Taking care of your mental health one shake at a time!
Is it just me or has there been something in the air lately? It seems like whether in the news or just conversations with friends, so many people are going through challenging times or transitions in life. My friends and I often joke that there is something happening with the movements of the planets, but whatever the reasons, all of us are susceptible to picking up on the feelings and moods that surround us.
Last week on October 10th was World Mental Health Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of mental health and ways that people can care for their mental health. There are an immense number of things mental health might mean to different people, but it’s a part of the human condition few people or their loved ones get to go through the life without having to face. The more experiences we have, we come to recognize that it’s not so much about being able to avoid difficult feelings in life like stress, sadness, and anger all together, but rather finding ways we can effectively deal with these feelings to be able to get back to a place of peace.
Without a doubt, dance and physical activity have been extremely important tools for me to take care of myself physically, emotionally, and mentally. Sometimes I walk into a class after having been in an exceptionally stressed or sad mood, and within minutes I’m completely carried away by the music. Zumba in particular has a party kind of atmosphere which encourages shouts, smiles, and claps which can help negative feelings fade temporarily or even continuing on after class.
We often say Zumba is like a tour of world because we hear so many different happy and energetic songs from different countries. To me, Fit + Flaunt class is more of a journey through emotions. In each class I select a wide range of music: sultry, cute, upbeat, sad and sometimes even fierce. Rather than making me forget some of the things happening in my real life, sometimes it helps me face the difficult and intense feelings head-on. I might choose a particularly sad and beautiful song to stretch to at the end of class (and yes I’ve even teared up while teaching) but I feel such a cathartic release being able to be vulnerable sharing these feelings in class. The spirit of burlesque is performance and theater, so we can feel safe expressing and acting out all the sides of ourselves the music and dance moves bring out.
Whatever you are experiencing in your life, I hope you have found ways to bring yourself comfort and relief no matter what life throws at you. If dance is one such way, I hope you continue to join us each week in class or by doing videos at home on your own. Dance, sweat, cry, and sing like no one is watching!
Keep moving!
xx,
Katie
讓舞蹈來照顧你的心理健康
不曉得是我，還是最近氣氛有些不同? 不管是新聞還是與朋友的談話，我聞到一絲不安的氣息，似乎大家都遇到了一些挑戰或是生活上的轉變。我和好友們常開玩笑說，不論是什麼原因只要這個地球村有不同的議題或是運動，我們都像是收訊極佳的藍芽一樣，非常容接收到周圍的氣氛與情緒。
上週三除了是台灣國慶日，10月10號也是世界心理健康日，全世界在這一天一同關注心理健康的重要，並提醒大家有不同照顧好自己心理的方法 。雖然每個人對心理健康都有不同的定義，但是這是非常人性的一部分，不論是發生在自己或是所愛的人身上，很少有人在一生中不需要面對這樣的關卡。隨著大家的經驗越來越豐富，我們發現維持心理健康不在於如何避免難受的情緒，像是壓力、悲傷和憤怒等等，而是在於要如何有效的消化這些情緒，並找回心靈的平靜。
毫無疑問地對我而言，舞蹈和運動是幫助我照顧好自己非常重要的工具，不論是在生理上、情緒上、或是心理上。有時候我帶著極大的壓力或是沉重的心情走進教室，上課不到幾分鐘，我就忘我地投入在音樂中。尤其是 Zumba，因為它充滿了派對的氣氛，像是鼓勵歡呼、微笑、拍手等等，可以讓負面情緒暫時消失，有時候甚至到下了課之後，還是能繼續維持這樣子的正面能量。
我們常說 Zumba 像是環遊世界，因為我們聽到來自世界各地充滿開心與能量的音樂。對我而言 舞麗自信 則像是一趟情緒的旅程，在每堂課中我挑選了不同種類的音樂，有風情萬種的、可愛俏皮的、開心正面的、也有令人難過的。與其說它幫我忘記現實生活中的處境，有時覺得它反而幫助我迎頭面對當下困難緊張的感受。這時，我會選一首哀傷又美麗的歌當作收身操（沒錯！有時候我的確會邊拉筋邊鼻酸到熱淚盈眶），因為我覺得能在課堂上展現我的脆弱，以及真實的感情，讓我的情緒有個宣洩的出口。 Burlesque 的精隨是表演、是劇場，所以在 舞麗自信 中你也可以安全的表現自己，隨著不同的音樂展現自己不同的面相。
不論你現在生活中正經歷些什麼，不論生活丟給你什麼樣的難題，我希望你能找到不同紓壓的方法。如果跳舞是你紓壓方法之一，希望每週繼續來和我們一起跳舞，或是在家和我們的影片一起跳舞。像是沒有人在觀看般地盡情跳舞、流汗、大哭、唱歌吧！
繼續前進！
愛你的 Katie
( Anna Liang 譯 )
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