Wellness: Integration of the four bodies through dance
Mental, emotional, physical, spiritual
Mental
The mental benefits of dance are bountiful..
By participating in a dance workshop, is beneficial in several ways that include:
- Increases confidence and self-esteem: Along with various mental and physical health benefits of dance, dance also helps in increasing self-esteem.
- Improves brain functioning: Dance therapy focuses on emotional expression and body movement which helps in the fades away the depressive symptoms.
- Reduces stress: dance releases happy hormones that also helps in
- Keeps your mind sharp: The brain power you need to access for dance, specifically, requires you to focus on both the constant changing of movement and recalling moves and patterns.
- Boosts cognitive performance: Dancing can maintain and even boost your ability to think as you age.
- Reduces stiffness and pain: We all cannot deny the fact that the movement of the body makes our body flexible. Such movements reduce the stiffness of the body.
Also, helps to reduce chronic pain or chronic illness.
- Reduces dizziness: Dance keeps you fresh and motivated. Dance movements improve cognitive and cerebral through the process. Dance conditions the body and lessens the chances of dizziness.
Dance took over the body and became a cathartic humanizing experience.
Emotional
We all have a basic need for acceptance, friendships, a social circle. And one of the best ways of building this type of support system and network is through the activity of dance.
Dancing...
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Is social: Dance therapy helps in the lighting of brain pathways by creating a strong bond with co-dancers and helps in establishing oneness and unity.
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Lifts your mood: Dance movement therapy and dance improve mood, and can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Is inclusive: One of the greatest things about dance is that anyone can participate. If you’re able to move, even if it’s only your upper body, you can dance.
Physical
It is also important to cal attention to the physical benefits of dance too, as dance is such a physical art form, connecting, and even transcending, the body and mind.
Dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes and sizes.
Some of the physical benefits of dance include, but are not limited to:
- Improves cardiovascular health: Dance is a great activity for those at risk for cardiovascular disease. People who took up dance improved their heart health, breathing, and quality of life significantly compared to those who biked or walked on a treadmill for exercise.
- Improves balance: Dancing requires a lot of fast movement and good posture, so frequent dancing will help you stabilize and gain better control of your body.
- Builds strength: When the body moves with the beats, it helps in strengthening the muscles and aerobic power of the body.
- Improves flexibility: Those plies and arabesques that ballet dancers practice aren’t just for aesthetics, they also increase flexibility and reduce stiffness.
- Improves spatial awareness: Not only will you improve your muscle tone, but you'll also become more aware of your center of gravity. Your posture will improve, and you'll become more physicallyconfident and more graceful. Regular dance classes will help you gain better control of your body.
- Helps with weight management: A study in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that an exercise program of aerobic dance training is just as helpful for losing weight and increasing aerobic power as cycling and jogging.
- Improves breathing: As we adjust our dance steps according to the beats of the music, it helps in reducing the breathing issues.
Without restrictions and limitations, truly feel, experience, and embody the art of dance.
Spiritual
Dance has been recognised for its spiritual benefits by humans since the very beginning.
When we dance, we could easily be connecting with the inner child that used to lose itself to dance...
We can use movement meditation to connect, express, heal, manifest, experience blissful frequencies and transcend the boundaries of our consciousness.
The Benefits Of Dance For Spiritual Growth include:
- Raise of vibration: When we dance for ourselves we invite positive energy into our space and our being,
we are able to slip into the present moment where our ‘problems’ do not exist and we break negative thought patterns whilst releasing pent up stress and worry.
- Connect: Deep connections can be made through dance, connections with our bodies, the universe, the higher self, the earth and the people around us.
Perhaps this is because when we allow ourselves to connect with the music and the moment, we surrender completely, dissolving boundaries and inviting in closeness.
- Manifest: Dancing has been used to manifest for thousands of years among many traditions. For example in ancient Native American shamanic traditions, Shamans would dance themselves into a trance-like state with the intention to manifest, they were able to use the power of dance to create anything from good health to rain.
- Heal: When we dance with the intention to heal, we are able to feel the energy build up within us, really connect with it and feel/visualise it flowing through your physical form, then send it to the part of the body that needs healing. If you are working with an emotion that is tied to a particular part of the body, you may wish to place particular emphasis on this area when dancing.
- Express: Dance can be used to really embody and express the divine masculine and feminine energies within us.
Don’t be afraid to let your inner god and goddess surface, when we dance to the rhythm of the masculine and feminine, we invite these energies into our lives and a balance can be created.
“When we close our eyes to dance, we open another eye to a different reality, we can
then be moved by a greater, more powerful force.”– Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello
Dancing has been used all over the world amongst many cultures for thousands of years, our ancestors intuitively recognised the power of dance and we personally believe that dance should be part of our daily lives, especially now! Luckily, most dance studios are providing online classes and workshops.
Please find below a list of Flamencista recommendations:
Maestros Flamenco, Spain
Amor De Dios, Madrid, Spain
Escuela Carmen de las Cuevas, Granada, Spain
Lindsey Bourssa Online Flamenco Studio, Maine USA
Naranjita Flamenco, Orange, California USA
Furia Flamenca, MD, Washington USA
Rina Orellana Flamenco, Los Angeles, USA
Claudia de la Cruz Flamenco Institute, Santa Ana, CA, USA
Espacio Flamenco PDX Brenna McDonald, Portland, Oregon USA
En Roi Dance Studio, Marousi, Greece
Flamenco Rueda, Vrilissia, Greece
Flamenco Contra Tiempo, Peristeri, Greece
World Dance Company, Sweden - Kungsbacka
The Flamenco Centre "Tomas Dietz", Canberra, Australia
Flamenco Dance Melbourne-Laura Uhe, Melbourne, Australia
Alma de Espana Flamenco Company & School, Victoria, Australia
Senes Flamenco, Melbourne, Australia
Maria Vega Flamenco dancer, London,UK
Escuela de Baile Nuria Garcia, London,UK
Mozaiko Flamenco/Kasandra “La China”, Vancouver, Canada
Amena Dance Company, Alberta, Canada
Maria Osende Flamenco, Halifax, Canada