My New Year’s Resolution is to learn to dance! Not just on the dance floor, but throughout my life.
Nietzsche said, “We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced.”
When was the last time you danced?
When was the last time you let the rhythms of life flow through you so strongly, you just had to get up and dance — even when no one else in the room is feeling it?
When did you last dance like no one is watching? Or do you only dance when no one is watching?
How often did you dance as a child? Do you even remember?
When you were little and heard music, your body would just start moving with it. When you see a 2 year-old rocking their head and swaying their body to music or just to a rhythm inside themselves with a huge smile on their face, doesn’t it just make you smile and open your heart to want to dance with them? That is still in you.
The universe, the stars, the Earth, and the sun and the sky and the trees are all part of symphony of sound and light that your energy body hears like music. It calls you to dance with it and flow with it 24/7. That is why children are in constant motion, or wiggling or fidgeting. You felt that calling as a child and in flow, life stood still while you danced. Time passed very slowly and was full of pleasure.
When you are in the rhythm of life you feel good and connected and have a sense of being called to life from deep inside you. When you are disconnected from the rhythm of life, you move randomly, feel isolated, and a calling is just some idea you came up with to give you something to do that disconnects you even more. Time seems to pass very quickly and you feel stressed.
Nietzsche also said, “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music”
Do you remember when you began to resist those impulses to dance? When did you start standing like a statue, watching time pass you by? Was it when someone laughed at the way you dance? Was it when you were told to sit still and be quiet in school or at the dinner table?
If all that happened when you decided to ditch dancing was that you gave up a few minutes of fun at a party, it would not be a huge tragedy, but the problem is much deeper.
The bad news is, the muscles you use to stop both the feelings and expressive movements, and thoughts you think that tell you that you look like an idiot or are not doing it right that keep you watching from the sidelines, are the same muscles and thoughts you use to hold back on the impulse to follow your deepest inner callings and purpose and keep you on the sidelines of your life!!!!
The good news is, it is never too late to learn how to dance again and it can do you a world of good.
In my research for this article I found that dance is not just fun and a great way to learn to flow in life, but it also is good for you!!! These are just a few of the benefits to dancing:
- Enhances Neuroplasticity and lowers the risk of dementia, improves cognitive reserves and increases neuronal synaptic connections.
- Makes you smarter and able to think on your feet and respond better to questions since it forces you to make quick and accurate decisions.
- Improves muscle tone, strength and muscle memory, slowing down the aging process and keep open the channels in the brain that access stored memory in the body.
- Dancing improves balance and coordination.
- Increases heart and lung function through aerobic fitness.
- Great for weight management.
- Gives you stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis.
- Teaches you to connect, play and find balance in relationships.
- It is fun and you don’t need to drink alcohol to enjoy it!
If you haven’t chosen a New Year’s Resolution, maybe you can join me. Mine is, Dance, Baby, Dance! I figure I could use all of the above! Plus, it’s fun! In 2017 I am definitely looking for more fun! Join me. 🙂