Wellness Wednesday: Dance
September 26th, 2007
I've decided to participate (on a semi-regular basis) in Lunar Musings's wonderful new project called Wellness Wednesdays!
This week, after dancing at two different weddings (above the fiansor and I slow dance at my brother's wedding) I was thinking about how good dancing makes me feel. I'm not a great dancer by any means, nor do I know any dancing styles like swing or latin (though I'd like to learn someday.) No, I just like to shake my booty from time to time. Dancing is good for the soul. So, where do I dance?
I like to car-dance (dancing in the car to good tunes on the radio...bound to get some weird looks thrown your way, but that's ah well.) I like to dance in the shower (just be careful not to fall on your ass, it can get slippery in there!) I like to dance in my apartment with or without the fiansor or the cats (the cats don't really love to dance with me I'm afraid). I like to make little playlists on my itunes of good dancing tunes and then dance around my studio.
I'm afraid the first dance at my wedding won't be anything fancy, but it will be lovely all the same. And then later, I'm sure we'll be getting down and having fun with friends and family. Isn't it amazing how dancing can make a wedding so much more fun?
Need some dancing inspiration?
-Check out NIA, a fitness and expressive movement practice that combines dance and yoga and martial arts and is loads of fun. Jaime teaches NIA and there are classes all over the place that you can check out.
-I loved reading Gabrielle Roth's Sweat Your Prayers. Roth writes, teaches, and makes music based around the idea of combining spirituality and movement. She has developed a practice involving 5 different rhythms that are fantastic to dance to. I got some of her music online and it's a wonderful way to sweat out whatever is going on with you.
- There are also loads of cool places to check out Freestyle Dancing, which is usually a gathering of people who dance barefoot to live music and can be quite fun.
-And there's even expressive movement therapy (sort of like art therapy with movement) that can be done one on one or in small groups. I've had one experience of this in a group and it was pretty powerful. So much is stored in the body, it makes sense that movement would help us connect to those stuck areas.
So, go shake your booty. 
Ooo, update: I made this button thingamabob for the Wellness Wednesday crowd. So feel free to save it to your computer and put it on your blog if you're doing this project too! I've got it so it links to the intro to Wellness Wednesday.
13 Responses
Leah,
I just love this picture of you and your sweetie.. so very loving!
…got your comment about the kitty…oh my you have a mango kitty too!…so very sweet.. ..meow.. : )
Posted by: Cheryl Finley | Sep 26, 2007 at 10:05 pm |
What a cute pic! And a fabulous post.
I too, am going to participate in Wellness Wednesdays. I think it’s something that will really inspire me.
Posted by: Bohemian mom | Sep 27, 2007 at 9:51 am |
I’ll have to look more into what Wellness Wednesday is about. Sounds neat!
As for dancing, I am NOT the dancing type. I look like a bug flailing around when I try to dance. It is not pretty. And here in the South, dancing at weddings isn’t the norm. Can you believe that? Nope, it isn’t.
But, I love that you dance! I think it is great and I’m sure it is great for the soul.
Light and love to you today,
Karen Beth
Posted by: Karen Beth | Sep 27, 2007 at 10:27 am |
What a romantic photo! Just danced my virtual feet off at the Bloglandia Ball, whic made me want to REALLY go dancing. Solo dance all the time – but would love to just be able to dance with my sweetie again (he needs a new hip, which puts a crimp on things).
Enjoy your dance!
Posted by: tinker | Sep 27, 2007 at 7:26 pm |
Beautiful photo…you must be so excited for your wedding!
Posted by: Tori | Sep 27, 2007 at 8:37 pm |
dancing. I love to dance. I was on a semi-professional dance team. I married a man with NO rhythm. So sad. He tried to take lessons poor thing. But really – he is the meaning of the term white man syndrome.lol. I dance anyway.
Posted by: cheryl | Sep 27, 2007 at 9:11 pm |
I love to dance. Once a year, I go into NYC with my girlfriends for drinks and dancing. It’s so much fun. I should do it more often.
Posted by: bella | Sep 28, 2007 at 8:16 am |
LOL!!!! “Shaking your booty”, and “falling on your ass”??? What’s gotten into you my friend?! LOL!
LOVE the slow dance photo….and so nice to see a pic. of your Cutie!
Posted by: jes | Sep 28, 2007 at 9:28 am |
wonderful photo!! I love to dance with my daughter out in our Sun Room. Dancing just makes us all feel alive…thanks for such a great post!!
Posted by: Jane | Sep 28, 2007 at 10:17 am |
Oh your button for Wellness Wednesdays is gorgous!
I am so nerdy with this stuff but i am going to try and add it -
otherwise Jessie is my blog designer:)
and btw – i dance in the car too – I bop around in my
seat and even make my hands dance – only one at a time
of course:)
hugs!
Posted by: maddie | Sep 28, 2007 at 4:17 pm |
What a wonderful idea! The girls and I like to dance around to ‘Bikini Bottom’ from the Spongebob SquarePants movie. Shows you how highbrow I am…
Posted by: Karen | Oct 1, 2007 at 1:12 pm |
You should check out http://universalselfcare.blogspot.com to go along with your Wellness Wednesdays! xo
Posted by: Alex | Oct 2, 2007 at 1:22 pm |
Hi Leah! Groovy, dancing at every given opportunity … it is definatley good for the soul (and the weight!).
I’m doing ‘The Big Draw’ at the moment ( a drawing a day for 1 month) and have LOTS of commitments at home, or else I’d be doing W.W. too. However you have reminded me to ’shake my booty’ a little more often than I do at present; fab stress reliever! Thanks, Hugs, E
Posted by: Elizabeth | Oct 2, 2007 at 2:39 pm |