. Kneel on the ground, with one leg out to the side.
Ensure your back in straight and your hip is stacked above your knee for the
one you’re kneeling on. For the one out to side, keep the toe facing forward
and the heel to the back. Option A is to raise your arms out to the side at
shoulder height, maintaining a straight line with your body tilt to the side
away from the foot that it out. Touch the floor with your fingertips. The
further away you touch the harder it is. Option B join your fingertips together
above your head. Maintain contact with your fingers as you lean to the side and
then bring yourself back up. It’s important to keep yourself aligned for both
these options and don’t allow your bum to out backwards and you reach forward
with you arms. For those who have a weak core or less than 5 months postpartum,
only do option A!
