Dance more. Every day.
That’s it. That’s the sauce.
How?
Yes.
When?
Yes.
Where?
Yes.
However you feel like dancing. Whenever you need to move. (I suggest every 30 minutes, for five minutes, to start.) Wherever you are. There is no wrong place to dance. If your workspace culture does not allow for dancing, I highly recommend quitting that job finding a way to build dance in to walking breaks, bathroom breaks, phone calls on your feet, literally anything to get more dance in your day.
Why dance?
It works.
I’ve posted the research on dance as preventative medicine for early onset Alzheimers and dementia, heart disease, cardio-vascular health in general, and more.
This morning, a friend sent a meta-analysis of studies that found dance is a better anti-depressant than, well… anything else, including antidepressant medication.
Here’s another one: The effect of dancing interventions on depression symptoms, anxiety, and stress in adults without musculoskeletal disorders: An integrative review and meta-analysis
Twenty-eight randomized controlled trials involving 2249 eligible subjects were selected. They were found to be of satisfactory quality (fair n = 12, good n = 16). These studies revealed that dance interventions had a significant effect on relieving depression symptoms (SMD = −0.69, 95 % CI -0.91 to −0.35, p < 0.001), anxiety (SMD = −0.99, 95 % CI = −1.92 to −0.05, p < 0.05), and stress (SMD = −1.0, 95 % CI = −1.83 to −0.17, p < 0.05). Exposure to a dancing intervention for at least 150 min per week was found to have reduced depression symptoms (SMD = −0.72, 95 % CI -0.20, −0.25, p < 0.01).
Conclusions
This review indicates that dancing interventions significantly reduce depression symptoms, stress, and anxiety; and adults with or without musculoskeletal disorders would benefit from engaging in a dancing intervention for at least 150 min per week. Dancing interventions are recommended to be incorporated in health promotion activities to promote psychological wellbeing.
150 minutes of dancing per week. That’s six five minute dance breaks per day over a five day work week (30 total). If you’re taking movement breaks every 30 minutes, as recommended by the Body Electric Project, you’ll easily meet the mark in 2 days.
All this to say: dance more.
“Science Says” is written by Kelly King, an embodied joy strategist who is creating movement based mindfulness on her path. She is a co-leader, co-conspirator, and master strategist in The Movement Movement, offering clients her visionary leadership skills while guiding them toward alignment. Together, with Leah Williams and Vincenza Illiano, we audaciously model collaborative leadership for our clients.