Enjoy this beautiful video on the power of intention and using intention to create harmony and wellbeing...

Energy Share for Sunday
August 29, 2010

Now is the perfect time to share the blessings of giving and receiving - compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, abundance, and the power of divine grace within ourselves that is connected to all things in the universe.  When circumstances seem bleak and lacking, now is the time to share a larger expansive vision and truth of ourselves as spiritual beings having a physical existence.  That by remembering we are far more than the sum of our parts, that with our intention and creative ability we can release our limiting beliefs that bind us in pain, drama, fear, and anger.

Let us be grateful for the spiritual growth from lessons learned, relief in letting go, and move forward on the road to greater fulfillment.  Let us dance in celebration for living a passionate life of love and purpose.  And enjoy the previous posts on health and healing dance...

Aloha pumehana (with blessings, love and affection),

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

23. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

24. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

25. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

26. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

27. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

28. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

29. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

30. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

31. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

32. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

33. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

34. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

35. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

36. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

37. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

38. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

39. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

40. Matthew Leonard, Lodi, New Jersey, USA

41. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

42. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

43. Moira Congreve, England, UK

44. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

45. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

46. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

47. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

48. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

49. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

50. Pauline Leung, England, UK

51. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

52. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

53. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

54. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

55. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

56. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

57. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

58. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

59. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

60. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

61. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

62. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

63. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

64. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

65. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

66. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

67. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

68. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

Nurse Promotes Health With 

Therapeutic Dance

By Janice Petrella Lynch, RN, MSN

http://news.nurse.com/article/20100823/NJ02/108230016

Kathleen McMahon, RN, MEd, MA, has managed to combine her two passions in life — nursing and dance — to help nurses, patients and families.

McMahon, an experienced RN from Scotch Plains, N.J., who also is an accomplished dancer and teacher, has conducted programs that include movement, dance, stretching and toning with nurses in hospital and outpatient settings, patients in nursing homes and hospice, adolescents in shelters and children who have suffered loss, just to name a few.

“I use the words ‘therapeutic dance’ because I see the healing power of movement,” McMahon said. “I’ve watched as people dance; they engage their emotions and feel a sense of life and resiliency. They are pulled out of their daily routine and stresses to be ‘in the moment’ with themselves and their bodies.”

Having danced since she was a child, McMahon pursued her talent even while she worked full time at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and while she pursued advanced degrees. “Once I completed a four-year training program at Helix in psychotherapy and healing, I knew that I wanted to combine my two loves of dancing and health promotion,” she said.

During a humanitarian visit to Africa, McMahon traveled to Saint Elizabeth’s Hospice in Burundi, where she taught patients and staff dances such as the alley cat, Charleston, belly dancing and square dancing. “We did not speak the same language, and yet we communicated with one another through dance,” McMahon said.

McMahon enjoys the cultural and religious dimensions to dance, and uses their components in creating dance routines and helping others to create their own. “I’ve taught nurses and patients to belly dance, and it’s great because it’s usually outside their comfort zone and it’s fun, especially when you add costumes, earrings, scarves and veils,” she said.

McMahon presented the poster “Dance — Effectiveness of an Underused Modality in Health and Illness” at the New Jersey End-of-Life Consortium Nursing Conference in May, where she also offered the fourth annual “Care for the Caregivers Belly Dance Workshop.” Also performing at local nursing homes, assisted living communities, home care agencies and hospitals, McMahon plans to apply for grant funding to pursue community and professional activities in therapeutic dance. She also wants to develop continuing education nursing programs that explore dance and its therapeutic value and physical therapy programs that include choreographed dance and exercise for patients and the homebound elderly.

“I can’t imagine leaving nursing because I love the healing and the camaraderie,” McMahon said. “Putting dance and nursing together creates such joy for me.”

For more, e-mail McMahon at NursingWisdom@aol.com.

© Copyright 2010 Gannett Healthcare Group

The secret to good digestion & immunity. Stop getting sick with...

Did you know that it is estimated that 60-70% of your immune system is located in your gut? I'll explain more on that in a minute.

Do you get sick often or are you in almost perfect health 99% of the time?

Most people it seems get sick at least once every couple weeks.

Other people seem to never get sick. Why the difference?

Also, what about digestion? Do you get stomach aches, gas, bloating and other digestion problems frequently or never?

Well, there are tons of reasons for the differences in both areas... including stress levels, types of food intake, sleep quality and quantity, overall general health and fitness levels, and even some factors going back to childhood (such as breastfeeding, the type of diet during developmental years, etc).

What I've noticed for myself personally is that the healthier that I eat as the years go on, the less frequently I get sick, and the less frequently I get digestion problems.

As a matter of fact, my diet has become so healthy over the last couple years that I really never get sick at all anymore (maybe 1 cold per year), and I also can't remember the last stomach ache I had (pretty much never have them anymore).

Besides just keeping fit and healthy in general, I have a little bit of a secret that I believe helps a lot with my immunity as well as digestion, and hopefully this info will help you as well.

One of my major secrets is the heavy use of both probiotics and prebiotics... and this doesn't mean supplements... rather, I get these all from regular natural foods.

Probiotics are basically live microorganisms (friendly bacteria and other good microorganisms) that can be ingested in certain fermented and raw foods. Some probiotics you may have heard of are Bifidus, Lactobacilli, L. casei, etc.

It's estimated that the average person has several TRILLION of these little buggers doing work at any given time inside your digestive system.

Probiotic microorganisms actually like the acidic environment of your stomach and small intestine, and provide a HUGE amount of benefits to you.

Here are some of the benefits that probiotics in your digestive system provide:

*Improve digestion
*Increase your immunity
*Help reduce yeast infections, urinary tract infections, etc
*Reduce chances of diarrhea and/or constipation
*Improve lactose intolerance
*Increase absorption of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients
*Increase production of white blood cells to help reduce inflammation, allergies, and other conditions
*and much more important functions

Keep in mind that taking antibiotics kills off a portion of your friendly bacteria living inside of you, so you need to make sure to increase your intake of probiotics if you're ever forced to take antibiotics.

Personally, I would never take antibiotics unless it was something life threatening that needed to be eradicated. But to be compliant, I have to tell you to do whatever your doctor tells you to do.

By the way, many doctors will prescribe antiobiotics a lot of times even if you have a viral infection (which is pointless), and is only doing you harm by killing some of your good probiotic bacteria in your system and potentially allowing another bug to make you ill now that your defenses are reduced (the probiotics are your defenses).

Make sure to confirm with your doc that you really do have a bacterial infection before allowing him/her to prescribe you an antiobiotic. Even in those cases, you should ask your doc if the antibiotic is really required or if you can get better on your own (which is preferred).

So what foods are good sources of these health-giving friendly probiotics?

A couple major sources are:

*Yogurt - make sure that the yogurt label says that it has live cultures in it. Also, steer clear of yogurts that use artificial sweeteners or are loaded with sugar and corn syrup... Instead, your best bet is plain yogurt (grass fed and organic if possible), and then add your own fruit, nuts, and stevia to "flavor it up".

*Kefir - similar to yogurt, but more of a liquid form of fermented milk (can have 2-3 billion or more active friendly organisms per serving).

*Aged types of cheese - blue cheese, hard aged cheeses, aged cheddar... all can contain up to 10 billion friendly organisms per serving.

*Kambucha - a type of fermented tea (this has a very strong taste, so consider mixing it with regular iced tea)

*Natto, miso, and tempeh - forms of fermented soybean (the ONLY types of soy that I believe are ok in limited quantities)

*Sauerkraut - probably needs to be homemade as I believe most supermarket sauerkrauts are pasteurized, which kills the friendly probiotics.

*other naturally fermented foods

So as you can see, trying to include a variety of these probiotic-rich foods into your daily diet can go a long way towards keeping you healthy, strengthen your immune system and prevent sickness, and also help prevent digestion problems.

The other thing I wanted to explain was PREBIOTICS. If probiotics are the actual organisms, prebiotics are types of foods that you can eat to help stimulate the growth of probiotics within your system.

Soluble fiber is the main prebiotic that can help the probiotics flourish in your digestive system. Oatmeal, oat bran, inulin (not insulin, but inulin...a soluble fiber), and various fruits and vegetables all help to supply you with prebiotics.

There you have it! Probiotics and prebiotics explained.

Feel free to forward this email to any of your friends and family that may be interested.

If you missed my newsletter last week, make sure to check out the new nutrition program by Isabel De Los Rios. I was really impressed with this and feel it is a MUST-READ by everyone that wants to fully understand nutrition and make themselves and their family leaner and healthier for life.

Make sure to check it out and grab a copy here:

http://the-non-diet.com

Til next time,
Don't be lazy... be lean.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - http://TruthAboutAbs.com & http://BusyManFitness.com

Dance Psychology

Looking at dance and dancers through the lens of psychology

by Peter Lovatt, PhD

Dad Dancing is sweeping the Nation!

24th April 2010

Dad Dancing

It might not have the grace of the Foxtrot or the style of Argentine Tango but Dad Dancing is the new dance craze sweeping the country. Dad Dancing is fun, big and most importantly its impossible to get wrong! You don't need a partner, you can dance it to any type of music, and no-one's going to correct your technique.

Dad Dancing is a form of freestyle dance characterised by complete freedom of movement. The most obvious examples of Dad Dancing can be seen when people make large, uncoordinated, and uninhibited movements. But Dad Dancing is just as likely to be seen when people make small, shuffly, wobbly movements.

When someone is really Dad Dancing, in the true sense of Dad Dancing, they are completely in their own world, they are dancing for themselves, and their movements are simply the external expression of what they feel inside.

The Origins of Dad Dancing

Dad Dancing can be traced back to the earliest family celebrations where, typically, men in their 30s and 40s would dance, using movements that were not in the height of fashion, and embarrass their children. Dad Dancing is universal, there are Dad Dancers in Tokyo, Toronto, Tallahassee, Toowoomba and Tunbridge Wells.

The Science of Dad Dancing

From an evolutionary perspective (Darwin, 1871) dance is an integral part of the mate selection process. Research has shown that the way we dance is related to our hormonal and genetic make up, such that men dance differently depending on their level of the sex hormone "testosterone" and women dance differently depending on the stage they are at in the ovulatory cycle. Most importantly these differences in dance movements are picked up by people watching others dance and they form the basis of ratings of attractiveness. In short, high testosterone men, and women at the fertile stage of their ovulatory cycle, are rated as more attractive than men with low testosterone and women at the less fertile stage of their ovulatory cycle.

So, dance moves signal our hormonal and genetic make up. But what has this got to do with Dad Dancing? Well, we know that when men are past their reproductive prime they start to dance differently compared with when they were in their reproductive prime. In a survey of 14,000 people, which included over 8,000 men, Dr Peter Lovatt found that men in their 30s and 40s used bigger and less coordinated dance moves than men in their teens and 20's. Lovatt also found that women rated larger and less coordinated dance moves as less attractive than the slightly smaller and more coordinated dance moves often displayed by people in their teens and 20s.

Therefore, from an evolutionary perspective, Dad Dancing might have evolved as a way of signalling to women that men are past their reproductive prime.

The Health Benefits of Dad Dancing

There are many health benefits associated with dance. Dance can be good for a person's general health, their psychological well-being, and their mood and for general levels of fitness. However, dance can also cause some people tremendous stress and anxiety.

Dr Lovatt has carried out a large-scale survey asking people either why they dance or why they don't dance. One of the main reasons that people don't dance is because they feel self-conscious, and one of the reasons they feel self-conscious is because they feel afraid of making a mistake while they are dancing. This feeling was expressed by a large number of people over the age of 30 who said that they were afraid to dance because they no-longer knew the latest most fashionable dance moves.

One way to over-come this feeling of not knowing the latest dance moves is to learn some new ones. In large cities there are lots of opportunities to learn formal dances. For example, people can learn the Ballroom and Latin dances, they can take up Salsa or Line Dancing. However, to learn these dances might require the existence of formal classes, a large space in which to dance, a partner and money for lessons, which simply might not be available. In addition, learning these types of dance comes with another difficulty. You have to learn the steps. You have to get it right and there are often lots of people around who, when you step on their toe, will tell you that you have got it wrong - and this can be stressful and damaging for your health.

The other way to over-come the feeling of not knowing the latest dance moves is to just do what comes naturally. Forget about what's fashionable, forget about dancing for other people, forget about getting things wrong and just dance for the sheer pleasure of being alive. Most of all, just dance like no-one's watching. When we dance in this way we are in a position to gain all of the health benefits of dance without suffering from the counteractive effects of stress and anxiety associated with learning to do something "right" and being afraid of getting it "wrong".

Dad Dancing is the perfect form of dance to improve your health because it doesn't rely on you knowing what to do, it is not tied to any particular form of music or fashion, it doesn't require a partner, a large space, or a formal class or money and it is impossible to get wrong.

Is Dad Dancing "Bad" Dancing

Dad Dancing is not bad dancing. Dad Dancers can be highly skilled, coordinated dancers who have a wide repertoire of moves and who can connect with the music and other people while they are dancing. Dad Dancers can be a dream to dance with, because they are relaxed, unashamed and free. Because of the free nature of Dad Dancing it can also be big, wild, and uncoordinated.

Do you need to be a Dad to Dad Dance?

You do not need to be a dad to Dad Dance. You don't even need to be in your 30s or 40s, or even be male, to Dad Dance. Everyone who enjoys dancing in a relaxed, free and uninhibited way can enjoy the many benefits of Dad Dancing.

Tips for getting started with Dad Dancing

Next time you're alone, plug yourself into some music, close your eyes, forget who you are and start moving. You'll be amazed what happens next.

Energy Share for Sunday
August 22, 2010

Enjoy the energy boost within this video that I share with you today. Allow it to help you experience peace, love and harmony within yourself, with others, and the world around you.  Allow yourself to remember and recognize your ever expanding spirit, your energies resonating in harmony, and celebrate unity with the abundant love that exists everywhere in everything throughout all eternity.  I also share with you my gratitude for the energy boost you send and for being a special part of the group.

Enjoy the previous posts, especially the latest Beacons of Light "Secret of the Expanding Universe". I'm adding a few more posts to my Facebook group "A Passion 4 Chocolate" - recipes, cleaning chocolate stains, and little known tidbits. Join me there and post your comments, recipes, and anything else you'd like to share.

Let us be present in every moment and live the passionate life with purpose!

Aloha pumehana (with blessings, love and affection),

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

23. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

24. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

25. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

26. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

27. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

28. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

29. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

30. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

31. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

32. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

33. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

34. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

35. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

36. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

37. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

38. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

39. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

40. Matthew Leonard, Lodi, New Jersey, USA

41. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

42. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

43. Moira Congreve, England, UK

44. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

45. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

46. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

47. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

48. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

49. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

50. Pauline Leung, England, UK

51. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

52. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

53. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

54. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

55. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

56. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

57. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

58. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

59. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

60. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

61. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

62. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

63. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

64. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

65. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

66. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

67. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

68. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

The Beacons of Light ~ Re-minders from Home

August 15 2010

~ Secret of the Expanding Universe ~  Using Harmonic Resonance   The Beacons of Light Re-minders from Home are presented Live on the internet, transcribed and posted here on the 15th of each month. The next Lightworker VirtualLight Broadcast will be on

Sat August 28, 2010
11:am US Pacific Time

From Steve

This month the group spoke of the expanding universe.  We have recently discovered that the universe is not acting in a normal way.  If the big bang theory is correct then the stars moving away from each other should be slowing down.  It was recently discovered that they are in fact speeding up. The group addressed all of that in this channel and put into context of what they say is happening to our universe as a result of Earth’s expansion.

They also brought it down to a personal level and spoke of what we would be doing in the near future with our energetic bodies.  The next leg of our work will be about focusing on Expansion through Harmonic Resonance.   They want this out as soon as I can get it into a class so watch for an online course soon.  They gave several illustrations in the channel but basically it is what happens to many people when they leave their bodies.  They return to their native energetic form and it is huge and ever expanding as they become one with the universe.  That will happen to each of us as we learn to us use the new tools of expansion through harmonic resonance.  We will learn to walk in that energy all the time.

The group told me two days before about the topic and I was very nervous about it as some of these concepts are very difficult to translate in to human terms.  But I think I did pretty well but the group got a little flustered when they asked me to use my hands to illustrate a fifth dimensional motion that does not fully exist in our dimension.  Even though I was talking trying to explain what they were trying to illustrate we were all laughing inside.

As always it was full of that special love from the group.

Have a great month!

 

Mosque or No Mosque

A friend of mine posed a question on Facebook to his friends on this debate and what they feel about building one near Ground Zero.

Well there were definitely comments... mostly in anger to fuss and fight about who was right or wrong, and ignorance about the purpose of the community center and mosque. Which are meant to support and heal those who have suffered from the loss of their loved ones (yes, there were Americans of the Muslim faith in the twin towers), educate people on the Koran and extremist views, as well as to develop open dialogue and communication. With the hope that we can all learn from each other through this experience and recognize the need for closure and healing for everyone.

At the risk of inviting negative attacks and angry rebuttals, I post my comment here:

people have a right to protest and those of polarizing opinions will never agree. this debate really centers around the right for human dignity and who deserves it. consider this...is your argument based on whether you see middle easterners and muslims as human beings and those who legally live and work in the US as american citizens?

hate, ignorance and fear are what create extremist views and war. and isn't it great that you have the freedom to speak your mind until you're blue in the face in order to publicly convince someone that you're right? :>

defacing or destroying public property and causing injury and death to make a statement is not only illegal it's socially irresponsible and morally reprehensible (e.g., post 9-11). it dishonors those who have gone into service and sacrificed their lives to protect freedom, the right to free speech, and human dignity.

the us military is the instrument to enforce and defend those ideals, not as an instrument of retaliation and colonialism. doesn't spiderman's credo of having great power apply to this as well?

let us not forget that the original natives of this country were abused, forced off their lands and marginalized, while european immigrants came to escape political and religious persecution in order to live a life with freedom and dignity.

maybe in 150 years from now humanity will have evolved into an age of empowerment and light, and resolve issues with respect and harmony. there are such cooperative societies that exist now, why not make (i meant use or adopt) their practices to come together and resolve a mutual disagreement?

anyhow, i'll get off my soapbox now... lol

Energy Share for Sunday
August 15, 2010

Individuals who experience what might be thought of as a martyr attitude see themselves as giving all that they have to others. They see this as a form of loving, but in truth the love that they give is contaminated because it is so filled with sorrow for themselves. A sense of guilt and powerlessness clouds the energy from their hearts and so when their affection is felt by another it does not feel good, actually. It feels somehow thick with need, yet the need is never articulated, so their love feels like cement pulling you.

When you can do kindly things to yourself then you know what it is to be able to love yourself. Then you can look at others who desperately need kindness and love and feel good about their getting it, not patronizing, but truly good. This is the energy of the soul. This is the perception of the soul.

- Gary Zukav, "The Seat of the Soul"

So with these words I share with you a boost of energy to help you express your creative soul.  Consider what is required by your soul in order to be healthy.  And then do what is required with passion and excitement in partnership with the body that is the instrument of the soul.  Use dance as an innovative tool to challenge conventional beliefs and attitudes towards aging and health, towards stimulating the mind, and in unity with the inspired ideals of empowering others to live with passion and purpose.

Enjoy the previous posts on healing dance and the inspired words of Gary Zukav.  Not only can dance heal in expressing the varied states of the human condition - emotional pain and joy, social and political ideas, and dreams - but also to expand the mind's creative potential.  I'll be posting more messages on healing dance and...on everything chocolate!  Which I'm also posting on my Facebook group A Passion 4 Chocolate (oh yeah!)  Join me there and post your comments, recipes, and anything else you'd like to share.  

Aloha pumehana (with blessings, love and affection)!

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

23. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

24. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

25. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

26. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

27. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

28. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

29. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

30. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

31. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

32. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

33. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

34. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

35. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

36. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

37. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

38. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

39. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

40. Matthew Leonard, Lodi, New Jersey, USA

41. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

42. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

43. Moira Congreve, England, UK

44. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

45. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

46. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

47. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

48. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

49. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

50. Pauline Leung, England, UK

51. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

52. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

53. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

54. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

55. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

56. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

57. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

58. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

59. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

60. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

61. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

62. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

63. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

64. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

65. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

66. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

67. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

68. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

Chronically Creative: Christine Reed, Dancing Thru Trauma

http://www.magpie-girl.com/20100804/chronically-creative-christine-reed-dancing-thru-trauma/

August 4, 2010

This week Behind the Mic features part five of Chronically Creative; a series about making art while living with chronic illness. Today we meet Christine Reed of Bliss Chick – yogi, dancer, and among many other things, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder survivor. Christine, as always, shares from her depths. Christine, step right up.

I want to preface this piece by thanking Rachelle for two things: First, for her patience, because it’s taken me a long time to get to these, which leads to Second, for asking me to do this, because it opened something up inside of me and has led to new levels of understanding of myself, my life, and my writing.

When I got the questions and had a fuller understanding of what Rachelle was doing with these interviews, I felt really challenged and called to become more open and honest about myself than I have ever been. I realized that I wanted and needed to start exposing my life in new ways so that people could see that the struggle that comes with mental conditions is difficult but worth it. I also want to help remove the stigma of these labels (even though I am a bit anti-label and don’t care to use them — they can still be helpful as a lens and to show us that we aren’t alone).

My label is Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and you can read more about it here. If this seems to be you or someone you love, I highly recommend the work of Judith Herman, MD, and Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD, both of whom are true trailblazers. And now…on with the questions!

Q: How has dancing helped you break free from mental and emotional conditions that have hindered you?

One of the really difficult aspects of Complex-PTSD is emotional flashbacks. Our brains in these moments cannot differentiate between past and present. We are simply IN the past. We are feeling it all again as if for the first time.

Dancing (or any challenging physical work) does not allow for anything but the present. When you are fully in your body, you are fully in your life and in the now. Period. So dancing can act as an anchor for me and as a reminder of who I really am — that I am not my injury (the preferred term for Complex PTSD).

Dancing also gets out the “goo,” as Marcy and I call it. It releases toxins and emotional residue from the physical body. The better I feel physically, the more I am able to deal with the mental stuff. When I am not dancing for a couple of days, I start to feel unreal and disconnected.

Q: When you aren’t feeling well, how do you approach dancing?

I do it anyway. Or I don’t and then I pay the price. So mostly, I do it anyway. And each time, if I am feeling especially bad, it feels like this brand new miracle, because that’s another symptom of Complex PTSD — an amnesia about people and things in our lives that are good and trustworthy. We can literally forget what is good for us. (There are physiological/ neurological reasons for this that are too complicated for me to explain, but the brain is damaged by the chronic fear-inducing trauma — under-grown here, over-grown there.)

If I am having an extra hard time, I tell Marcy or even twitter (ha!) that I am going to dance so that I have outside accountability. It can be so bad that reaching to turn on the music feels like the most impossible task ever given to any single human being on this planet. Really. I know it sounds dramatic, but this is life with trauma.

I have danced enough now to know that no matter what I think in the moment, this is going to work. I have my “witness mind” evolved enough that I can at least see that. So I turn on the music and I stand there, slumped, thinking, “No F-ing way can I even lift my arm much less feel the joy that dance brings…” I stand and I breathe and within moments I am flying and smiling and I am well into the healing process.

Q: As someone who returned to dance “late in the game” how do you talk to yourself about your body and you abilities? What do you do when the “compare game” raises it’s ugly head?

Though I still have a fair distance to go in my own mind when it comes to my body and my abilities, I am the most fit I have ever been in my life and that is just a fact that my perfectionist internal-nazi cannot avoid. In terms of the physical aspects of my dance, I am a creature of confidence. Which is strange (or not) because I do not have real confidence about anything else about myself BUT dance.

The place I get into trouble, though, is thinking about what could have been, so I just snap myself out of it by reminding myself that I believe very strongly that everything happens for a reason. SO there is a REASON that I left dance when I did and a reason that I came back to it when I did. I’m not completely clear on the reasons but I know they exist and this is one of those places where I try very hard to have a little faith and just keep moving forward.

That’s really super hard for me, though, don’t think otherwise.

Bonus Q: What are you up to these days and how do we find you?

Marcy and I are going to spend more time writing about how we deal with this as a couple. There is not a lot out there for the partner’s of people with Complex-PTSD, specifically, and there is very little about how the couple can create mutual coping mechanisms. So we’ll try to stay really transparent about our process. That doesn’t mean Blisschick is turning into a Complex-PTSD site, per say, but it will be deeply embedded in my writing because that is how I work toward my bliss — by working through all of this.

There is lots and lots of great resource material available for free download on the Trauma Center’s site (this Center is where Bessel Van Der Kolk is located).

I am currently reading Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, and I recommend that along with Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy by Pat Ogden, an amazing work.

Finally, just a little personal note, I think that Kundalini Yoga, in particular out of all yoga (many, many forms of which I have studied for 15 years) is a truly powerful tool for working with Complex PTSD. I recommend any DVD done by Ana Brett and Ravi Singh (and to start, their older DVD, Kundalini Yoga – A Journey through the Chakras, is a great overview).

To read all the posts in this series click here. Stay tuned next week for another addition of Chronically Creative. Thanks for being here.

copyright Rachelle Mee-Chapman

Are the numerous ways that physical dysfunctions occur 

without meaning?

Health for some people is a matter of the heart, for others a matter of what they can digest or eliminate in the course of their lives, for others a matter of the head, and for others a matter of being able to hear, or to see, or to move through their lives flexibly, or to stand on their own, or literally to handle the experiences of their lives.

These are the issues that must be addressed directly and openly and honestly in the creation of health.

This does not mean that it is inappropriate to care for the body, or to see a physician in times of illness. Even though the physical is not as real, so to speak, as the nonphysical, it is nonetheless, the lowest, densest projection of spiritual matter, and, therefore, it must be honored. The body needs rest, and it needs care, but behind every aspect of the health or illness of the body is the energy of the soul.

It is the health of the soul that is the true purpose of the human experience.

Everything serves that.

- Gary Zukav, "The Seat of the Soul"

The Fleshy Mind, Spirit, and Muse: 

How the Academy is Catching Up with Us

Posted by Jeffrey Davis

http://www.tiferetjournal.com/profiles/blogs/the-fleshy-mind-spirit-and

Three Clients Awakening

Let me tell you about three clients' awakenings. Their stories reflect what scholars in various academic fields are at last catching onto: We think with the body. We create with the body. We meet our highest spiritual duty (dharma) with the body.

A client came to my studio last week. She beamed with a different light. Brighter. Deeper.  Her family is facing some crises, and yet for the last month she has stayed indomitably true to her Muse in the purest sense.

"I realize what you say is true about psychoanalysis" she said. "I could spend a long time analyzing my childhood aspirations, but why? The other day, I started to think, 'I was supposed to be an artist when I was a child.'

Then, I stopped myself and I said, 'I am an artist.'" Which she is. The essay she completed this month is artful, reflective of her unique mind's way of patterning things together. It will be published, I'm confident of that. It will be her first real published essay. And there's more to come.

Then she said, "I'm not really interested anymore in what I could've been. Just in the past few days I've realized, I'm becoming someone new. I don't know who it is, and that unknown is infinitely more exciting than who I could've been."

She said she's starting to feel the continuum between her flesh and space. The body, she said, it's essential to everything. This from a highly intellectual and once-skeptical person with whom I've worked delicately for two years.

I'm fortunate to witness awakenings like this almost every week. Another client, recovering from breast cancer, has practiced Yoga As Muse consistently for the past year (we've worked together for over two). The other day, her voice on the telephone also beamed. Despite the surgery and radiation, her body is part and parcel of one awakening after another to her ability to navigate uncertainty and to follow her dharma no matter what arises.

Another client just started coming to my studio. Her quick mind teems with memories and ideas from her colorful - and semi-famous - background. Although four weeks ago she would've said she hated yoga, she was open to creating a simple Yoga As Muse sequence of postures and breath work. After two weeks of trying it, she said yesterday, "This stuff works." A few movements and cycles of harnessed breath, and her sensory memories roll out. "And I'm not dreading the writing, which is huge!"

Each of them has awakened to their "body electric" (thank you, Uncle Walt, for that image). On one hand, the body electric is the body teeming with vital energy, oxygenated blood, and healthy neuronal activity. But the body electric also is the body plugged into the heart of who are in the truest sense, what we know to be true, and how we act in the world.

It's been a long time coming, but various academic fields are catching on.

We think and intuit with the body.

The field of cognitive science has had an embodied revival in the past 15 years or so. Some of them have revived and re-cast the profound insights of philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty wrote a few essential books in the 1950s that turned upside down the long-held assumption that the mind receives input and does its intellectual thing without influence by the body. The mind influences the body, so the Cartesian story went from the 1630s forward, but the body does not influence the mind. In near-poetic language, Merleau-Ponty broke down that misnomer. He examined space, perception, and body in ways my client experienced for herself.

The work of cognitive linguist George Lakoff and cognitive scientist Mark Johnson especially brought into the academic parlance the phrase "embodied mind." In their seminal book Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenges to Western Thought (1999), they pick up where Merlea-Ponty left off. They argue convincingly that our capacity to reason and form metaphors stems from and is influenced by our bodily movement, sensory perception, and physiological functions. Professor of Philosophy Shaun Gallagher weaves "clinical neurology, laboratory neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, analytic philosophy of mind..., and continental philosophy of mind..." in a brilliant, though dense book titled How the Body Influences the Mind.

They note that most cognitive scientists would agree with this assertion, too: We're aware, most of us, of 5% of our thoughts at any given time. That 5% is what we use to construct our notion of reality, of beauty, of self. The other 95% of which we are not aware shapes the 5%. (And 5% is conservative. ) that 95% of the mind has to do in part with our embodiment. The other 95% of the mind is not just some Freudian subconscious of repressed memories and images. The other 95% includes our heart beat, blood flow, breathing rate and quality, digestive grumbles, and more.

If that's so, then my clients' awakening with Yoga As Muse makes sense. The gut is part of the mind. The quality of blood flow and respiration mixes it up with how well and what we're thinking. Intentional movement and breathing and meditation bring more ideas and images into the flashlight of awareness.

When awareness expands, a sense of expanded self follows.

We learn and create with the body. Our brain cells grow with the body.

Sir Ken Robinson, in his book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, tells the story of a young girl tagged with "learning problems." She couldn't sit still. She couldn't focus. Teachers asked her mother to get help. Her mother took her to a therapist. The therapist spoke with the girl for several minutes, and then asked the mother to step outside the room with him. Through a one-way window the two adults watched the girl. Within a couple of minutes, the girl got up and started moving and, ultimately, dancing around the room. "There's nothing wrong with your daughter," the therapist said. "Enroll her in a dancing school, and she'll be fine." The mother did, and the girl was. She flourished in school because she was allowed to get out of her desk and think with her body.

That little girl was Gillian Lynne who grew up to choreograph Cats and Phantom of the Opera among other big hits.

In my middle age, I've been surprised to realize that I, too, learn best when moving. This from a writer, a dust-minded thinker, a guy happy to sit on his duckus all day long tapping his keyboard. But why was I surprised? The painter always takes her body with her, Merleau-Ponty said. Indeed. So, too, does the writer.

And the brain scientists are catching on. 

Middle-aged neuroscientist Fred Gage runs several days a week to keep up his squash game with the twenty-somethings in his field. But he runs also because he knows that running creates more brain cells. Gage has been on the path of neurogenesis since the late 1990s (back when 9 out of 10 neuroscientists might have scoffed at the idea of the adult human brain creating more brain cells). In 1999, Gage and colleagues published a paper that concluded, "physical activity can regulate hippocampal neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and learning." That was revolutionary stuff eleven years ago.

Exercise that raises the heart stimulates a portion of the limbic emotional brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is responsible especially for memory. Certain studies have documented the hippocampus of severely depressed people and traumatized people. The neuronal activity is frighteningly barren. However, Gage's study and others show that exercise can spawn new brain cells in a corner of the hippocampus called the dendate gyrus. "Synaptic plasticity" refers to the fact that exercise also creates more neuronal dendrites that allow for more synapses to fire away. (See journalist Barbara Strauch's The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Brain, from which this account of Fred Gage comes.)

Gage should meet Joyce Carol Oates. Oates is arguably the United States' most prolific writer with over 100 titles in poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and play wrighting to her credit. In an essay written for The New York Times several years ago, the wispy writer reflected on how she runs to revise her novels. The more entangled her creative mind gets in the morning, the longer she runs in the afternoon. She describes the benefits - how her imagination takes in the sensory details that become useful later, how her mind gets into a non-thinking and receptive state of flow, how the body's rhythms work in tandem with the mind's rhythms.

The Elephant Mind: We make moral decisions with feelings and, thus, with the body.

A small-bodied woman rides an elephant. With some skill, persistence, and practice, that woman can learn to move with the elephant. When the elephant gets shaken up or out of whack, the skilled rider can not so much tame the big-eared animal as much as work harmoniously with the elephant to get him back on track.

That image of a rider on an elephant is the controlling metaphor Jonathan Haidt uses in his book The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Haidt is associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. He's interested in healthy emotions, morality, and even "the intuitive foundations of liberal and conservative worldviews." (See his talk at a New Yorker symposium on the latter.)

Haidt's rider-elephant metaphor represents the relationship between the conscious rational mind and the emotional, intuitive, and embodied mind. In tandem with Lakoff's and Johnson's assertion of the 5%/95% aware/not aware ratio, Haidt's metaphor suggests that the emotional, intuitive, and embodied mind - all part and parcel of the same big animal - constitutes most of the mind. The astute rider is not in control, per se (thereby suppressing emotions, etc.). The astute rider learns to become ever more aware of how the elephant mind works.

Thankfully, with the work of Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligence) and others, people in education and academics of various ilks are paying attention to the role emotions - and what yogis have called for centuries the emotional body - play in learning.

We meet our dharma with the body.

Believe it or not, academics have been discussing for several years "embodied spirituality. " Jorge N. Ferrer, of the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, reviews the use and misuse of the phrase and lays out his own tenets for what it means. Those tenets (I paraphrase) include:

1) recognizing that the body itself is a subject worthy of spiritual study; 

2) integrating the relationship between matter and consciousness; 

3) reviving sexuality and sensual pleasure as part of spiritual practice; 

4) awakening of and through the body; 

5) connecting the human body to earth's body; 

6) engaging in social relationships and activities.

So perhaps this practice will make sense to some of you:

1. Sit in a position so you feel comfortable but alert.

2. Bring your palms to where you sense your embodied center (e.g., your throat, chest, belly, hips).

3. Close your eyes and take three long breaths. Imagine the breath being directed to the palms.

4. With most conscious awareness focused on the embodied center, inquire, "What is calling me to act well in the world in 2010?" Listen. Sense. Feel.

5. And then this question, "What is the quality of body my true self needs to manifest that calling?"

6. Embody those questions. Walk or hike in them. Run in them. Practice Yoga in them. Dance in them.

7. Listen for, look for, and sense for possible answers and insights. Note in a dharma notebook.

8. Repeat every day.

You'll be surprised.

Questions for discussion:

* Do you have other resources to share on this topic?

* How do you embody your muse? (i.e., What physical activities awaken your creativity, learning, and spirituality? )

* If you try the above, what happened?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Peace,

Jeffrey

CENTER TO PAGE, LLC

MOVING WRITERS FROM THE CENTER TO THE PAGE

W W W . C E N T E R T O P A G E . C O M

Jeffrey Davis is a writer and authority on creativity and wonder. He is Director of Center To Page, LLC, which provides full mentoring and editing services through private coaching, group consultations, and Yoga As Muse workshops & retreats for writers around the world. He is author of The Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices As Muse for Authentic Writing (revised and updated ed., Monkfish Publishing 2008), City Reservoir: A Collection of Poems(Barnburner Press 1999), and of Tracking Wonder, a blog for Psychology Today. He teaches in Western Connecticut State University's low-residency Master's of Fine Arts in Professional and Creative Writing Program as well as at centers and conferences around the world. He is also a student of Sri TKV Desikachar in South India and is certified to teach Yoga in two traditions. He serves as Tiferet's Fiction Editor.

The Dizzy Feet Foundation

Dance, dance, dance...! This foundation is a fantastic organization that unites with other groups to support dance in the arts, to provide scholarship opportunities for continued training and development of young underprivileged talented dancers in the country. These organizations are so vital now to fill in the gaps to support performing and visual arts programs that are usually first to get cut in the wake of global financial crises.

I, for one, as do many others, turn to dance and movement to gain mental clarity, to strengthen and build the physical instrument of the body as an expression of personal creativity, and as a performing art to inspire, to share ideas, stories, commentary, to connect directly the heart and spirit in unity with others, and finally, to celebrate life.  For me, dance is a passion, it's in my blood and a part of the island culture I grew up in.

Coming up, if you haven't already seen it and danced your heart out, is Napoleon and Tabitha's demonstration of their choreographed routine for last Saturday's National Dance Day....

National Dance Day 2010 Routine

Napoleon and Tabitha demonstrate their choreographed routine for the National Dance Day sponsored by Dizzy Feet Foundation. These two are an amazing duo with their choreography every week on the So You Think You Can Dance show - which I finally got around to watching this year... and watch a bit from my old stomping grounds in Guam!  So enjoy and dance, dance, dance!

Dance Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients

Posted By Michael Pekker (AKA Nesher)

http://alzheimers-review.blogspot.com/2010/03/dance-therapy-for-alzheimers-patients.html

What Is Dance Therapy?

Music therapy was established in 1950. It is designed to improve physical and emotional health through the use of music, through listening, song writing, performing, exploring lyrics or other activities related to music. Music therapy is most often used as part of stress management programs.

NICE guidelines specify that “people with mild to moderate dementia of all types should be given the opportunity to participate in a structured group cognitive stimulation program.” However, because of uncertainty about cost effectiveness, it remains for the voluntary sector to provide these services.

Dance therapy is the use of movement to improve physical and psychological wellbeing. Sessions deliver either structured dancing technique, such as social dancing with a partner, or a more contemporary approach that uses improvisation to link thoughts with movement. Sessions should be tailored to the severity of the dementia. For example, people with more severe dementia benefit from simpler movements and more caregivers to help. Small class sizes with similarly affected participants facilitate participation. Classes should last about an hour to reduce the risk of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease hindering further progress.

Social dancing with a partner is a familiar and enjoyable activity for elderly people and provides quality time for the patient and their partner. It develops procedural learning (long term memory initiated by past experience) and concentration because dancing is a dynamic rather than repetitive physical activity and can “link past memories to the present.” A man who attended Scottish country dancing lessons once a month with his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease, noted that his wife remembered lots of the steps despite her limited cognitive ability. In one project, participants who danced in a circle felt they had been accepted into, and belonged to, a group. So social dancing offers participants an opportunity to succeed and boost their self esteem.

Projects that focused on free and creative expression have had similar benefits. A weekly project in which 8-10 participants used props and various musical genres encouraged people to move however they wanted, rather than follow a routine. Observations included participants engaging and improvement in mood and relationships among participants and between participants and their caregivers. Building relationships led to an increased sense of self and self esteem. One participant in this study remembered things from her childhood and her personal qualities and thought that she had been “got together again.”This type of dance also allowed emotions such as grief, anger, and loss to be tackled and reflected upon, allowing people to celebrate life again.

Dance awakens memories outside the dance session and helps patients “find themselves” again.  A multisensory approach with different sounds, colors, and tangible objects further stimulates engagement and stimulation of participants.

Benefits of Dance Therapy

Various aspects of a dance session, such as the music, exercise, and social components of dancing, may achieve positive effects. However, vastly varying methods between most studies mean that they fail to agree the most important component. Although a Cochrane review shows that music therapy offers no definite benefits, subsequent research indicates that music can improve autobiographical memory and reduce agitation, anxiety, delusions, and other behavioral symptoms in dementia of any severity.

Exercise slows the progression of cognitive symptoms and is neuro-protective through increasing concentrations of insulin-like growth factor and reducing serum homocysteine.An active mid-life can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 60% in people with the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele. The positive self esteem and social experience of exercise also improves cognition. However, exercise can be repetitive and there is a degree of “doing it right or wrong,” whereas dance is spontaneous and “always right”; indeed, some propose dance to be the only preventive physical activity. Overall, dance combines all these benefits into an attainable and enjoyable activity for all levels of disability.

According to researchers M. Brotons and S.M. Kroger of the Willamette University Psychology Department in Oregon, in their study on "The Impact of Music Therapy on Language Functioning in Dementia," patients showed statistically significant improvements in speech content and fluency after eight sessions of music therapy combined with conversations.

Other researchers have reported on proven benefits to Alzheimer’s patients derived from music therapy on aspects such as cognitive functions, social skills, and behavior (including reduced agitation and behavioral problems). Music and music therapy are not curative of Alzheimer’s and dementia, but the use of music therapy results in the beneficial effects on dementia and Alzheimer’s symptoms. These benefits lead to an enhanced quality of life for both the patient and his or her caregiver.

Sound of Music

Typically, “stimulating music” activates, while “sedative music” quiets. Stimulating music, with percussive sounds and fairly quick tempos, tends to naturally promote movement, such as toe taps. Look to dance tunes of any era for examples. Slightly stimulating music can assist with activities of daily living: for example, at mealtime to rouse individuals who tend to fall asleep at the table or during bathing to facilitate movement from one room to another.

On the other hand, the characteristics of sedative music—ballads and lullabies—include unaccented beats, no syncopation, slow tempos, and little percussive sound. This is the best choice when preparing for bed or any change in routine that might cause agitation.

Responses that are opposite of those expected can occur and are likely due to a person’s specific associations with the piece or style of music.

Agitation Management

Non-verbal individuals in late dementia often become agitated out of frustration and sensory overload from the inability to process environmental stimuli. Engaging them in singing, rhythm playing, dancing, physical exercise, and other structured music activities can diffuse this behavior and redirect their attention.

For best outcomes, carefully observe an individual’s patterns in order to use music therapies just prior to the time of day when disruptive behaviors usually occur.

Emotional Closeness

As dementia progresses, individuals typically lose the ability to share thoughts and gestures of affection with their loved ones. However, they retain their ability to move with the beat until very late in the disease process.

Ambulatory individuals can be easily directed to couple dance, which may evoke hugs, kisses or caresses; those who are no longer walking can follow cues to rhythmically swing their arms. They often allow gentle rocking or patting in beat to the music and may reciprocate with affection.

An alternative to moving or touching is singing, which is associated with safety and security from early life. Any reciprocal engagement provides an opportunity for caregivers and care receivers to connect with one another, even when the disease has deprived them of traditional forms of closeness.

How-To of Music Therapy

Early stages

· Go out dancing or dance in the house.

· Listen to music that the person liked in the past—whether swing or Sinatra or salsa. Recognize that perceptual changes can alter the way individuals with dementia hear music. If they say it sounds horrible, turn it off; it may to them.

· Experiment with various types of concerts and venues, giving consideration to endurance and temperament.

· Encourage an individual who played an instrument to try it again.

· Compile a musical history of favorite recordings, which can be used to help in reminiscence and memory recall.

Early and Middle Stages

Use song sheets or a karaoke player so the individual can sing along with old-time favorites.

Middle Stages

· Play music or sing as the individual is walking to improve balance or gait.

· Use background music to enhance mood.

· Opt for relaxing music—a familiar, non-rhythmic song—to reduce sundowning, or behavior problems at nighttime.

Late stages

· Utilize the music collection of old favorites that you made earlier.

· Do sing-alongs, with “When the Saints Go Marching In” or other tunes sung by rote in that person’s generation.

· Play soothing music to provide a sense of comfort.

· Exercise to music.

· Do drumming or other rhythm-based activities.

· Use facial expressions to communicate feelings when involved in these activities.

Negative Aspects of Dance Therapy

Dance therapy may be effective only during a period of regular sessions. Patients and their families awaiting drug treatment or a “wonder cure” may be disappointed when dance therapy is offered. Patients who find dancing and movement difficult might be saddened by this reality. Concerns exist that physical activities in people with dementia in particular may raise the risk of falls and exacerbate various existing health conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and so on.  However, exercise could reduce falls by improving stability and improve the long term progress of other chronic conditions.

Prevention Is Better Than No Cure

The main risk factors for dementia include increasing life expectancy, obesity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, and hypertension. Although these are largely vascular dementia risk factors, age is a key cause of Alzheimer’s disease, so prevalence is also set to rise.

Dance therapy could be a preventive measure. Combining physical and mental activities can increase the cognitive reserve, reduce the rate of brain atrophy, stimulate neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, and increase brain perfusion as well as combating many of the risk factors. Early prevention is key, given that clinical presentation of symptoms occurs 10-20 years after the biological changes start.

The resources exist to allow any willing caregivers to run dance therapy classes, regardless of dance experience, and there is a lot of information available. The Expressive Arts with Elders resource also promotes easy, money saving dance techniques, such as using a dustpan as a drum or beans as shakers. Alternatively, professional dance teachers charge about £30 an hour. Additional considerations, such as facilities, facilitators, organizing transport, and coordinating and organizing potential participants and their caregivers require further research, to see whether these factors allow dance therapy to be a cost effective option.

Dance “challenges the stereotypes of ageing and disease.” It also provides a good mix of cognitive and physical stimulation. It is also refreshing for patients and caregivers to experience a treatment that is not a drug regimen.