[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″]A brief preface so you know where I’m coming from: I’m a born dancer. After crying in gymnastics at age 4 because I was TERRIFIED at the thought of doing a cartwheel and smashing my head on the floor, my mom agreed to let me take dance classes. I eventually tried basketball and soccer, but was beyond awkward and super un-athletic.[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
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I’ll be honest, I’m a total clutz for 75% of my daily life. I can bump into walls, trip over air, and stub my toes with absolute ease. But something happens when music gets involved…it’s like my clumsiness dissolves and all that’s left is me and the music. Weird? Perhaps, but that’s my reality.
I’ll also admit that I absolutely LOVE going to dance clubs, but not for the same reasons most people my age do. I genuinely love to dance in every possible shape and form of it. I just like to move to almost any type of music, and frankly get annoyed when guys try to approach me while I’m dancing because well, HELLO, I’m dancing. I just want to dance. Let me do my thing please!
OK, now that you understand I’m absolutely 150% biased, let’s back to the point of this post.
Here’s why I think sober early morning dance parties could be the answer to some of humanity’s biggest problems:
1) Happier & Smarter People
Music can be a natural mood enhancer, assuming you’re not listening to a depressing love song. Music can improve your workout intensity, relax the mind, improve motor coordination, and ease depression. It can also prompt your body to release endorphins and immune-boosting hormones, as well as decrease levels of cortisol (the stress hormone).
Dance has often been used as a form of therapy, providing an emotional release for the tricky emotions that we tend to keep bottled up.
Dancing can also help promote divergent and creative ways of thinking. What an awesome way to get those creative juices flowing right before work, am I right?
Dancing also releases endorphins, as with most forms of exercise, and can help in stress reduction and increased serotonin levels, promoting an overall sense of well being.
A major study showed that dancing increases cognitive acuity in people of all ages, and can help ward off Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. INCREDIBLE, right!?!
2) Weight Control, Confidence & Overall Health
Regular dancing can help a person maintain a healthy weight and promote a positive body image (when you feel good dancing you’re more likely to feel good about your body, and gain more self confidence over time. Yay, self love!)
A recent study showed that dancing can reduce obesity and lower the risk of diabetes. I think this is kind of a no-brainer, but at least we have proof!
Also, a Scandinavian study showed that singing and dancing are two of the three activities most likely to prolong your life. That means you now have permission to belt out those club hits without feeling ashamed…if someone comments just say “We’ll see who’s laughing when we’re 110 *evil laugh*” and then go get on with yo’ bad self.
Not to mention, these early morning dance parties tend to offer healthy beverages like tea, green juice, and oatmeal-enhanced smoothies for amazing morning hydration and nutrition.
3) World Peace
Wait a sec – what?! Bear with me guys, I might be a dreamer but I’m also pretty rational, so what I’m saying isn’t that crazy, I promise.
Studies have shown that when enough people in any given area partake in meditation, the community’s crime rate decreases.
Dancing actually has many of the same effects on the mind and body as meditation, especially if you let yourself relax and move to the music without thinking much about what you’re doing.
SO if dancing is meditating, and meditating lowers crime, it’s not that big of a leap to say we could see more peace in communities with sober morning clubs, right? Ok, it might be a little bit of a stretch, but it’s not crazy.
Some awesome quotes from the Harvard Magazine article, Dancing “Makes Us More Alive“:
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“Dancing adds another aspect to exercise and its effect on our bodies and brains,” he says, “because it is a joyous activity.”
Dance fosters authentic self-expression, tolerance, and community
“Dancing uses a different part of my brain. I don’t have to understand why I am dancing or how. There is no abstract thinking. The mind takes a coffee break and the body has full rein.”
Dance “is and was and will always be community in action. Although life is no cakewalk, people are going to dance no matter what, because it makes us more alive.”
“If you are really dialed into the dance then you cannot think about yourself; the energy and focus [present in that creative moment] are too big. We think of that kind of thing as New Agey, but if you are open and accessible to merging the movement with the music and other dancers, then a new state of being surfaces.”
“I think it is being in touch with the soul,” Johnson explains. “These days we are so empirical; we want to know the how and why instead of having some mystery that defies words. In dance, you know the feeling when you feel it, and therein lies the connection among body, mind, and spirit.”
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What I’m trying to say is that the idea of a sober morning dance party rocks because it can help make you into a happier, smarter, healthier, calmer, more confident and more caring person.
