I have struggled with depression for most of my life, but two years ago I found a great therapist. With her help and EMDR, I’ve made huge headway. Most years around this time I would be mourning summer and getting anxious about the coming winter that always made my depression so much worse. But I’m not scared this year. I actually KNOW I can handle whatever comes, AND that it won’t bury me as it often has in the past.
But life is life and there are definitely still days when my motivation is lacking, so I talked with my therapist about some solutions. She has taught me about nervous system states in the Polyvagal Theory and she reminded me that feeling withdrawn, numb, or shutdown means I’m in a dorsal state. She suggested I activate the nervous system in a way that creates energy so I don’t go further down into the dorsal/freeze state and to consume excess energy that is created in the fight or flight sympathetic state. This included things like running, biking, and other heart-pumping activities.
Of all her suggestions, dancing sounded the most fun. So I turn on Dancing Queen or Cruel Summer (Bananarama, not Taylor) and dance in my kitchen where no one can see me. Today it was the Pointer Sisters and instead of 1 song, it turned into 2 danced songs and the rest of the playlist playing in the background while I write this (the Pointer Sisters are Fire!)
Dancing has indeed activated my nervous system, but besides raising my endorphins and the obvious cardio benefits, dancing improves brain function and boosts memory. A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine investigated the effect leisure activities had on the risk of dementia in the elderly. The researchers looked at the effects of 11 different types of physical activity, including cycling, golf, swimming, and tennis, but found that only one of the activities studied—dance—lowered participants’ risk of dementia. According to the researchers, dancing involves both a mental effort and social interaction and that this type of stimulation helped reduce the risk of dementia.
Dancing in 2010 with the cutest date ever.
Another study published in the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience shows that dancing improves cerebral health including spatial memory. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, the researchers concluded that dancing can boost the connectivity between both cerebral hemispheres, and long-term dance practice positively affects brain activity.
All of this, the combination of exercise and sensory enrichment during a dance, can improve neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new neural connections to change and adapt. Dancing can even be used as an intervention for many neurological diseases, like stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy.
So while I chose to put on my boogie shoes to help me move up the polyvagal ladder, turns out dancing has a ton of other positive consequences.
Here’s some actual footage of me in my kitchen
