How can dance contribute to the holistic development of an individual?

There’s more to dance than watching Strictly on TV, stumbling around at a Christmas party, having a knees up a wedding or other celebration. In fact there are many layers and facets to this universal, ever-so-human activity. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Mind, Body, Soul

A quick search on the net produced pages and pages on the benefits of dance for the development of children and young people, from research papers to arts projects, tips for early child development, dance movement therapy, mindful dance and lots more. And it’s not just kids who can benefit, mind, body and soul from dancing, it’s all of us including the very old and infirm.

Let’s Get Physical

In terms of physical development, dance builds cardiovascular health, supports physical strength and flexibility, aids balance and coordination, fortifies our immune system, improves posture, keeps us fit and supports weight loss.

In their book, Dancing Is the Best Medicine, neuroscientists Christensen and Chang, write about the unusual range of motion involved in dancing thereby avoiding unilateral stress. When dance, we can moment-to-moment adaptations to our movement, can make micro adjustments almost on an intuitive level according the needs of our body.

Christensen and Chang also point out that because dance is so enjoyable, we often don’t notice time passing which means we are more likely to keep active for longer.

Emotional Development

Dance is a form of expression. When we move we communicate something about the way we feel. This in itself is a release and allow us to feel more seen, known and understood, an impulse that lies at the core of the human experience. Our mood is boosted, through the release of hormones such as endorphins, whilst dance movement reduces anxiety and depression.

We can ‘try on’ emotions as we move that might be challenging in ‘real life’ or expressed in the spoken word. We can practice being more authentic without having to worry about consequences. Dance improves out mood and confidence.

Mental Development

When we dance, we dance to music. There are endless studies showing how stimulating music is for the brain. When we listen to music our brains create new neural connections initiating learning processes. Music impacts our hormonal balance:  increasing concentration, decreasing stress and turning up the happiness hormones.

And that’s just the musical accompaniment to dance. Dancing challenges the brain to be agile because as we move it receives different sensory inputs and reinforces motor processes. Moment to moment we have to decide which part of our body to use and how to use it. This keeps our brains sharp and supports cognitive flexibility. These are some of the reasons why dance is widely (and successfully) used with the elderly.

Social Development

Dancing is about bonding and belonging. This it at the very heart of what it is to be human and how we have survived and thrived as a species. We move in synchrony and in doing so become ‘we’ rather than ‘me’; self and other are perceived in our brains as one unit. Research shows that people who dance together become more social and develop deep social bonds with others in their group.

Spiritual Development

When we dance with others, the group bonding and connection as described above pushes us beyond our normal sense self. Our mind quietens and we can experience ‘being danced’ where we no longer feel we are controlling our movement; something more instinctive and spontaneous can emerge. People often describe this state as being a highly creative one where new ideas and solutions can emerge.

When we dance without fear of judgement from others, we can experience great freedom and presence. A tonic in our over-stimulated world.

Conscious Dance for Holistic Development

So far we have spoken of the generic way that dance can contribute to the holistic development of an individual. My interest in this field is conscious dance, a practice that is about moving with awareness of breath and body. There are many practices in this genre from Flomotion Dance, Ecstatic Dance, Open Floor, Movement Medicine, Chakra Dance, 5Rhythms and more.

These are powerful practices that incorporate all the benefits discussed thus far for mind, body, emotions, soul. Adding awareness to the mix amplifies the processes and can be transformative and life-changing.

Come and try my range of conscious dance practices: www.flomotion.dance/bookings

Buy my book, Dance for Life here