Movement Techniques

MOVEMENT TECHNIQUES

Movement techniques in general

Emotions are reflected in the body posture.

When immersing in depressed thoughts we appear more with a hunched back than with an upright and open chest – rather corresponding to our happy thoughts.

Body language makes an inseparable part of the social-emotional interactions.

When in a happy mood, try to hunch your chest and droop your mouth corners. It is not easy, as similarly, it isn’t easy to open your chest and smile in a depressed mood either.

Negative thoughts cause negative emotions which lead to negative mood (hours) => negative behaviour (days) => negative character (months) => negative personality (years) => specific changes in somatic appearance.

This is how the emotions transcript in the body’s constitution.

However, we always have an option to change our mindset. Moreover, we can help it from the other end of the “chain”: focusing on the body posture and movement patterns.

Changing our body posture and movement patterns can trigger different thoughts => which lead to different emotions => different mood => different behaviour => different character => different personality.

Author of the review: Kristina Höschlová

 

DANCE

Ever before, across all the diverse cultures of the World, dance wasn’t just a social-cultural element, but mostly an archetypal healing instrument.

Every culture in the World includes dance in their traditions. Dance makes up part of various ceremonies and rituals, from birth, wedding, and graduating from university to celebration of a harvest, successful hunt, or a funeral. Regular dance parties are still alive worldwide promoting an occasion to release tension, relax, generate positive emotions, and make social bonds.

Dancing has always been considered a means of positively affecting mental and physical well-being.

Dance is usually related to music and combines both, art and physical performance. Tunning into the music with structured movements allows practitioners to enhance their self-awareness.

Dance synchronizes subconscious mechanisms, such as proprioception, balance, and breathing patterns. Rhythmicity in movements stimulates subcortical brain processes, which is clearly evident in the treatment of Parkinsonism. Many studies suggest that dance improves gait, balance, and other motor functions in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Numerous studies suggest the benefits of dance on health.

In general, regular dancing interventions generate significant changes in the physical, mental, and social skills and improve the quality of life of the individuals.

Dance proves positive effects on mental health (upregulation of serotonin), physical performance (changes in body composition, increased VO2 max), musculoskeletal functions (core stability, balance, flexibility), and cardiovascular system (decrease in stress-related biomarkers, improved physique).

Dance as a complementary healing technique shows benefits in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (dementia, parkinsonism), mental disorders (depression, anxiety, drug abuse), cancer patients (supporting and accelerating recovery), and people at risk of cardiovascular diseases (as a preventive tool).

Dance is a natural complementary healing tool, archetypally present in every culture. This is why it should be reconsidered as an innovative intervention strategy for patients with various comorbidities or underlying pathologies as well as for those in good health for prevention.

Author of the review: Kristina Höschlová