How to protect yourself, stay safe, and deal with anxiety through dance.

Today all major news outlet headlines are quite scary and depressing. Learning about COVID-19, numbers of people infected by this virus, hearing about the loss and suffering that affect families and even entire countries is heart breaking and may cause uneasiness, anxiety, and even depression. However, in these difficult times we will show you how you can reduce the stress and anxiety in your life… through dance.

Multiple resources online show how to protect yourself from getting infected and prevent illness through enhanced hygiene practices, social distancing, and isolation. However, there is inadequate information on how to maintain emotional balance in life during these unprecedented times, and how to deal with loneliness, stress, and anxiety that social distancing and isolation may cause.

Given limited information on how to deal with stressors in the time of social distancing, I decided to write this article in hopes that it will help people find a new balance in their lives. I want to show my students and their friends  how to counteract the stress with positive emotions and distraction, and how to outweigh the loneliness and social isolation with positive experiences which are much healthier alternatives than binge-watching TV Series.

We already know that dancing is a great way to experience positive emotions and get distracted from negative thoughts. You can find many articles on why dancing makes people happy and why it feels good. 

So what happens when you dance and how can dance help you deal with stress and anxiety in today’s situation?

• Dancing helps you improve blood circulation throughout the entire body. It’s expected that during your work-from-home sessions you will move less. Consciously introducing sessions of vigorous activity, such as dance, throughout the work-from-home day, can help you improve your overall wellbeing,
• While dancing, your body releases endorphins which cause you to get the positive sensations in the body, and which in turn reduce the feeling of aches and pains;
• Dancing helps to reduce levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, thus reducing your overall stress and anxiety levels;
• During dance you get the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

What can you do now?

If you have taken dance lesson before – now is the best time to practice! Find the music you really love, look at your notes or at that video you took at the dance studio some time ago, and go ahead – DANCE! Many of our students often say that they didn’t practice because they did not have time due to their work schedule or travel. But today, when the travel is limited, and work is just a few feet away from your living room – now is the perfect time to get some positive emotions at home!

If you have not taken a dance lesson yet – don’t be afraid – signup for an online session and immerse yourself in a word of music and movement! You will feel good and you will get distracted from the negative thoughts for many hours after.

So get some good vibes into your life and find your harmony through dance!

Please send us message if you need some guidance and we will be more than happy to help you bring dance back into your life!

Martin Reinbold