DANCE and Self-Regulation

“Self-regulation will always be a challenge,

but if somebody’s going to be in charge,

it might as well be me.”

_Daniel Akst

Dance is a wonderful tool for psychological self-regulation. It develops our ability to have a greater awareness of the cues we are receiving from the body, integrating our physical and mental selves.

Sometimes we are so out of touch that our bodies are positively screaming at us for attention, through pains and aches, stiffness and fatigue. These are emotional signatures of the body that first arise as bodily sensations. When we become aware of these cues, we are able then to ascribe meaning and interpret them as feelings. These become mental states that begin to govern our behaviour. When we are connected to our body, when we are aware of our feelings, it is possible to be conscious of our actions in life. When we are disconnected, we are little more than automated robots governed by habitual patterns of behaviour.

Dance is our portal to the body and our connection to everything that is going on in our being. We connect with our sensations, our bodies, our emotions, and our feelings. They are not always negative; we can sometimes be unconscious of the good times too. Integrating our mind and body through dance opens up our ability to direct and be creative in our lives. We learn ‘when’ to act. We learn ‘how’ to act. And so are able to self-regulate ourselves in life, not flouncing around a helpless victim of circumstance. We become active creators of a well-balanced life.

_Christos Daskalakos

Dance, Wellbeing and Self-REgulation with Moni Mogaji