What Do You Think About Dancing?

[Study]

I have been pondering on whether if dancing is a good thing or not. I find myself wanting to express the aroused emotions of excitement and thrill through bodily movements when I listen to energising, mood boosting music. Dancing makes you feel good, lifts your mood and it's therapeutic in a way if you freely express yourself, let go of the mind and express the inner emotions and feelings. The thing is, is dancing low conscious? I see that there are both types of dancing. (I may be mistaken.)

One is low conscious form of dancing: it's when you get drunk or high. Or without any drugs, you let the emotions take over you and let yourself loose. Thinking is not there anymore, but what about awareness? 

Another (seemly like) higher conscious dancing: I consider (slower movements, there may be fast movements) like Ballad, traditional dance arts, some modern dances more high conscious. The dancers/artists seems to be in the moment, in the state of flow, consciously expressing the movements and emotions. And they talk about being "themselves" when they are dancing. 

I enjoy music (music can be addicting so I usually restrict the amount) but I find myself in conflict when I am listening to great music, I want to dance out. But I think that I shouldn't let the mind go after sensual pleasures for the fear that it is just seeking gratifications, I could get into lower state of consciousness. Instead, I should refrain and simply observe myself, the stirred up emotions, the desire and urge to dance. They may pass or they may not. And I would feel no more need to dance or feel frustrated. 

What are your thoughts on this? Is dancing Neurotic? Should you allow yourself to "Self-express" or refrain? Or try to maintain conscious awareness and dance? 

Edited February 16, 2016 by Thiri

[Jesper]

There's nothing wrong with expressing your emotions and letting yourself go by, for example, dancing. From your post it looks like you are concerned with doing things "right", it seems like you think it is good to always keep all your emotions under control.

I regularly go to dancing events, in my city there's a group of people who organize a barefoot dancing event every month. It starts with a meditation, where someone takes the group and leads them to getting grounded and getting comfortable and loose in their body, and then a DJ takes over and it's time to dance. The idea is that everybody can freely express themselves, without judging or any other concerns running through your head. I love it, it's great. Besides it just being fun and nice to freely express myself it also teaches me things like not being concerned with what other people think of me.

A friend of mine is a yoga teacher and she sometimes does sessions with small groups of people to make them express themselves from deep within. People let loose all kinds of emotions and sounds there. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact it's very liberating and can teach you a lot about yourself, for example what emotions you have that you're normally hiding.

My advice would be: Just enjoy yourself, you don't need to constrain and control yourself all the time. I think you might be trying to control and suppress your emotions too hard.

I don't like drinking or drugs.
 

Edited February 16, 2016 by Jesper

[A way to Actualize]

6 hours ago, Thiri said:

I have been pondering on whether if dancing is a good thing or not. I find myself wanting to express the aroused emotions of excitement and thrill through bodily movements when I listen to energising, mood boosting music. Dancing makes you feel good, lifts your mood and it's therapeutic in a way if you freely express yourself, let go of the mind and express the inner emotions and feelings. The thing is, is dancing low conscious? I see that there are both types of dancing. (I may be mistaken.)

One is low conscious form of dancing: it's when you get drunk or high. Or without any drugs, you let the emotions take over you and let yourself loose. Thinking is not there anymore, but what about awareness? 

Another (seemly like) higher conscious dancing: I consider (slower movements, there may be fast movements) like Ballad, traditional dance arts, some modern dances more high conscious. The dancers/artists seems to be in the moment, in the state of flow, consciously expressing the movements and emotions. And they talk about being "themselves" when they are dancing. 

I enjoy music (music can be addicting so I usually restrict the amount) but I find myself in conflict when I am listening to great music, I want to dance out. But I think that I shouldn't let the mind go after sensual pleasures for the fear that it is just seeking gratifications, I could get into lower state of consciousness. Instead, I should refrain and simply observe myself, the stirred up emotions, the desire and urge to dance. They may pass or they may not. And I would feel no more need to dance or feel frustrated. 

What are your thoughts on this? Is dancing Neurotic? Should you allow yourself to "Self-express" or refrain? Or try to maintain conscious awareness and dance? 

This is such a good topic. I am questioning something similair with noice vs. music.

I do not know the answer. I am not fully enlightened to speak of advice. Dancing is till a form of art and spiritualy aligned beings still created music or dance. I do not know how it is with enlightened people and if you could get so relaxed that You won't do it anymore.

Only advice I can give is to feel out what feels best. And for expressing emotion: you can still do it. My guitar playing changed in a way now I feel most of the time really heart-centered without the real ups and downs of live. It does get more authentic and more beautiful/artistic what you make.

Music is one of the most powerful tools in the world. I do not doubt dancing. I hope you Will encounter an enlightened being who will have a clearer answer to your question.

[Study]

@Jesper I agree. I am not fully comfortable with expressing/exposing /letting go of everything  (would love to have the stirred emotions under control)  and dancing all out since I'm afraid that I will lose control and consciousness of myself. It is indeed very liberating when you dance freely. I will contemplate more on this with my experience. Next time, I will try to allow myself fully express and see what I can find inside me. 

@A way to Actualize Yes. I am curious about what an enlightened person would say about dancing. I am not an expert in this field but I notice that some art and music can make you feel soulful, grounded, free and spiritual.  

[Leo Gura]

Dancing is witchcraft!

How dare you mock the Lord with such wanton displays of emotion!

First dancing... then you let your hair loose... then drinking... then sex... then gay sex... then a donkey...

Then you want to marry the donkey.

Where will it end?!

You're gonna make baby Jesus cry.

And don't get me started on you kids and your rap music.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Dancing is witchcraft!

How dare you mock the Lord with such wanton displays of emotion!

First dancing... then you let your hair loose... then drinking... then sex... then gay sex... then a donkey...

Where will it end?!

You will make baby Jesus cry.

Totally agree. I have left a lot of girls and friends, even my own brother because of dancing. No way in hell I will stay in the presence of those unholy sinners!

[Zephyr]

I like to dance. I don't think it does any harm of any kind. In fact it kind of helps with my development

[Electron]

I'd rather die.!!

Edited February 17, 2016 by Sigma

[Anna Konstantaki]

@Study Oh man... There are so many things I could say about dancing... I do freestyle myself for years now.

Let me give you one suggestion... Read or listen to The Witch Of Portobello by Paulo Coelho. 

I also want to add something... Dancing is great and expression is great BUT you can´t dance feelings away, 

just like you can´t eat, run or smoke them away. So... Keep calm, meditate and dance.  

[Guest]

We want what we can't get. I am a terrible dancer and I usually needed to drink some alcohol to be prepared for the dancefloor. Nowadays I don't even have the balls to dance when I am drunk because I don't enjoy drinking. When I recently went to the club I felt some sort of envy when seeing other people enjoying their time dancing. It is like I got nothing from going to the club. At this point in my life it is a total waste of time and money. Still I feel that I need to learn some dance moves to boost my confidence. Even if it is only for dancing in my room alone. Because I think that there is a good thing about dancing. Moving your body is healthy. Interacting with others is healthy too. It is like breaking the barriers. If I were able to dance on the floor without caring what others think about me and how many girls might be attracted to me, I guess I would be a better person...

[Nathalie]

@wasabelll I'm sure there are a lot of possibilities for you to learn a few steps in order to dance (in a way your mind will qualify as) accurately, since you even can find some teacher on youtube.. But the more interessing question would be: why are you so absorbed by the things other people may think about you ? Do you think everybody is always looking at you ?

[Guest]

I think that people look and judge.  This goes deeper than I thought. I talked in another thread about hairloss and basically it would be the same conclusion here. Not to focus on how people might think of you, but to just have inner peace and enjoy life. In the end I don't really enjoy clubbing so I don't have to do it. The biggest regret that comes with it is the chance of meeting women, I guess.

[asgard94]

one day I find myself listening to Ovnimoon - I AM mantra and being in the 'enlightenment mode' all serious. And then the second day I find myself listening to DJ bobo - Somebody Dance With me, and just dancing under that song. I think self-expression is very important in terms of mental health no matter how primitive it looks/feels. Besides, it helps you become less shy as a person. Btw, check that Dj bobo song its awesome!  

[Nathalie]

@wasabelll I didn't read the thread about hairloss.. But I think I know what you mean : It's easy to say, but it doesn't really help, does it?

Hope that the actualized.org forum will help you, it's surely a good way : a lot of ideas to find peace and confidence. This in turn is surely the best way to attract women.

Think of Gerard Depardieu for example.. and I avoid to mention skinhead men who are really attractive ,

don't you think so ?

[Anna Konstantaki]

@wasabelll Chimp zoo dancing or home dancing... Key is:

1. body awareness. Maybe you want to have a look at movement in general before you learn to dance. I recommend you have a look at  Ido Portal movement practice. As you said by yourself: "Moving your body is healthy"

2. creativity. The difference between a boring dancer and a really good dancer is patterns. It does not  matter if get out of rhythm from time to time, what matters is combining and having a variety and flow of movements. 

3. DO NOT GO TO A DANCING SCHOOL. Costs money and is all about that creativity killing one, two, three learn the choreo because the show is in three months kinda thing. Watch some inspiring movies and youtube vids instead, try out their different styles and find your own.

Oh and work with a mirror... 

2 hours ago, wasabelll said:

The biggest regret that comes with it is the chance of meeting women, I guess.

Yes and no. You see... The chimp zoo is a place where chimps are all about masks, roles and games. I don´t recommend it for searching for qualitative relationships because these need honesty and communication (pretty loud in there+ body language is not enough...) What I wanted to say is that paradoxically the less you will give a fuck about attracting women there the more the chances are that you will. Dancers are more attractive than non dancers because they signalize that they take a risk and make themselves vulnerable, they are confident to express themselves, they are creative (better sex and problem solving) and usually in better shape. Dancers that don´t give a fuck are more attractive than dancers that give a fuck. Why? Dancers that do not give a fuck dance because they like it and not because they try to please someone because of their insecure inside that wants to get something out of it (and yes people can sense that even if they are drunk). You can of course become one of those guys that show off and are good in covering that insecurity but that would just make you more of a good liar. You see where I am trying to go with this... Dancing has a hell lot of benefits and I think it is great for self development BUT it can´t change too much of how you feel about yourself which is actually really matters. For that you need to let go of some false beliefs you have. Search them- get them out of the system and if you then go outside in the world with that healthy mindset other people with healthy mindsets will just fly in automatically.

 

[Saarah]

On 16 February 2016 at 7:25 AM, Study said:

I have been pondering on whether if dancing is a good thing or not. I find myself wanting to express the aroused emotions of excitement and thrill through bodily movements when I listen to energising, mood boosting music. Dancing makes you feel good, lifts your mood and it's therapeutic in a way if you freely express yourself, let go of the mind and express the inner emotions and feelings. The thing is, is dancing low conscious? I see that there are both types of dancing. (I may be mistaken.)

One is low conscious form of dancing: it's when you get drunk or high. Or without any drugs, you let the emotions take over you and let yourself loose. Thinking is not there anymore, but what about awareness? 

Another (seemly like) higher conscious dancing: I consider (slower movements, there may be fast movements) like Ballad, traditional dance arts, some modern dances more high conscious. The dancers/artists seems to be in the moment, in the state of flow, consciously expressing the movements and emotions. And they talk about being "themselves" when they are dancing. 

I enjoy music (music can be addicting so I usually restrict the amount) but I find myself in conflict when I am listening to great music, I want to dance out. But I think that I shouldn't let the mind go after sensual pleasures for the fear that it is just seeking gratifications, I could get into lower state of consciousness. Instead, I should refrain and simply observe myself, the stirred up emotions, the desire and urge to dance. They may pass or they may not. And I would feel no more need to dance or feel frustrated. 

What are your thoughts on this? Is dancing Neurotic? Should you allow yourself to "Self-express" or refrain? Or try to maintain conscious awareness and dance? 

I'm currently reading this amazing book called 'Flow' by Mihaly Csikzsentmihalyi

and it talks about the experience of flow and how it creates happiness. 

Im going to give you an extract from a beginning part of the book

" "Flow" is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake.... Flow will explore... How is consciousness controlled? How is it ordered so as to make experience enjoyable? How is complexity achieved? And, last, how can meaning be created?"

I showed you those last few questions to illustrate the kinds of components involved in creating flow experiences from anything such as dancing into something meaningful. And the definition of flow at the beginning of the quote shows how an activity you enjoy need not be judged as being a waste of time or simply something recreational which you may feel guilty investing too much time in as you may not feel it productive.  You are right on the mark there when you say there is a way to do it in a progressive way and a more low consciousness way e.g. The drinking and drugs dancing which is largely about low grade sexual pleasure (pleasure being a key word as you'll see further down) 

The book by Mihaly also gives a distinction between pleasure and enjoyment. Pleasure is more passive and not conducive to growth whereas enjoyment is about challenging yourself to expand in yourself, you may not necessarily find pleasure with enjoyment. A swimmer challenging themselves may have aching muscles and so that's not pleasure but instead will have felt enjoyment from pushing the boundaries and experiencing flow. 

The wonderful thing mihaly talks about is finding that enjoyment and flow anywhere and in anything, i would say that includes dancing. He gave some extreme examples such as someone improsined in isolation and who hadn't eaten for ages still experiencing flow and enjoyment, it was probably his saving grace.

Anyway there are certain criteria to flow and finding that in your dancing, I haven't made notes on the book yet so I can't go into more depth but all in all don't worry too much about dancing, if you enjoy it so much, if you love putting effort into it, if you love increasing your skill at it, if you love being creative with it, if you love pushing the boundaries of your body with it, you should feel excited my friend to continue on in it.

The book also mentions the traps of flow in activities where it can lead to addictions etc and be detrimental to happiness therefore, so that's another extreme to it and important to consider to avoid any malfunction in your life.

In my sporadic quests to dig a bit deeper into the idea of passions and living a passion in life, I can't remember who I heard it from, it may have been Alan Watts, but the dude who said it said that people who do things they enjoy or have found what they enjoy didnt think about whether it will benefit society they did it and found it simply because they derived that enjoyment from it. Similarly you may not think it is a productive use of your time but if you have to express yourself physically you should do that in an enjoyable way. You may not necessarily want to do this as a passion but just a hobby and that's fine also.

I forgot what else I was going to say but that's it for now! 

If anything I myself find its a great way to get some exercise, I don't like getting exercise in dull ways, although I enjoy the treadmill and eliptical. Other than that walking in nature and dancing to awesome music in creative spontaneous ways are great!