Life Lessons from Dance

Life Lessons from Dance

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.—Wayne Dyer

By Arielle Giordano

Dance takes you out of your mind and into your body! It can help you live with passion, enjoy your life journey and stay in the flow. Here are five important life lessons you can learn from dance: 1) Listening: Dancing takes you into music. You listen to the beat with your inner and outer rhythm and move to it. This helps you to hear your inner voice and what people are telling you, both of which are important parts of everyday life. Relax and listen to the quiet within—the subtle voice that speaks to you when you are not actively trying to hear! You will connect with your deepest heart and its guidance. 2) Balance: Dancers need good balance to move and perform, and balance building helps you to keep your life in harmony. Dance steps also promote good posture. I teach students to stand with feet hips distance apart and lift up from the hips.

Shoulders are slightly pressed back and down and hips slightly forward. Stand on the right leg and lift the other leg and then reverse and lift the left leg. This exercise tests your balance. If you wobble, reposition your body in correct posture and do it again. (And be sure to have a chair close by to hold onto just in case!) Balance in your life can apply to work vs. play. The latter includes family time, doing what you love to do, being creative, participating

sports or a physical activity, dancing with friends and solitary time. 3) Rhythm: Dance is rhythm, and rhythm is dance; it is the primal heartbeat of your soul. Dance teaches you to move gracefully in life and find your own rhythm. It is also a source of healing because movement is good medicine—calming, relaxing, and centering for the body, mind and spirit. 4) Grounding. Moving your feet in the rhythm of dance and connecting to the Mother Earth is grounding for your body, mind and spirit. Dance also helps you to become grounded in the truth of what you know.

Stand your ground and dance barefoot on the Earth! 5) Flow. Dance flows gracefully from one step to the next. If you miss a step, make it part of the dance.

You know when you are in your flow or out of it, and the same sensations apply to life in general. Dancing makes you aware of the truth flowing in you. Stay in tune and flow with it. Dance can set you free. Let go in your body, enjoy and have fun.

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful.” —Agnes de Mille

Dancing from the Inside Out

with Arielle Giordano

Transformational Life Coach Award-Winning Author & Speaker, Professional Dancer. Arielle’s Award-Winning book for Best Self-Help Award: Dancing With Your Story From The Inside is available on http://www.Amazon.com. Her professional career includes the Lead Faculty Area Chairperson and Professor for the College of Humanities, History and the Arts at the University of Phoenix. She is a published co-author of Transform Your Life Books 1 & 2 and author for Tampa Bay Wellness, Conscious Shift & Transformation magazine. She has published her 4th book, an Instructor’s Manual for Barlow Abnormal Psychology 4th ed. and authored Psychology, A Journey 3rd.ed. Study Guide published by Nelson Education, Toronto, ON. She has also studied philosophy at the College of Integrated Philosophy with John DeRuiter for twenty years. Arielle has been a featured guest on radio and television, in newspapers, and the media across the US and Canada. She is a certified Essentrics Stretch and Dance Instructor. Arielle offers coaching sessions, classes and workshops and a free 30-minute Consultation. Websites: http://www.dancingfromtheinsideout.com, http://www.ariellegiordano.com. Email: agbeautifuldance@gmail.com