When the mind is right, the rest will take care of itself. As well as a dancer, choreographer and personal trainer, I am also a trained mindset coach, and am extremely passionate about it. Why? It is honestly the best feeling in the world, knowing that I have the ability and knowledge to help truly change someone’s outlook/self-perception/confidence/self-worth/LIFE by teaching them simple but valuable, life-changing steps to change their thought process. I want to use my knowledge to help you too, so in short, here are some of the many reasons why dancing is so good for the brain.
Escapism
Dancing for just an hour or so a week can help you to escape and forget about everything else going on, whether it’s relationship-related, family-related, work-related etc. By focusing on new choreography, connecting with your body, experiencing improvements and being able to express through movement, your not thinking about anything else for that period of time. Escapism is a hard “thing” to find, and dance can give you that.
Positivity
Being in a dance class full of inspired individuals and continuous encouragement will make you feel so much more confident as a person. Why am I so confident that this is always the case? Because like I say, with mindset coaching comes a lot of experience with people in general. The world can be a negative dreary place sometimes but if we haven’t lifted your mood from 0-100 within the hour, we haven’t done our job right. And hey, if you are doing something you love, there is absolutely no reason to be negative! Dance for me is about bringing people together, and being your most expressive, dramatic, silly self – we all have that side! So bring your character to your performance and to the classroom and you will BOUNCE of each other’s energy I can assure you of that.
Friendships
What’s better for the brain than a crazy fun social life with GENUINELY like-minded, hilarious, loving, caring people who are all doing something to better themselves – not just going out getting hammered on weekends to escape reality?! Life-long friendships are made through dance. You are in a room full of people who share the same love and passion as you, so you instantly all have something in common, and the natural storytelling through movement and the facial expressions through performance is only step 1 of getting to know your classmates. But the conversations, the people, the teamwork, the laughs, the tears, The Army DC nights out… these factors are really what makes dance invaluable.
Expression
Dancing is about LETTING GO, and interpreting the routines how you want to. If you feel angry, put anger into the routine, if you feel sad, then RELEASE that emotion. By expressing your feelings through dance, you will feel 100x better after, like a tonne of bricks has been lifted of your shoulders… Don’t believe me? Watch our contemporary workshop video to W.A.Y.S – Jhene Aiko. We have 60 people in tears expressing story after story after story and letting out emotion that had held in for days, weeks, months years. This moment was unexplainable and gives me chills to this day. Yes, dance really is THAT powerful. Read more about our contemporary class here.
At THE ARMY DC the same rule applies, no one is judged, everyone supports and encourages each other and genuinely loves and cares for each other. A comment one of my students made about my classes is exactly how I hope every single person feels at every dance class they attend.
“Everybody supports each other and feeds off each other’s energy and enjoyment in what we’re doing. It’s impossible for me to leave class without a smile on my face and without feeling more empowered and confident than I came in.”
As long as you are dong something you love, with the people you love, leaving on a high each week is a guarantee. Welcome to a more positive, confident, you. Stick at it, and keep on doing what makes YOU happy.