Why Dance Is Good for You: More Than Just Moving Your Body
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT DANCE THAT MAKES US FEEL MORE ALIVE
I've been dancing for as long as I can remember. I started with ballet at 4 years old, but dancing was always so much more me.
I remember our family BBQs when I was little, when the music would come on and everyone would immediately get up to dance, all my aunts and uncles encouraging us. It was something we all looked forward to, part of the fun of being together. There was so much laughter, so many smiles, and a deep sense of joy and connection.
I remember my dad teaching me my first basic dance steps. I remember that feeling of having my dad there, showing me what to do, encouraging me and helping me feel confident enough to get up and dance.
It was such a simple thing, but it was a special moment of connection between us. And perhaps without realising it at the time, he was giving me more than a few dance steps. He was helping me discover the confidence and joy that came from moving to music.
Those are the things I remember most about dancing growing up. Not whether I got the steps right, but how it made me feel.
Over the years, dance has taken many different forms for me. There has been ballet, salsa and merengue, dancing socially with friends, and now Cali salsa. I especially love salsa choke and reggaeton. There is almost always music playing in my home, and you'll often find me dancing around my kitchen while I'm cleaning, cooking, or really just at any moment when I feel like moving! Dance isn't something I have to make time for. It's simply part of my life.
I think I've always had this natural love for movement, music and the joy that comes from dancing. And looking back, I realise just how much that connection with dance, alongside my yoga practice, has supported my own healing journey.
Your brain loves to dance
Dance isn't just exercise. Your brain is working hard too.
When you dance, you're listening to music, following rhythm, remembering patterns, coordinating different parts of your body, balancing, anticipating what's coming next and responding to your environment or another person.
You're using attention, memory, coordination and creativity all at once. And then there are all the wonderful things happening inside - chemically too. Physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins and influence neurotransmitter systems involved in mood, motivation, reward and stress regulation, including dopamine and serotonin. Research into dance-based movement has also found benefits for mood, anxiety and depressive symptoms. I love that something that can feel so joyful and effortless can also be giving your brain stimulation.
You don't dance, thinking, wow I'm going to improve my memory and coordination...
You're just having fun dancing.
Getting out of your head and into your body
This is something that has become particularly meaningful for me.
When we've experienced stress or difficult experiences, it can be very easy to spend a lot of time in our heads. Thinking. Analysing. Anticipating. Trying to understand and make sense of everything. Yoga has taught me to slow down and listen.
To notice my breath.
To notice sensation.
And to soften rather than constantly push.
Dance has given me another pathway back into my body.
There is a point when you're dancing where you simply can't overthink every movement. You have to listen to the music, feel the rhythm and respond in the moment.
You're present.
And for me, that can be incredibly freeing. Movement can help us reconnect with our bodies, experience pleasure and play, shift our attention away from our thoughts and feel connected to other people. This is why I am often encouraging dance or bringing it into my offerings - healing doesn't have to look like sitting quietly and working everything out. Sometimes it looks like putting on your favourite song and dancing around the kitchen.
There is something spiritual about movement too
Humans have danced for thousands of years. Across cultures, movement and rhythm have been part of celebration, connection, ritual and spiritual practice.
I think there is a reason for that. Dance is a kind of moving meditation.
Your mind becomes quieter. (Eventually) you stop worrying about how you look and become absorbed in the music and the movement... and for a little while you are simply just here.
This is yoga.
Yoga isn't only about what happens on a mat. At its heart, yoga is about presence and connection. Connection with the body, the breath, ourselves and something greater than ourselves.
Sometimes that connection happens in stillness. Sometimes it happens through movement.
Salsa brings its own kind of connection
One of the things I particularly love about salsa is that there are different ways to experience it.
Partnered salsa is a beautiful conversation between two people. You listen through touch, respond to subtle cues, lead and follow, communicate without words and learn to trust your partner.
There is something really special about that kind of connection. You have to be present. You can't completely disappear into your own head because you are listening and responding to another person :)
I love that Cali salsa has a very different energy.
It's fast, playful and incredibly rhythmic, with tricky footwork and lots of individual expression. Your brain is busy keeping up with the music and your body is constantly responding to the rhythm.
And then there is the social side!
You move with other people. You laugh. You make mistakes. You learn.
You sometimes have absolutely no idea what your feet are doing!
And that's okay.
You don't have to be perfect to experience the joy of dancing. We are all just dancing and having fun :)
My kind of yoga off the mat
Yoga has supported so much of my own healing. It has taught me to slow down, breathe, soften and become more aware of what is happening within me. But dance has reminded me that healing isn't just about slowing down.
We also need to shake it out.
We need to smily and laugh.
We need music, movement, sweat and a little bit of silliness.
We need to feel completely alive.
For me, yoga and dance create a beautiful balance between stillness and movement, surrender and expression, inward connection and connection with others.
And maybe that's why I've never really stopped dancing. From ballet, to tap, to salsa and merengue, dancing at family BBQs... to dancing barefoot in my kitchen, and now learning with Salsa Fever, dance has always found its way back into my life.
It reminds me that this body isn't just something we carry through life.
It is something we get to experience life through.
Let yourself dance - and remember something your mind may have forgotten:
You are alive.
Come and join me for an uplifting half-day retreat on Sunday and meet my beautiful friends and teachers Fallon and Jose from Salsa Fever.
Otherwise, I hope to see you at our peaceful healing house soon.
Blessings,
Carolina
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