“Get up offa dat thing dance till you feel better” -James Brown
It appears that James Brown was right when he first sang these lyrics back in 1976. Research now proves that dancing is good for your body, mind and spirit. This is no surprise – especially for the millions of TikTokers and flash-mobbers doing choreographed dance routines in public places. Cultural practices like dancing have been with humanity since the beginning of time hold. They hold a deep benefit for individuals and society alike. With many of us spending so much time sitting at the computer dance is more important than ever.
“Music-making, and movement to music, are activities central to ritual, courtship, identity, and human expression cross-culturally.” – Frontiers in Psychology
The Basic Benefits
Dancing is integral to health and, along with music, is central to community. Research shows that people are more happy when they are engaged within a creative and supportive network of relationships. Dancing is known to release endorphins that reduce pain. Dancing also causes our brains to secrete the “bonding” hormone, oxytocin (also known as the “happy” or “love” neurohormone). High energy dance that includes synchronized movements with others will increase positive results.
Dance has profound effects on brain physiology, engaging multiple regions to enhance cognitive and emotional health. It stimulates the motor cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia, which govern movement and coordination. It also activates the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex to improve memory, planning, and creativity.
Dance also increases neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new neural connections. This is enhanced exponentially through learning new choreography or improvising, which challenges the brain to adapt and grow. Dancing is even linked to reduced risks of diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Physically, dance improves cardiovascular health, strength, flexibility, and balance, making it a holistic workout that engages the entire body. Emotionally, dance fosters self-expression and helps release pent-up feelings, promoting mental clarity and reducing stress.
Social dance, in particular, builds connection and trust, enhancing a sense of belonging and community. The rhythmic nature of dance can also induce a meditative state, grounding emotions and reducing anxiety. The blend of physical effort, creative expression, and joyful engagement makes dance a transformative practice for body, mind and spirit.
The Better Health Channel lists these basic benefits to dancing:
- -improved condition of your heart and lungs
- -increased aerobic fitness
- -improved muscle tone, strength and motor fitness-
- -weight management
- -stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis
- -better coordination, agility and flexibility
- -improved balance and spatial awareness
- -increased physical confidence
- -improved mental functioning
- -improved general and psychological well-being
- -greater self-confidence and self-esteem
- -better social skills
Psychosomatic Medicine
The psychosomatic aspect to health must also be factored into the discussion of why dance is good for us. Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field. It explores the relationships among social, psychological, and behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life. I myself have had an experience of how dancing daily can help to sustain well-being under challenging circumstances.
Shortly after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, I went to the city to help with the rebuilding efforts. We spent long hours, from early morning until late, working in moldy houses and hearing the traumatic stories of survivors. There were over 20 of us that had flown in to the city from all over the country. At the end of each day everyone was exhausted and eager to go back to their hotel to sleep.
My friends and relatives from New Orleans warned me that going to bed without dancing would “make me sick”. They told me to move the “energy” through my body rather than let it stagnate inside me. By “energy” they meant the grief absorbed through hearing stories, and seeing the destruction of peoples’ homes.
I am a huge fan of the culture and music of New Orleans. So it was easy to convince me to go out for drinks and dancing until the wee hours. Despite the fact that alcohol is not that beneficial to my health, and even though I averaged a mere four hours of sleep each night, I was one of the few people from my group who did not get sick. I feel strongly that the combination of dance, music, and socializing allowed me to release stress. This strengthened my immune system during while I was in New Orleans.
“Dancing is like dreaming with your feet.” – Constanze
Diverse Expressions of Dance
There are many cultural practices around the world that incorporate dance. Martial Arts like Qi Gong and Tai Chi are forms of meditation in motion. They both enhance presence and energize the body. The only difference is that they aren’t inspired by music but instead are focused on body awareness.
Some use dance as a spiritual practice, for exercise and community building. For example, Dances of Universal Peace combine singing with movement and prolonged eye-contact as a coordinated expression of mutual respect.
Another popular form is Ecstatic Dance. This is a free-form improvisational movement where boundaries melt, creativity breaks out, beauty flows, communities collaborate and ritual is reinvented. The lack of structure in Ecstatic Dance allows each individual to find their own unique form of expression.
Social dances like swing, salsa, and tango are used for courting and romance. Break-dancing, belly-dancing, African dance, flamenco, ballet, pow-wow dancing, and others are all expressions of culture.
So dance can take these and other forms:
- A traditional form of ceremony/ritual
- Part of an exercise/health routine
- A personal discipline
- A form of self expression
- A spiritual practice
- Social and community bonding
- Courting and romance
- Entertainment
- Celebration
Emerging Culture
Popular festival culture integrates dancing, music, and art, into a community expression that everyone can relate to. These festivals are modeling new ways for people to relate which synthesize ancient tribal ways with modern human networking. These events with workshops and yoga, creates the effect of the whole being greater than the sum of its’ parts. Experiences like this are extremely valuable in this time as we collectively explore sustainable approaches to creating our global village.
“If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing.” – African Saying
Dance is as diverse and expressive as any art form can be. It has been said that life itself is a dance. With practice we can move more gracefully as we respond to all the changes that life brings us.
Turn up some tunes in your living room and throw a personal dance party. You will be benefiting your mood, health and overall well-being. Let it be funk, electronic dance music, devotional music or whatever tickles your fancy. Make sure to cut loose a few times a week. Research, history and James Brown all agree. No matter what you’re going through, dancing will surely make you feel better!
