jaquani nilesh egidio
Rachelle Kun
Dance has existed for thousands of years. Moving your body creatively is a popular way to express yourself and exercise. Up to 10 million Americans have danced at a studio or have taken a class. Even more just dance for fun at home or with friends.
Improve self-esteem. The amount that you respect and value yourself is your self-esteem. Showing yourself that you can learn and master new moves and skills through dance can improve your self-esteem and confidence.
Help you meet new people. Social interaction between groups of people is important to your mental well-being. Talking and spending time with others improves your mood. It also makes you feel like you belong and eases loneliness.
Ease depression and anxiety. Dance is an effective type of exercise that raises your heart rate and works your muscles. Exercise can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety by releasing certain chemicals in your brain. It also provides a way to escape repetitive negative thoughts and worries. These are thoughts that run through your mind over and over.
The mental advantages of dancing depend on the type of dance you learn. Styles like ballroom dancing require a large degree of improvisation. These improve your decision-making skills more than completely memorized movements and routines. On the other hand, interpretive modern dance styles offer more benefits for creativity.
Self-consciousness. Even professional dancers sometimes feel self-conscious and insecure when trying different styles or learning new techniques. If you feel uncomfortable while learning something unfamiliar, try to focus on the movements themselves instead of how you think you look.
Take a dance class. If you want to interact with others while you dance, consider enrolling in a virtual or in-person class. Health clubs, community centers, schools, and other organizations often offer studio dance classes for all experience levels. A Google search for dance classes in your area will bring up your nearest options.
Dance with yourself. Dancing can be just as fun by yourself as it is with others. Turn on a catchy song and move your body to the beat and sounds. When no one is watching, it can be easier to enjoy the experience and not worry about how you look.
Learn a routine. If you want to challenge yourself, go beyond your improvised dance moves. Try teaching yourself a dance routine that someone else created. You can download apps or watch videos that explain a routine step-by-step. You can also learn movements and sequences from watching a dance performance over and over.
A little over a year ago, I walked into a local dance studio, wanting to get my body moving in a fun, healthy way after two years of sitting on the couch from COVID and writing papers in grad school. I thought I would just be learning a few new moves, all while hoping I would finally figure out my left foot from my right, but little did I know I would be beginning a new hobby that I would become incredibly passionate about. Not only did I take up an activity that has led me to having a lot of fun, dance and dance classes has had a major impact on so many aspects of my wellbeing, including my mental health. While there is a myriad of ways that dance is beneficial, below are just a few of the different ways that dance has increased my quality of life.
Community: Social interaction is incredibly important for mental health, and with dance you are always meeting new people. Meeting and socializing with people with a common interest helps foster connection and a sense of belonging. I have met some wonderful people through dance that have become very close friends!
Memory and Cognitive Function: It gets harder to remember certain daily details as we age, and learning new things, such as names of dance moves, can help keep our brain sharp and nimble. In a 2017 study done by Burzynska et al, they recruited older adults to walk, stretch, or country line dancing 3 days a week for 3 months. The group who learned to dance had greater density in the white matter of their brains (the part that processes memory) than those in the other groups. Although I am in my late 30s, my brain still gets a good workout during class as I try to remember all the steps and other details needed for a good dance!
Whether it be country line dancing, belly dancing, tango, or the waltz, there is likely a form of dance that will meet your interest and your physical ability. So go look up a local dance studio, find some free videos on YouTube, and begin to reap all the health benefits of dance! See you on the dance floor!
Stephanie enjoys being active in her community, and began volunteering at health fairs and other community events with MHA in 2017 after healing from her own struggles with mental health and substance abuse. Stephanie officially joined the team as a Peer Educator in 2019.
Stephanie enjoys hiking, cooking, writing, salsa/bachata dancing, and reading anything she can get her hands on. She believes in the power of kindness and empathy to make a difference in the lives of others, and is involved in various community groups in the area.
The Mental Health Association in Delaware website is partially funded through Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health by the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and/or Substance Abuse Block Grant.
Dance has a magical combination of elements that helps us become more in tune with our emotions and how we express them. This makes us more likely to form healthy bonds with others through empathy, communication, and self-awareness.
Research has recently shown that people with dance experience are better at interpreting the emotions of others. Expressing our feelings through dance can make us more sensitive to when others are expressing themselves, too.
Dancing Classrooms, for example, is a program that brings the art of dance to underprivileged schools. After 20 classes and a regional showcase competition, 2/3rds of LA-area school principals reported an increase in acceptance amongst students.
What better way to exercise that ability than through dance? Dance can be used to express any mood: sadness, joy, anger, fear, and more. Think about the last time you saw a dance performance, and how you knew the emotions being portrayed without any direct dialogue.
Cognitive development plays a role in the emotional healing elements of dance as well. Focusing the body and mind on certain movements allows for temporary distraction from emotional pain and repetitive thought cycles, providing momentary solace and confidence building.
The joy of dancing goes far beyond the novelty of doing something different. It has a way of aligning body, heart and mind to create harmony within ourselves that affects ourselves and those around us.
Conscious dance, which encourages self-discovery through unchoreographed movement, produced mental health benefits among the vast majority of participants with depression, anxiety or history of trauma, according to a new UCLA Health study.
For instance, 98% of all dancers said the practice improved their mood. Large percentages also reported that conscious dance helped them let go of distressing thoughts and gave them greater confidence and more compassion.
Conscious dance is practiced globally, in group settings, with music ranging from instrumental to electronic music played by a DJ. Some forms, such as ecstatic dance, can be associated with rave culture, but alcohol and drugs are prohibited. The practice emphasizes emotional safety and consent, with all actions voluntary, including whether to dance with others or alone.
The study was conceived by Kelsey Laird, PhD, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher at the time who is now a practicing psychologist in Northern California. In 2019, the research team surveyed roughly 1,000 conscious dancers, half from the U.S. and 73% female.
Among them, 81% self-reported a stress-related health condition: chronic pain, history of substance abuse or addiction, depression, anxiety or history of trauma. The vast majority of those surveyed reported that conscious dance helped them cope with their condition, ranging from 88% among those with a history of addiction to 96% for participants with anxiety or depression.
Dr. Siddarth said the study was unable to conclude why so many conscious dance participants reported mental health conditions, or whether those who have such conditions are most likely to benefit and therefore more interested in sharing their experience with researchers.
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Method: 225 dancers (71% female) were recruited through a community ballroom dance center and completed an online survey designed to measure their perceptions of the physical, cognitive, affective, and social benefits of modern, partnered dance styles (swing, Lindy Hop, and ballroom dancing). Subgroups were formed for analyses. For one set of analyses, groups based on length of dance participation were formed: experienced (dancing for more than 2 years) or novice (dancing for less than a year) dancers. For another set of analyses, groups based on frequency of dance practice were formed: committed (dancing at least one or more times per week) or occasional (dancing two or fewer times per month).
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