Move your Hips

Let me preface this post by saying I’m a terrible dancer. Unless you give me very specific moves to do, and I can practice them ahead of time, I look like a fish out of water. My family isn’t great either. When a good song is on, we all cringe and laugh as we go around moving our bodies very awkwardly.

I took ballet lessons for a couple years when I was young. I definitely thought I was “the stuff,” but my parents will tell you that I was, in fact, not very good. But I loved to twirl around in my little tutu and scarves in a time when I didn’t care what other people thought. In high school, I was a part of the show choir and musicals we had. Obviously, that is all very choreographed. I definitely wasn’t as natural as my peers, but I wasn’t terrible enough to be kicked out. I had a lot of fun singing and dancing up on the stage with those who loved it too. Since then, I’ve resorted to kitchen dancing. 

Besides teaching you coordination, dancing is great for the brain. Researchers studied whether dancing was a good therapy for treating depression, and it is. Because dancing is all about moving your body and expressing emotions, it can help alleviate some of those symptoms, as well as reduce the levels of depression. 

Dancing also improves brain function and boosts memory. It has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia. It can also improve cerebral health and spatial memory. All of this makes sense since you have to memorize moves and how much space those are actually supposed to take up.

It stimulates new growth factors, which help keep our neurons healthy. When we’re combining exercise and sensory enrichment, it encourages neuroplasticity, which we all need a little more of as we get older. 

Just like any exercise, dancing is going to reduce our stress levels and release endorphins. Our bodies need that! We are all stressed about something - that long school assignment, that upcoming work meeting, a family get together, etc. Allowing ourselves to move, but also express ourselves can be so helpful in taking care of our mental health.

Dancing can involve starting some dance classes - is there a studio in your area that is teaching a style of dance you think you might like? Enroll in a class or two and see how it goes! Or maybe you’d like to go swing dancing with friends on a weekend. It’s an easy, yet fun style to learn. Is there an upcoming wedding that you could make sure you go and get out on that dance floor? Or maybe, like me, you could enjoy those kitchen dances. Move those hips when you’re cooking in the kitchen, laugh, and watch your stress decrease.

Reference: Laguipo, A. B. B. (2019). Is dancing good for the brain? News Medical. Retrieved from https://www.news-medical.net/health/Is-Dancing-Good-for-the-Brain.aspx. 

Challenges/Points:

• Most of us are not very good dancers but that shouldn’t stop us from letting our bodies do something we were created to do.

• Dancing releases endorphins, relieves stress, improves memory, and can be used to treat depression. 

• Where could you find time to dance this week? Allow yourself to respond to some music you’re listening to, even if it’s just a head bop here and there.

Questions:

• Have you ever taken dance lessons?

• When’s the last time you let yourself “kitchen dance”?

• Are you willing to take the time to dance this week?

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