How do you feel when you dance?
Have you ever thought to yourself…
“Every time I try to dance, I end up feeling like a complete idiot. I don’t want to feel humiliated anymore”.
“I’m always standing in a corner while everybody is out dancing and having fun.”
“I’m going to avoid parties and weddings because I don’t want to look silly on the dancefloor!”
“I want to be comfortable dancing. I’m afraid of looking clumsy, and feeling awkward.”
“I’m left behind and ignored when everyone ends up dancing. All I want is to want to socialize.”
“I freeze up when I’m on the dance floor and I feel self-conscious. I hate that feeling.”
“Most of all, I just want to feel confident and look natural when I dance.”
“I want to be like them, I want to have fun when I dance.”
If you have had these thoughts, you are not alone.
What should dancing feel like?
Dancing shouldn’t be a worrying, humiliating and dreading experience. In fact, to most people dancing is quite the opposite. In effect, dancing can make people feel confident, happy, and alive. Therefore, for people who enjoy it, the act of dancing brings them close to a state of self-actualization, spiritual completeness, and a state of mind-body harmony.
If you allow yourself to, dancing can become an enjoyable, liberating and enlivening experience too. “But how?” you must be thinking.
“How do I build confidence?”
“What do I do with my hands?”
“How should I move my feet?”
“What do I do to stop feeling tense and looking stiff?”
“How do I get some rhythm?”
When you are ready to learn how to be confident and have fun on the dance floor, then try out the step by step method below. First, start out by yourself and practice these steps enough times that it begins to feel like second nature. Then, once you build up confidence, you are ready to try these steps in front of others:
How to dance step by step
- First, in a comfortable place start up your favorite tune
- Next, start by taking a few deep breaths, clear your mind and really listen to the music, it might help to close your eyes
- Then, let your head begin to move to the beat of the music
- When you are ready, let your shoulder or hips gently sway side to side to the rhythm
- As much as possible, keep the mind detached from thoughts by attentively listening to the beat
- Breath deeply and enjoy yourself here and now
- Begin shifting your weight side to side, transferring the body weight from one foot to the other
- The knees are softly bent and your body feels light, bouncy, relaxed
- A subtle and natural bounce happens on the count of the beat as you shift your weight side to side
- After, reconnect to the breath
- Most of all, feel confident
- If it feels natural, slightly lift a foot at a time as your weight completely shifts to your other foot and repeat on the other side staying with the count
- Make the movements a little bigger, if you feel like it
- When it feels good, swing your hips towards the foot bearing the weight of the body on the beat, repeat on the other side as you shift the weight to the other foot
- Then add a little twist as you shift from side to side
- Relax your arms and let them move to the music, elbows slightly bent and hands softly open and relaxed
- Tune in to the rhythm and trust your natural impulses
- Most of all, make it feel good and have fun
- Be creative as you listen to subtleties in the music
- Repeat on your own enough times that you feel confident to try out in front of others.
After you have practiced a few times with friends then you are ready to enjoy yourself on the dance floor. Good luck!
Don’t worry too much about what others think
If you are worries about how to impress the opposite sex, then read the following:
Women and men have different standards for what a good dancer is. Men sometimes thing that dancing is a skill they need to master and show off. Often, being competitive in terms of trying to be ‘better’ than other men on the dance floor. These men think that a good dancer is a break dancer doing a flips in the spot light. The reality is that a woman’s idea of a good dancer is a man that looks comfortable and confident. When a woman dances with you, she wants you be there with her, paying attention to her, and making her feel special. If you are woman and you are dancing with a man. He is probably worried about how his own dancing looks to you.
So don’t worry too much about what others think. After all, the average dancer is probably more preoccupied with how he or she looks like anyways.
About Sense of Purpose
Sense of purpose is the motivation that drives you toward a satisfying future. Hence, your sense of purpose helps you get the most of life and it helps you achieve what matters most to you. Most importantly, it feeds intrinsic motivation and it creates meaning from life. Purpose is our driver. Certainly, purpose is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life. Our purpose is to help you find yours.
Here are some additional resources that you might find helpful: