Dancing for Well-Being: Five Dances for Life

Dance is an amazing thing, and many people don't realize how dance helps you physically, mentally, and spiritually. Dancing is good for your soul. There are many reasons people have for not dancing, but these reasons can be easily debunked; here are five dances that can help improve our life in more ways than you can imagine.

Many people have excuses to not dance. Some people may think they have no rhythm, but they should simply remember that "the whole universe is in constant motion and you are probably not the exception to the rule" (Roth, 1998, p. 17). Some people may not dance because they do not like their bodies, but they should remember that dancing will work away any extra pounds. Whatever you don't work off is "meant to be part of you" (Roth, 1998, p.17). I find one of my biggest excuses is lack of time, but I have realized that the smallest amount of time spent dancing can change my mood completely. I have been figuring out different ways to incorporate dancing even if it is only for a few minutes into my daily schedule. Even if I only dance to one song a day I still feel better.

There are 5 rhythms of the soul, and they are known as flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness (Roth, 1998). Flowing is about being flexible like liquid. In flowing there are no "separations or distinctions between things, there's only continuous change" and flowing is the "rhythm of the earth" (Roth, 1998, p.52). In order to practice flowing dance "imagine that you are all circles and curves, arms round, spine undulating, hands soft, hips rolling gently, knees loose" and " let whatever you are feeling unravel" (Roth, 1998, p.55). Staccato is more of a tense dance. It is a type of dance that creates all "kinds of angles and edges like geometry in motion" (Roth, 1998, p.83). The dance of chaos is spontaneous and intuitive. It is meant to "dive below the surface... and get in touch with our whims, our impulses, and our poetic intelligence" (Roth, 1998, p.118). Lyrical dancing is one of the hardest dances for most people because it you have to experience it to understand it, but I feel comfortable practicing this dance, and I believe that my dramatic nature and love of dance makes this form of dance more natural to me. Perhaps this type of dance comes natural to me because in lyrical dancing "we realize we are works-in-progress" and this is an important lesson I try to remember at all times (Roth, 1998, p.156). Stillness is what I would call a typical type of meditation. It is about moving in "super-slow motion" and focusing your attention to "the ebb and flow of your breath, the beat of your heart, the pulsing of cells" (Roth, 1998, p.180).

Dancing is good for the soul, and people should dance more often. Nothing is more natural and pure than dancing. Let go of your excuses why you do not dance, and Dance!

Reference:
Roth, G. (1998). Sweat your prayers: movement in spiritual practice. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam.

How to Use Acupressure to Help Heal Neck and Shoulder Pain

 

Acupressure is a method of relieving pain that I find amazing. I have used acupressure to help with my knees, and I have recently started using acupressure to help with my shoulder and neck pain. Acupressure may sound silly or too new age for many people, but it is simply a method of massage that is used on particular points on your body to help relieve stress, strain, and pain. At first I thought it sounded silly too, but now I know that it actually works. So try it, and I promise it will help you if you do it correctly.

Remember acupressure is similar to massage and when you are first learning remember to be gentle and be patient. Everybody is unique, and although we all are composed of the same muscles, bones, and organs the placement may slightly vary. When you first start out you should move your fingers in a circular motion. This will help you identify the points you are looking for. Start with a wide circle and move slowly inward until you can narrow down on a point; it may be helpful for you to continue widening and shrinking your circle if the muscle is extremely tight and tense.

In order to help with neck and shoulder pain start by laying down, or reclining in a chair so that you can rest your head. Now use your fingers in a circular motion to rub the base of your skull. Move slowly down your neck and outward to your shoulders. If you feel a spot that is tense or hurts when pressed on stop and focus on this are. Rub on this spot until you feel a slight discomfort. Continue rubbing, but remember to increase pressure, but do not hurt yourself. You will feel a release after your have reach the point of slight discomfort. Move on to the next part of your shoulders after you have released this tension. Work your way across your shoulders and to the point where your back and your shoulder blade meet. In this spot is a very sensitive pressure point. Focus on this spot, but be careful to not over due it. You want to it feel intense, but you do not want it to hurt. When you feel release work back up to your head and relax for a few minutes before continuing with your daily routine.

Remember while you are rubbing to stop every few seconds and reevaluate the pain. If you are hitting the right spots it will go away. If the pain returns complete this exercise again. Sometimes the pain will stay gone for days; sometimes will come back in hours. It depends on how bad the injury actually is. When ever you feel the pain continue to do this exercise, and the reoccurring of this pain will lessen.

I hope this method of acupressure has helped you as much as it has helped me!