Feeling Stressed? Get a Little Footloose!
When you are feeling stressed out, everything feels off balance. You’re snippy. You aren’t. You can’t sleep. Some people can’t eat; others can’t stop eating. It’s a horrible way to live, but stress can get a hold of anyone.
According to Healthguide.org, “Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you sense danger—whether it’s real or imagined—the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the fight-or-flight reaction or the stress response.”
Look, your body is just trying to help you. Experts says stress and your reactions to it are just the way your body protects you. “In emergency situations, stress can save your life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.”
That’s all fine and well and good. Except, feeling stressed is debilitating, too. Since we all have to deal with it, smart money says we should find ways to cope with the stress – maybe even turn that energy into something positive?
(Hey, that’s what the Footloose kids did!)
We suggest learning to ballroom dance! At Arthur Murray, we know dance can help you feel relieved of your stress burden. (Here’s three of many dance benefits!)
- Your mind feels better when your body feels good.
Get moving and you’ll release endorphins (the body’s self-made feel-good drug) that relieves stress quickly. Endorphins also are a natural painkiller which is great because if you are stiff from pain, endorphins may help you move to the beat, as well.
- You’ll sleep more!
One more thought about the wonderful world of endorphins: they improve your quality of zzz’s. When you start dancing, you’ll be sleeping better, too. (More sleep equals less stress!)
also aid in improving the quality of sleep, so that a few sleepless nights due to stress can be avoided after dancing!
3. When you are stronger and more flexible, your physical health improves.
This may sound like No. 1 on this list, but it’s quite different. Dancing can actually make you stronger because it’s a total body workout. When you’re physically feeling better, many of your ailments may improve. As examples:
- By losing weight, you’ll have less pressure on your knees.
- By improving your breathing, you may experience better cardiovascular function.
- Stronger bones may mean a reduction in osteoporosis.
- Improved balance means you may be more steady on your feet and less prone to falls.
Avoid the life-threatening effects of harmful stress and have some fun while doing it!
Contact Arthur Murray today to schedule your first free dance lesson. We’ll help you “dance it out!”