Dancing

D is for Dancing

Zulu Dancer

So, what can you do for free, that lifts your mood by elevating endorphin levels that also helps your fitness level?

Dance!

As a girl, I was blessed with a unique opportunity. My mother had danced in her youth and wanted to share that experience with me. Through her encouragement, I grew to love my dance lessons and ended up studying dance about 4 nights a week and then performing on the weekends.

One of my favorite activities was dancing outside. I enjoyed practicing my turns outdoors (poor grass!). So, I’d put our large speakers outside the door and then turn and turn, and turn some more, using the trees across the lake as a spotting tool. In case you’re unfamiliar spotting is a place you focus your eyes so that you don’t become dizzy.

Now, some of you reading this will think this sounds crazy. Others are living in a place wherein doing something like this is not possible. I’m not suggesting you twirl outside, but hey, if you can, go for it! I’m just using my teenage experiences as an example of how dancing liberated me, and fed my senses and spirit, leading to creativity.

What anyone reading this can do, especially those feeling bogged down by a creative block, is dance. Pandora, Google, Spotify, whatever app or tool you need—try dancing. It has so many benefits, I don’t know what all to list.

·        What I can say for sure is that dancing makes you lighter. You feel lighter and can indeed shed a few pounds.

·        Creative blocks can make you down in the dumps. It's an inner heavy feeling. Creatively you are constipated—unable to push out your creative flow. But you can play the music of your choice and quite quickly feel the flow return.