Lord Byron, a famous English poet, wrote “On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.” I am not a dancer. Sure, I can learn simple choreography and fake it through a few musical numbers, but overall, I am just not a dancer. Despite my lack of graceful talent, I do love to participate in the occasional dance party. Have you ever just let go and allowed yourself to “dance as if no one was watching?” It is a release. The University of London assigned patients with anxiety disorders to a number of physical therapies. Dance therapy was the only one that resulted in significantly reduced anxiety. Moving to music actually provides a satisfactory patterning that activates the brain’s pleasure circuits. Dancing is also an excellent form of calorie-burning exercise, during which endorphins are released, making you happier. On the show So You Think You Can Dance, contestants are challenged to portray a variety of emotions through dance. In this touching video, two dancers tell of a fight against cancer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnguqsMQmg4&feature=related. While that dance revealed a very sad, touching story, Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson, shines with joy as she dances through her freestyle on Dancing With the Stars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNm9uG-f27E/ . But it isn’t only professionals who can dance with excitement. In a train station in Belgium, a flash mob shows off their skills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNm9uG-f27E.
Let yourself go. Lower your guards and enjoy the emotional release of dancing.
Sources:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200703/dance-therapy-spin-control
do the stanky leg!!
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