For many years I’ve read about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.  I truly believe it works and know people who swear by it.  I even recommend it to the people I work with, encouraging them to download apps to practice.  But to be honest, truth be told, I can’t get myself to do it.  I try, but it just doesn’t seem to stick.  I’ve even joined all  kinds of yoga classes and walking meditation groups, but it’s just never something I choose to do without forcing myself.  What is wrong with me, I wonder?  (Besides being a hypocrite).  And then as I read an article in a psychology journal, the answer seemed so simple.  According to research, maybe I just need something more fun!

For many people the idea of dancing is down right scary.  The self consciousness takes away any fun they might experience.  But research shows that if we can get past the awkwardness, dancing can be a more effective tool than meditation, yoga, or other forms of exercise for lowering stress levels and increasing a sense of well being.  In fact, there is evidence that human culture evolved through dance and that dancing is hardwired into our brains.  Cave drawings show evidence of people dancing over 7,000 years ago! And three week old babies show evidence that they can begin to sync up their movements to the beat of music played around them.  We seem to naturally find pleasure and joy in dancing, if only our embarrassment didn’t get in the way.  We are all dancers, it seems, but we truly differ in how comfortable we are with letting ourselves express it.

So here are a few reasons to give it a try.  Dancing combines several activities that each alone are good for our health – exercising, listening to music, and connecting with other people.  In one study, participants spent 90 minutes either doing hatha yoga, African dance or listening to a biology lecture (ok, was that a fair comparison?).  Results showed that both yoga and dance helped significantly reduce stress and negative emotions.  But only the dance participants had an increase in positive emotions. Other studies comparing various forms of exercise and mindfulness with dance classes also show the superior benefit of dance.  Participants in these studies seemed to consistently describe the feeling of creativity and excitement that emerged from the dance experience.  They also describe feeling more confident and energized.  One study even collected saliva samples and found that the dancer group had the largest drop in cortisol levels, the biological basis to the experienced reduction in stress.

Dance seems to transport us into a state of flow where we forget about our troubles and regulate our biological systems.  It opens us up to emotional experiences through the music and helps us to get in touch with our bodies in a playful way.  It brings people together and fosters a sense of connection and belonging.  There is something tribal and simple about moving your body in sync with a beat surrounded by other people.  Dance also seems to have good results as a treatment for depression and anxiety in many studies.  Meta analysis of the benefits for dance consistently show that the dance study participants came to associate their dance class with both a social and a physical effect that lifted their spirits.  In other words, it was fun!

Proof in concept?  In one of the studies, a group of 100 people with depression were split them into three groups.  One group learned tango, the other practiced mindfulness, and the third group was on a wait list.  Results showed that both mindfulness and tango helped lower depression levels compared to the waitlist group.  But at the completion of the study, when researchers asked participants if they wanted vouchers to continue either the mindfulness class or the tango class, guess what?  Over 97% of the participants chose the dance lessons!  Make it fun…and they will come.  Now maybe I can find a dance app to replace my meditation one. Or shut the door, pull the curtains, and schedule a dance party with myself where noone can see me!