Feeling angry, overwhelmed, disappointed or anxious?
Dance it out !
Discharge Anxiety
Negative, intense emotions can sometimes show up in the body as an electrical current looking for a light to fire up, catastrophic or judgey thoughts, digestive problems, insomnia, loss of appetite or all of the above. We cannot make these emotions go away by telling ourselves ‘just let it go’ and there is not enough venting to a friend, tequila, cocaine, pain meds or work that can make these feelings disappear.
Intense emotions that are negative or positive, like joy or love, need to be felt. They need to be processed and release. Sometimes your body has a way of letting you know this. Small signals like restlessness, a tight grip of your chair arm or tension in your torso. Once the body knows you have received and accepted the message, the energy behind the emotion will start to soften.
Explicitly labelling emotions through journalling or talk therapy can help one to process and release them. Afterwards you can feel relieved, even ‘lighter’ like you just lost some weight. However, big or fiery emotions are too ‘charged’ to release through a journal or yoga. Some people feel relief from running or challenging themselves at the gym. If you don’t have the desire to jog or don’t belong to a gym, try dancing to discharge them.
Dance it out !
Dancing fosters connection with others and gets us in touch with our bodies
Dancing reduces stress, improves self-confidence and enhances mobility and muscle coordination
Dancing encourages self-expression while improving blood circulation
Dancing stimulates the vagus nerve by sending signals of ‘safety’ within your autonomic nervous system
Dancing is free!
Set the tone, tune and space to dance:
At home: Find a tune and make some space to safely be-bop and boogie at home
Out and about: Find a place where the dance club feels safe and the rhythms match up with your vibe
Recently I felt anxious and restless. I was holding worry and sadness about a close family member. Meditation was not helping. I read this article and decided to try it out. I channeled my inner teenager and I found the song ‘Supersad’ by Suki Waterhouse on Spotify. So much fun to dance and release emotions in my kitchen while singing along with ‘there’s no point in being supersad’ !
“Everything’s going wrong
Tryna reach out but I can’t find my phone
Spiralling is what I do ….
Maybe I should treat myself, new point of view
There’s no point in being supersad”
