“Dancing can be a very therapeutic, uplifting, creative experience for the human mind because people get their mood up, they get their energy running,” he says. “I have a lot of patients whose physical health isn’t what they want it to be, or are suffering from a lot of health issues or chronic health issues that require medication. When we can help them to be in a good mood, with their hands flowing or dancing, they really feel great.”
The idea is to have people feel great after moving through the dance experience. The best method is to have a person dance along with other people to get a feeling of what it feels like to feel energized from head to toe, says Dr. Gabor Luban, a physical therapist at the University of Louisville.
“I have seen how when people are dancing, it makes the patient feel better,” he says. “It also has to be done without a lot of distractions — like a voice or a group singing. You can’t force the patient to dance. That’s usually not the way you can enhance a healing experience in your body.”
When would you feel like you’re ready to dance?
“If we see someone who is in the process of working through an ongoing treatment for an anxiety disorder, and they get a lot of relief from dancing, I would want to have a conversation with them about trying it again in a short amount of time,” Dr. Gaby says. “The patient needs to see how it feels and I want to be sure I’m helping them do that.”
Dancers and therapists can also use a specific dance routine to prepare people for the dance experience. There are many ballet, tap, step and jazz dances available. In some cases, a yoga pose or breathing exercise can make the dance experience feel less daunting.
“I can do one step with a ballerina on my arm,” says Kelly Vinson, who works with patients with anxiety disorders, eating disorders and depression. “But there’s the whole yoga thing and the whole breathing exercise and they could do it all in ten minutes.”
“I get the same feeling as when I’m in a yoga class, when a teacher is teaching me a step, or when a doctor is helping me with an exam,” she says. “It helps me feel better and makes me feel less anxious.”
And a person’s ability to feel energized and centered after they dance gives the therapist a good chance at identifying possible
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