At Ascent, we believe in empowering all humans to move with mindful joy. But with that, you may have looked at the schedule or seen our post about class offerings and asked yourself why is there a dance class? Well here are 5 reasons I think Dance is good for you. Especially in these times.
- The Physical: dance has been proven to improve cardiovascular conditioning, coordination, balance, flexibility and muscle strength. When dancing we do movements we wouldn’t typically do in a “traditional” gym setting which gives you the opportunity to move your body in a different way.
- Mental Health: Dance has been shown to lower stress, anxiety, raise self-esteem and improve brain function and right now anyway we can reduce stress sounds good, right?
- Joy: I get so much pleasure out of moving my body by dancing. I love to watch the way my body shifts in direction or the way it wiggles around. I love the way others interpret dancing in their own way and watch them move around with their own curiosity and joy. With that, watching children observe and replicate dance moves without a care in the world is one of my greatest joys in life.
- Confidence: Dancing can be described as awkward in almost all circumstances even if you are “good” at dancing but there's something to be said about those of us who can just break it down in the middle of the dance floor and let our body confidence do the moving. “Dance, like nobody's watching” feeling you get in your kitchen, is attainable in the middle of a busy park or dance floor (maybe not now but in the future #covid ) when you’re able to just move your body with confidence and without structure and opinions of others.
- Community: Dance and the art of it has brought humans together for centuries via celebration, rituals, ceremony or entertainment. Dance, in my opinion, is a common language we as humans share. You can feel a vibration or hear a song and feel the need to move but also bring others in to move with you. Even via zoom and even if you have your camera off (totally an option with our class) and know that others at that moment are dancing with you and even virtually we have created a felt sense of community.
Sound convincing and want to join? We still have space tonight! See you on your respective dance floors tonight and every Wednesday this month at 5:30 for Dance & Stretch.
Members Free | Drop-In Rate $7.00
If the drop-in rate is not accessible to you at this time please message or email us and we will get you registered. We've been so lucky to have community give to make scholarships for classes available.
