Perhaps when you first wake up in the morning, the last thing you feel like doing is dancing. Your eyelids are half-stuck together, you can’t stop yawning, and all you can think about is making it as far as the kitchen to fix up your caffeine boost.

Believe it or not, even at these moments, if you start to move, you can immediately feel better. Dancing helps to loosen your muscles and start blood circulating around the body, improving your clarity of thought. It also releases endorphins which help to create a happy mood. No wonder many people around the world use dance as medicine. An example of ‘movement medicine’ is Five Rhythms Dance, which was created by Gabrielle Roth. Roth says dancing is a way to ‘sweat your prayers’.

Before you run away shouting ‘but I don’t know how to dance!’ - wait! I’m not talking about learning steps, or moving your body to a choreographed routine. Movement medicine is not about using a skill which you have to learn. It is about tuning into your own mood in the present moment, and allowing this to be expressed through the movement of your body. It is usually very effective to do this to music. With Five Rhythms dance, Roth suggests using five different types of music which help you connect to the five basic emotions, starting with Fear, and moving through Anger, Sadness and Joy and then into Compassion. The idea is that by expressing these emotions through movement, you can release any which you were holding inside you, and therefore become more effective at regulating these emotions in your daily life.

When I am dancing with movement medicine, I prefer to focus not on emotions but on five natural elements, beginning with Earth, and moving through Water, Fire and Air and then into Spirit. I choose music representing each of these elements and allow my body to express whatever needs to be expressed.

I know what you are thinking. A dance session first thing in the morning, which is long enough to incorporate numerous types of music, is never going to fit into your daily routine. Don’t worry, I am not recommending such a movement session (although I’m sure if you did do that first thing in the morning, you would feel amazing for the rest of the day).

What I am talking about is simply to be aware of how you can dance, even without music, even if you are super busy getting yourself ready for work, your children ready for school, or both. I like to take a few minutes before anyone else in the house is awake, to stretch my body in different ways. I usually start with shaking, which is a really great way to loosen up your entire body and get ready for a new day. But even if I don’t manage to find any spare time before my son wakes up, I still try to incorporate dance into my morning routine. Instead of walking to the fridge to get the milk out, I twirl across the kitchen. As I am putting my son’s clothes on, I sing. Perhaps it looks funny, but it helps me to feel good.

Do you incorporate dance into your daily routine? Please let me know how in the comments!

If you are interested to explore more, please book a class with me.