The Experts Weigh In: Dance - A Catalyst for Physical, Mental and Spiritual Bliss

BY: JENNY BROE PRICE, CONTRIBUTOR

Got soul?  Have you ever been so drenched in sweat, so tuned in to your body, so connected with your mind and inseparable from your heart that you lived for only that moment?  

I have. There is amazing goodness that comes from dance not only as a form of exercise but as an expression of art and as a means of worship. It is quite rare to achieve all aspects of "the dance" every time you dance, but when you do somehow stumble across or skillfully achieve the triad of dance goodness (body, mind and soul), it is an unmatched experience in the flesh and an incredible lift of the spirit. It creates pure joy. Excitingly, though, each individual facet of goodness (not just the triad) is incredibly beneficial to us as human beings. The amount of benefit depends purely on what is important to YOU.

The Body.

Dance is a form of physical activity, that when taken seriously, requires great athletic prowess, flexibility and strength. The techniques involved are known for their stellar ability to shape and tone the human bod. I must attest to this. 3 hours+ of dance class (any form) every week will get you looking right and tight in no time. I have so many students (males especially) drop pounds without even realizing it, until one day their pants are falling off and all they can do is smile. What a sense of satisfaction.  

Dance is great for your endurance and cardiovascular health. Dance demands both anaerobic spurts of energy and aerobic tolerance, and it's a FUN way to shape up and slim down. You like pilates? Try ballet. Yoga? Try modern dance or tai chi. Aerobic classes like Zumba? You will most certainly be a convert to hip-hop and never look back. Salsa is a more social form that is also great for the midsection OR you could do more detail oriented and isolated work (like tap dancing) for some killer calves and great rhythm. Dance comes alive in over a thousand ways and styles, so needless to say there actually IS something for everyone. Have you ever seen a breakdancer with less than impressive abdominals? Case closed.  

The Mind.

It takes patience, concentration, a good memory, logical thinking, creativity and incredible coordination. I could be talking about playing videogames or perhaps constructing an architectural masterpiece, but I'm not. Dance is some of the BEST brain food. Math problems are good, dancing is better. It takes you out of your chair, out of your box and into a zone for your mind to connect with your body. That mind/body connection is crucial to successfully achieve a positive experience. It has been said that physical activity makes you smarter and less stressed. Yes. This is true. Dancers are happy people. You've heard of "leave your attitude at the door"? Well, you have to be in the "now" when you're dancing. It requires way too much mental and physical coordination to be caught up in that bad mood or depressed state you walked in the door with. Dancing forces you to be present. No regrets to weigh you down. No big ambitions to stress you out. Just that moment.    

The Soul.  

Want to feel close to God? Surrender in the dance. I am a professional dancer, instructor and choreographer in Charleston, South Carolina. I have been dancing the technique and art form for the better part of 17 years, but I just recently (as in the past two weeks) found a brilliant gem in praise dance. Worshiping and expressing thanks through dance and full body movement. You've probably belted out "Praise Ye Jesus" louder than your grandmother or aunt Gertrude could have cared for, so try moving to the beat of that phrase by guiding yourself through space and releasing your entire physical being. I call that dancing, and humans have been doing it since forever. It is in our spiritual DNA. It makes us happy and it pleases God. What a great combination. 

I could go into other well-being topics involving social interaction, culture and unifying the human race with dance, but I digress. Things are easy and attainable in threes...kind of like the waltz. Or the rock step. Or a pas de bourre. They just go well together.  1, 2, 3.   1, 2, 3.   1, 2, 3.  

Give the dance triad a try. It could help mold you into the type of person you want to be.

Images courtesy of Ryan Woolsey

Jenny Broe Price is taking the world of dance by storm. She is the Executive Director of Dancefx Charleston, the Co-Founder and Director of the Charleston Dance Festival (September 10-16) and the Head Coach of the Charleston Man of War All Star Dance Team. She lives and breathes to dance. When she does manage some 'me' time, you can find Jenny on the water with her husband, fishing for flounder, or reading up on plant biology. If you're in the Charleston area, check out one of her shows! You won't be disappointed.

www.dancefxcharleston.com
www.charlestonmanofwar.com
www.charlestondancefestival.com

Starting Your Day Off Right: Breakfast Doesn't Have To Be A Burden!

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

I have really vivid memories of being in second grade and hating breakfast food with a passion. My mom, being the nutrition nut that she was, insisted that I eat before I went to school, but I found cereal, oatmeal, eggs and the rest of it to be extremely disgusting. It wasn't that I wasn't hungry... I was! I just didn't like the taste of breakfast food.

Clearly, my taste in b'fast was not the only
thing questionable about me. Check me out,
there on the far left.

Sharona (as we call my mother, in loving reference to the 80's jam by the same name) solved the problem at hand by feeding me leftovers from dinner the night before. It wasn't odd to find me eating a plate of spaghetti at 7 am, or maybe munching on some squash casserole. That was my jam. Problem solved! I could finally enjoy breakfast!

My 'breakfast high' was short-lived though, when I was confronted with a bit of a pickle in Mrs. Harrison's second grade classroom. Mrs. Harrison let us come up to the front of the room for reading time, and when she finished the book, she would dismiss us in groups (so as not to cause a stampede). I can't tell you how many days she dismissed us by 'what we had for breakfast.' I would watch nervously as the other children scampered off in groups when she called out 'cereal' or 'eggs'... sometimes she'd even make it all the way to 'croissant' or 'yogurt' ...and still I sat.

Not to be upstaged, she eventually said, 'Lauren, what on earth did you eat for breakfast THIS time?' and I would have to admit, in front of EVERYONE, that I ate a huge plate of beef stroganoff before school. Needless to say, I was always the last person on the floor in the front of the room and I'm sure Mrs. Harrison questioned my mother's rearing techniques.         ...But that is neither here nor there.


The point of the story is: find a breakfast that works for you and start eating breakfast! It REALLY is the most important meal of the day and here's why...

• During the course of the night, your glycogen stores (which supply your muscles with energy) start to wane. If you don't refuel your body with breakfast, you'll start to lose energy and feel fatigued before lunch.
• If you start the day with a nutritious breakfast, studies have shown that you are less likely to succumb to cravings and make bad choices throughout the day.
• Breakfast is an extra opportunity to get your daily requirement of nutrients. 
• Breakfast helps to jump start your metabolism by helping your body produce the enzymes needed to metabolize fat and drop those extra pounds. In fact, studies have shown that people who consistently eat a balanced breakfast tend to be less overweight in general.
• Eating breakfast has been shown to improve your concentration and your work or school performance.

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

So what exactly is a balanced breakfast? You should focus on foods that are high in fiber. Carbohydrates are not the enemy when they are the right kind, full of fiber. Stay away from the bagels, donuts and muffins and instead opt for a piece of whole grain toast, a whole grain waffle or a piece of fruit. You'll also need some protein for energy and alertness. You could go with an egg or even some natural peanut butter (ie. not JIF or PeterPan). It's also good to throw in some low-fat dairy options (if you eat dairy). Yogurt is my top pick because the good bacteria, or probiotics, in yogurt help the body absorb nutrients and regulate the growth of harmful bacteria in the body.

If you are the type to bolt out the door in the morning and just don't have time to sit down for a meal, here's an idea! The night before, blend together a fruit smoothie and refrigerate it overnight so that all you have to do in the morning is open the fridge, grab it and go! I find that if I make things ahead of time, I'm more apt to stick to my guns and actually eat something good in the morning!

And hey... if your thing is beef stroganoff in the a.m., who am I to judge?!?