How Dance Can Impact Your Mental Health
Key takeaways
The power of dance: Dance is a powerful form of expression, providing a physical outlet that can be therapeutic and deeply personal.
Mental health benefits: Positive impacts on mental health include creating a safe dance environment, finding confidence in movements, and challenging oneself to grow as a dancer.
The negatives: Negative impacts can arise from comparison, body image issues, and the demanding nature of dance, emphasizing the importance of finding a healthy dance-to-life balance for overall well-being.
Why dance?
The art of dance allows individuals to express their emotions through movements connected to music. It is a physical outlet focusing on the release and well-being of one’s body. Dance can be a therapeutic and deeply personal experience. While different areas of dance connet to different people, there is one common theme connecting everyone: the physical feeling. There are a variety of genres and styles that can be used to release tension and gain dopamine. Due to this, dance can be both a physically rewarding and taxing experience on our bodies. This can directly connect to mental health, and dancers are no strangers to the ups and downs of mental health. So, the question is, how can dance impact your mental health?
Like all sports, dancers can experience some of their best and worst moments in the studio. For starters, let’s discuss the positive impacts dance can bring for mental health. Feeling comfortable in a studio as well as with the people surrounding you will be the first step in creating a safe dance environment. The first time you try a new studio or a new style of dance it is going to feel uncomfortable, as all new experiences are. However, always remember that there is a difference between feeling uncomfortable and feeling unsafe. Ensuring that the space you are in to express yourself feels safe will allow you to relax your mind and put full attention towards your body. Finding the style or styles that are right for you is the next important step. These range from ballet, contemporary, heels, street jazz, and more. Learning to feel confident in the movements you create will bring the biggest serotonin rushes, leading right back to that positive mental health.
Anyone can do it!
There is not one right or wrong way to be a dancer, there is so much space for interpretation. Learning choreography is only the beginning to any dance. What truly makes a piece special is the personal flare you can add. Dance should feel fun, and working with others should be a rewarding challenge. Challenging yourself will allow you to grow as a dancer, and growing is one of the biggest ways your mental health can improve. On days your mind may feel busy, try improving. Improve is a style of dance without any premeditated choreography, it is all created by what you are feeling in an exact moment. Find some music that matches the energy you’re feeling that day, maybe even shut off the studio lights to feel more grounded, and let your body take over. These movements are for you to express yourself and gain back some mental stability. Improve isn’t meant to be perfect, it is meant to show you what dance can do for yourself expression, connecting back that physical to mental movements.
Some days, dance may not be as uplifting as others, and that is okay. Dance can also take a negative toll on mental health, typically more for existential reasons than reality. In all walks of life comparison can be ones biggest enemy. It is difficult, no matter how much experience you have with dance, to not compare yourself to the other members in a studio session. This can apply to all areas of the industry from body image to physical movements. Even in art competition prevails, this will always be the inevitable. All dancers will experience these lows with mental health at some point, the physical needs can be demanding and take a toll on other parts of the body. Learning to find a healthy dance to life ratio can be another challenge, but once again overcoming this will provide newly found strength. If necessary, taking a step back from dance to regain mental balance shows true love and devotion for both the sport and you.
Find your style!
To address the comparison aspects of dancing more, it is important to remember that while it feels personal, each dancer is cycling through similar emotions. Everyone’s bodies are different, and therefore different styles of dance won’t look the same on each one. Without this knowledge, comparison may make you feel not as worthy as a dancer. However, there is a level of beauty in finding the style that makes you feel your best. Not every dancer will be a perfect ballerina, but this also means not every dancer will be able to pick up the quick pace of hip-hop. Comparing yourself to someone who excels in a different style than you will be your biggest downfall as a dancer, and the hardest lesson to learn. Trying new styles will always be the first step in finding your niche. As mentioned, this may feel uncomfortable at first, but the more you keep up with a style the more natural it will become. This is also not to say that you cannot still dance in styles that aren’t your best or favorite. Dance, once again, should be fun! It is fun to have a passion you enjoy just for the sake of doing it, not always because you are the best at it.
Mental health and the world of dance are intertwined, leaving you with the power to let dance be a positive outlet in your life. It all boils down to the way you think about your time in the studio and the movements you are creating. Let the movement be the guider, by releasing yourself physically you will be able to release yourself mentally. Dance is one of the rare areas in life where rules do not always equal limitations. Take the guidelines handed to you and run with them, until you are in control of your movements and energy. Mistakes are bound to happen, and in these times it’s up to you to take moments to rebuild rather than deplete. Building yourself a space in which your movements belong will open a space for your mental health to coexist as well. The difference between positive and negative mental health experiences through dance are all controlled by your perception of yourself. Steps forward physically in dance equate to steps forward mentally as well, so make your experiences your own.
