Do you dance daily?
I do. But it’s not what you might think. In fact, if you had asked me a month ago if I danced daily, I would’ve said “No, but I wish I did.” Or “I’m trying to but sometimes I miss days or weeks before getting back to it.”
I imagined myself renting studio space or taking online classes or at least doing a long luxurious BrainDance every morning. And while I still have goals to do those things more often, feeling like I was failing at dancing daily because I wasn’t doing those things was holding me back from actually dancing more.
I was overthinking the goal.
I DO dance (almost) every day.
It happens when I make my protein shake for breakfast. A couple years ago Cordelia developed a fear of the sound of the blender. So to make her more comfortable I started announcing “It’s gonna be loud!” and then doing a “shake dance” for the 30 seconds it’s on. Now Cordelia sometimes runs into the kitchen to shake with me while I make breakfast.
It happens when I’m baby wearing Beatrice and she gets fussy but we’re in the grocery store or the school pickup line so there’s not much I can do to soothe her. So I bounce. Up and down and side to side. Fast. Sometimes with sharp, sudden energy. Sometimes she starts laughing, sometimes she falls asleep. Every time I’m dancing.
It’s so small that I was missing it.
If you want to dance more, I invite you to look for the simple ways you can add movement to your day. To help you, I have some suggestions that use the movement concept of Relationships.
This trick works for everyone.
Relationships are connections - to yourself, to other people, to your environment, and to the objects in it.
When we use the concept of Relationships in dance, we use words like:
Over
Under
Around
Through/between
To add more dance to your day, look for opportunities when you are already going over, under, around, or through. Some examples might be:
Over the toys scattered on the floor.
Under a door frame.
Around the table.
Through/between two pieces of furniture.
Then - add a movement. Here are some suggestions:
Wiggle
Jump
Twist
Slide
Now when you drive through a tunnel you can do a tiny wiggle for your spine (being safe, of course!). You can slide to your spot at the dinner table instead of walking. You can twist a body part every time you catch yourself under a ceiling fan. Or jump over objects that are in your way.
So, now what do you think? Do you dance daily? Leave a comment below to tell me your favorite way of adding dance to your day.
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PS - I’m so excited to share that an exciting collection of Move & Groove storytime activities will be available later this month. Details on how to get them will be sent to email subscribers first, so if you love using stories for dance - make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter!
I was going to share an activity about leaves today. But instead I’m sharing an activity about leaves… AND snowflakes. You can use Part 1 in the fall and Part 2 in the winter. Or you can use both parts on those transitional days like today - where it’s a little bit of both seasons all at once.