Dance: a Healing Art
Dance: A Healing Art
How often is a human’s movements used for simply completing a task? How often does a human fully use their body? How often do humans express themselves? In this high pace and technological time, people live sedentary lives and never seem to have the time for personal expression. Though in recent years there have been social outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. However these outlets only allow an individual to only write. They also do not allow an individual to express deeper issues. More importantly they are simply words and not actions or movements, they can’t truly illustrate an individuals emotions. Emotions, such a sadness, excitement, or fear, are the brain’s interpretation of physical sensations within the body (PsychologyInSeattle). These emotions that are linked to bad memories can be repressed or on repeat. Without a way to express them or let them go with ease and assurance an individual can really suffer. For example in relation to traumatic childhood experiences “the truth about our childhood is stored up in our body, and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated, our perceptions confused, and our body tricked with medication. But someday the body will present its bill” (Mills). In these cases an individual seeks help through a professional therapist. Traditionally therapies have been known as "talking cures," used to relieve the symptoms of emotional distress and the problems in living confronted by clients as they move through life (Mills). However therapy has evolved, there are now several creative arts therapies; art, dance, poetry, drama, and music. Each has shown to be very effective in letting out emotions, though dance and music are the only ones that let out energy. However music is limited to the instrument, where as in dance an individual’s body is their instrument. Dance or movement therapy is a slowly growing field. When an individual may
How often is a human’s movements used for simply completing a task? How often does a human fully use their body? How often do humans express themselves? In this high pace and technological time, people live sedentary lives and never seem to have the time for personal expression. Though in recent years there have been social outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. However these outlets only allow an individual to only write. They also do not allow an individual to express deeper issues. More importantly they are simply words and not actions or movements, they can’t truly illustrate an individuals emotions. Emotions, such a sadness, excitement, or fear, are the brain’s interpretation of physical sensations within the body (PsychologyInSeattle). These emotions that are linked to bad memories can be repressed or on repeat. Without a way to express them or let them go with ease and assurance an individual can really suffer. For example in relation to traumatic childhood experiences “the truth about our childhood is stored up in our body, and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated, our perceptions confused, and our body tricked with medication. But someday the body will present its bill” (Mills). In these cases an individual seeks help through a professional therapist. Traditionally therapies have been known as "talking cures," used to relieve the symptoms of emotional distress and the problems in living confronted by clients as they move through life (Mills). However therapy has evolved, there are now several creative arts therapies; art, dance, poetry, drama, and music. Each has shown to be very effective in letting out emotions, though dance and music are the only ones that let out energy. However music is limited to the instrument, where as in dance an individual’s body is their instrument. Dance or movement therapy is a slowly growing field. When an individual may
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