Dance, Even if You Have Diarrhea!

Jennifer Scarpace
May 20, 2014
2 min read

Last year we took my 3-year-old to Disney World. Throughout the time that we were there, especially the first day (and despite her suffering with a nasty bout of diarrhea), my daughter did not walk from place to place, she danced and she twirled. There were times that I became frustrated by the amount of effort that it was taking to get from one attraction to the next, with all the twirling, falling, and bumping into innocent Disney go-ers. Sadly, I was missing out. After all, Disney is a magical place! So, why wasn't I dancing? Why weren't other people twirling blindly in pure delight and amazement, allowing themselves to express every magical moment and feel all of the magical benefits? Well, I kind of get it, but...

Aside from feeling really, really good, dancing improves our flexibility, balance, and cardiovascular health; reduces joint stiffness, stress, and depression; increases energy and weight loss... Not sold yet?...

A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine explored the impact of various activities on improving mental acuity and staving off dementia. Of the activities studied - reading, bicycling and swimming, doing crossword puzzles, golf, and dancing - the activity that revealed the highest risk reduction (76%!) was, you guessed it, dancing! And, if you dance with others, you make friends, receiving additional benefits of social and physical contact with others. SOLD!

Instead of stressing myself out, I could have been dancing and twirling with her. Why and when do we begin stifling our bodies' brilliant and natural ability to express emotion? Why don't we follow suit in our children's carefree attitudes and behaviors? Well, at least some of them, and occasionally allow ourselves to add some delight into our day-to-day routines and tasks. Plus, imagine all of the extra calories we could burn just by dancing through our chores!

As Lee Ann Womack so beautifully sang, "I hope you dance..." I hope you can find some extra time to dance and smile today, maybe even with your kiddos. This song always does it for me...