Enough Said!

A beautiful poem sent to me by a student.

I praise the dance,

for it frees people from the heaviness of matter

and binds the isolated to community.

I praise the dance, which demands everything:

health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.

Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people,

who are in constant danger of becoming all brain,

will, or feeling.

Dancing demands a whole person,

one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life,

who is not obsessed by lust for people and things

and the demon of isolation in his own ego.

Dancing demands a freed person,

one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers.

I praise the dance.

O man, learn to dance,

or else the angels in heaven will not know

what to do with you.

- Saint Augustine

Dancing Makes You Smarter

Dancing Makes You Smarter – it does!

by Jan Jensen on May 25, 2011

Thank you to Sheila Page for forwarding this article to me.  This is what I’ve known for years, but it’s lovely to be able to quote the studies that prove it.  It’s written by Richard Powers, a Social Dancing expert, and absolutely applies to Nia.  Read on if you’re interested:
Use It or Lose It:  Dancing Makes You Smarter
Richard Powers
For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise.  More recently we’ve seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being.
Then most recently we’ve heard of another benefit:  Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter.  A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one’s mind can ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit.  Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages.
You may have heard about the New England Journal of Medicine report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging.   Here it is in a nutshell.
The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, funded by the National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Their method for objectively measuring mental acuity in aging was to monitor rates of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity.  They discovered that some activities had a significant beneficial effect.  Other activities had none.
They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical instruments.  And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise and doing housework.
One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia.  There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind.  There was one important exception:  the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.
Reading – 35% reduced risk of dementia
Bicycling and swimming – 0%
Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week – 47%
Playing golf – 0%
Dancing frequently – 76%.
That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.
Quoting Dr. Joseph Coyle, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who wrote an accompanying commentary:
“The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities, are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based upon their use.”
And from from the study itself, Dr. Katzman proposed these persons are more resistant to the effects of dementia as a result of having greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses.  Like education, participation in some leisure activities lowers the risk of dementia by improving cognitive reserve.
Our brain constantly rewires its neural pathways, as needed.  If it doesn’t need to, then it won’t.
Aging and memory
When brain cells die and synapses weaken with aging, our nouns go first, like names of people, because there’s only one neural pathway connecting to that stored information.  If the single neural connection to that name fades, we lose access to it.  So as we age, we learn to parallel process, to come up with synonyms to go around these roadblocks.  (Or maybe we don’t learn to do this, and just become a dimmer bulb.)
The key here is Dr. Katzman’s emphasis on the complexity of our neuronal synapses.  More is better.  Do whatever you can to create new neural paths.  The opposite of this is taking the same old well-worn path over and over again, with habitual patterns of thinking and living our lives.
When I was studying the creative process as a grad student at Stanford, I came across the perfect analogy to this:
The more stepping stones there are across the creek,
the easier it is to cross in your own style.
The focus of that aphorism was creative thinking, to find as many alternative paths as possible to a creative solution.  But as we age, parallel processing becomes more critical.  Now it’s no longer a matter of style, it’s a matter of survival — getting across the creek at all.  Randomly dying brain cells are like stepping stones being removed one by one.  Those who had only one well-worn path of stones are completely blocked when some are removed.  But those who spent their lives trying different mental routes each time, creating a myriad of possible paths, still have several paths left.
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine study shows that we need to keep as many of those paths active as we can, while also generating new paths, to maintain the complexity of our neuronal synapses.
Why dancing?
We immediately ask two questions:

• Why is dancing better than other activities for improving mental capabilities?
• Does this mean all kinds of dancing, or is one kind of dancing better than another? That’s where this particular study falls short.  It doesn’t answer these questions as a stand-alone study.  Fortunately, it isn’t a stand-alone study.  It’s one of many studies, over decades, which have shown that we increase our mental capacity by exercising our cognitive processes.  Intelligence: Use it or lose it.  And it’s the other studies which fill in the gaps in this one.  Looking at all of these studies together lets us understand the bigger picture.
  Some of this is discussed here (the page you may have just came from) which looks at intelligence in dancing.  The essence of intelligence is making decisions.  And the concluding advice, when it comes to improving your mental acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory (retracing the same well-worn paths), or just working on your physical style.
  One way to do that is to learn something new.  Not just dancing, but anything new.  Don’t worry about the probability that you’ll never use it in the future.  Take a class to challenge your mind.  It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain by generating the need for new pathways.  Difficult and even frustrating classes are better for you, as they will create a greater need for new neural pathways.
  Then take a dance class, which can be even better.  Dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing your connectivity.  Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes.
  What kind of dancing?
  Let’s go back to the study:
  Bicycling, swimming or playing golf – 0% reduced risk of dementia
  But doesn’t golf require rapid-fire decision-making?  No, not if you’re a long-time player.  You made most of the decisions when you first started playing, years ago.  Now the game is mostly refining your technique.  It can be good physical exercise, but the study showed it led to no improvement in mental acuity.
  Therefore do the kinds of dance where you must make as many split-second decisions as possible.  That’s key to maintaining true intelligence.
  Does any kind of dancing lead to increased mental acuity?  No, not all forms of dancing will produce this benefit.  Not dancing which, like golf or swimming, mostly works on style or retracing the same memorized paths.  The key is the decision-making.  Remember (from this page), Jean Piaget suggested that intelligence is what we use when we don’t already know what to do.
  We wish that 25 years ago the Albert Einstein College of Medicine thought of doing side-by-side comparisons of different kinds of dancing, to find out which was better.  But we can figure it out by looking at who they studied: senior citizens 75 and older, beginning in 1980.  Those who danced in that particular population were former Roaring Twenties dancers (back in 1980) and then former Swing Era dancers (today), so the kind of dancing most of them continued to do in retirement was what they began when they were young: freestyle social dancing — basic foxtrot, swing, waltz and maybe some Latin.
  I’ve been watching senior citizens dance all of my life, from my parents (who met at a Tommy Dorsey dance), to retirement communities, to the Roseland Ballroom in New York.  I almost never see memorized sequences or patterns on the dance floor.  I mostly see easygoing, fairly simple social dancing — freestyle lead and follow.   But freestyle social dancing isn’t that simple!  It requires a lot of split-second decision-making, in both the lead and follow roles.
  I need to digress here:
  I want to point out that I’m not demonizing memorized sequence dancing or style-focused pattern-based ballroom dancing.  I sometimes enjoy sequence dances myself, and there are stress-reduction benefits of any kind of dancing, cardiovascular benefits of physical exercise, and even further benefits of feeling connected to a community of dancers.  So all dancing is good.
  But when it comes to preserving mental acuity, then some forms are significantly better than others.  When we talk of intelligence (use it or lose it) then the more decision-making we can bring into our dancing, the better.
  Who benefits more, women or men?
  In social dancing, the follow role automatically gains a benefit, by making hundreds of split-second decisions as to what to do next.  As I mentioned on this page, women don’t “follow”, they interpret the signals their partners are giving them, and this requires intelligence and decision-making, which is active, not passive.  This benefit is greatly enhanced by dancing with different partners, not always with the same fellow.  With different dance partners, you have to adjust much more and be aware of more variables.  This is great for staying smarter longer.
  But men, you can also match her degree of decision-making if you choose to do so.  (1) Really notice your partner and what works best for her.  Notice what is comfortable for her, where she is already going, which moves are successful with her and what aren’t, and constantly adapt your dancing to these observations.  That’s rapid-fire split-second decision making.   (2) Don’t lead the same old patterns the same way each time.  Challenge yourself to try new things.  Make more decisions more often.  Intelligence: use it or lose it.
  And men, the huge side-benefit is that your partners will have much more fun dancing with you when you are attentive to their dancing and constantly adjusting for their comfort and continuity of motion.
  Dance often
  Finally, remember that this study made another suggestion: do it often.  Seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week had a measurably lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week.  If you can’t take classes or go out dancing four times a week, then dance as much as you can.  More is better.
  And do it now, the sooner the better.  It’s essential to start building your cognitive reserve now.  Some day you’ll need as many of those stepping stones across the creek as possible.  Don’t wait — start building them now.

Making Connections

 A Re-Emerging Mover needs to walk in whatever door is most open at the moment.  However my experience tells me that when some sort of meaningful experience be it artistic, scientific or social is brought to the endeavor.......there is a paradigm shift.   

The following excerpt was written by a wonderful teacher of mine- Peggy Hackney, author of the brilliant book Making Connections.  

“I would say that 'lower expectations' in terms of exercise is not what is necessary, but rather movement experiences that are meaningful and engaging for the person doing them.....several aspects contribute to clients’ willingness to participate in continued movement or “exercise”. The 'Exercise' whether it is walking for 10 minutes three times a day, stepping up and down on benches, or simply dancing to music in the living room must enliven the person on more than just a muscular level. It must be an exercise in “connectivity”,whether that is an experience of internal body connection or an experience of connecting to someone or something in the larger world. “Connectivity” includes connecting to motivation and meaning-making for the individual which engages them in a fuller committed movement response rather than simply repetitive  meaningless exercise……….Laban Movement Analysis redefines “exercise” in at least two ways:  
 

1. To include education around concepts of how the body is connecting and supporting through the center core of the body, not just which individual body part is “exercising.  
 

2. To include a personal path for making the new movement experience become meaningful and enjoyable.  
 

And so, rather than “lowering expectations” around exercise, I feel that we should find ways to make movement personally meaningful. Meaning entices. It brings a vitality which is certainly a part of a healthful physical life."  
 

P.J.Hackney CLMA , Author of Making Connections

Finding Meaning on the 105 Freeway

A couple of years ago I had a panic attack on the freeway.  My palms got sweaty, my heart was beating fast, I was hyperventilating.  I had to call a friend to talk me through to my destination.  I have a very strange sense of space.  When I see a huge freeway on ramp from afar seemingly floating in open space I have a very difficult time feeling grounded in my own body.  Some part of me starts to fly off into the distance without me and I mentally and kinesthetically lose ground.

I actually had to call my NLP coach to talk me through to some solutions so that I could successfully drive on the freeway again without freaking out.  She suggested that I could always drive in the slow lane, get off the freeway at anytime, and most important keep my eyes on my own lane and to not look off too much in to the distance.  The depth of that metaphor did not hit me until today.

As I was taking  my dog to the vet when I unexpectedly hit a freeway on ramp that made me start to sweat.  It was huge, expansive and seemingly went on forever floating in mid air.  I started to loose ground.  Then I remembered my conversation  with my coach.  Keep your eye on your lane only for now, don't look at the whole on ramp and try to tackle it all at once, just keep your focus a couple of cars in front of you and its really OK to go slow....let people honk, just wave and smile as they pass.

I couldn't believe it.  It worked!!!! No palpitations, no sweaty palms, no shaking and crying, no phone calls for rescue.  One car distance at a time I got over that ramp, jubilant!!!

As I turned 50 last year I started to feel a lot of fear about aging.  I was having difficulty keeping my focus on the present -  where I am healthy and vibrant with lots of energy to be creative and productive.  All I could do was worry about how I will possibly be able to endure losing my memory, and my mobility, and my physical health, my glasses, my________.    What if I just can't deal with it all?  What will happen to me?

But then today, on the 105 freeway I got my answer.  Who would guess that a stressful moment during a routine trip on the freeway could offer  such epiphany. But there it was.  I am re-inventing, re-emerging one car length at a time, slowly, taking my time, not comparing myself to how others do it, hoping to stay grounded, in my ever changing brain and  body, one car length at a time.

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

There is a scene in Julius Caesar where Cassius says to Brutus, "You love me not," and Brutus responds, "I do not like your faults." Though I am aware of the fact that they were not referring to anything so shallow as body image and self esteem, I took it to heart. The metaphor was good enough for me.

I am just so tired of being told that the only way to heal body hatred is through nurturing feelings and thoughts of love and only love. I know, on the face of it that this pop wisdom seems like a good idea, and an obvious solution. But is it realistic? Can we really command or will ourselves into feelings of love? For me, hard as I have tried, this has not been the case. And God knows I've tried.

Two years ago when I started working on Big M, I was forced to crawl into the dank dark musty hole of history with my body issues. But thanks to the artistic constraints I placed on myself, I was also given a way out. Along that pathway I discovered that, as in most aspects of real life, feelings of love can be quite fleeting. So to expect that I would immediately transition from feeling miserable about my body to feelings of pure unadulterated love is, in my experience, absurd and unrealistic. On the other hand I am well aware that to continue to live with body hatred is not only destructive but misguided. For me the solution is far more basic and approachable than that. It's about gratitude, appreciation, and acceptance. This means when all of those self loathing tapes start to play, I stop, notice, feel the pain, and make a choice about how I want to proceed. If I'm lucky, I may even find a way to have a good laugh on my own behalf. Then when it creeps up 5 minutes or 5 days later, which you know it does, I do it again, and again, and again.

But if my only choice it to love myself, what does it mean when I can't feel it, can't do it? Or what if I do feel it for a day, a week, a month, or even a year and then the big ugly beast of self loathing rears its ugly head again. Have I now failed more than ever? NO!! I refuse to fall in to that nasty trap. No way. Been there, done that. When that nasty beast knocks at my door wearing her mask of hatred, singing her sour song, I let her know that I hear her loud and clear. I even take a nice deep breath and let her in for a moment seeing her, hearing her, certainly feeling the pit of disgust in my belly that she brings with her. Then the moment comes when I thank her and send her on her way and go on with my day. For a little while I even allow myself to not feel too great. Fact is, her dense stink lingers on my skin for a little while. That's OK . . Its just a feeling. A fleeting, sometimes terribly annoying, and repetitive feeling. But like everything else, it too passes.

Love, means I commit to doing whatever is takes to recover. Recovering means that I make sure to remind myself that I am enormously grateful for this body that I inhabit and for all of the miracles it performs for me minute by minute. I remind myself that I am a constantly changing organism. I grow and shrink, widen and narrow, lengthen and shorten in mind and body on an ongoing basis. Some of it I can control, some of it is not up to me. In either case, let there be no doubt that I do love and appreciate my spectacular body. That includes the harder moments when I feel the burn of dissatisfaction with my physical and/or emotional presence. I love my body, but there are many times when I do not like its faults, and I never will.

It's a Killer

I have been glued to a website, called Killer Strands, dedicated to providing women with high quality professional information about haircare. The woman who started it, KC, was a professional hair stylist with a thriving business, but became too sick to work. However, she is committed to empowering the public with her hard earned insider wisdom. It's been several days now, and every chance I get, I am perusing her blog. Now I have plenty of other things to do, like plan classes, choreograph and edit sections of Big M, practice my piano, get some reading done. Each time I sit down at the computer for the sheer pleasure of logging onto this website, I tell myself I will only read for 10 minutes. Ok. Maximum one half hour. But I lie. Two hours later I have to tear myself away. I go to wash my face, brush my teeth, oil my hair. I tell myself that's enough for tonight. I can have another 10 minutes tomorrow. Then I go to check an email and before I know it there I am again -- checking out color, shampoo ingredients, and amazing deep treatments.

Being female is profoundly baffling to me. I like to think that I am old enough to know better. I am smart with a good wit and plenty of intellectual muscle. And yet, I can happily spend days on end reading and researching how to get longer eyelashes, beautiful skin, cut muscles, and of course great hair. Though I want to accuse myself of being horribly shallow, I resist. I know for a fact that women far less femme than I share these superficial beauty concerns and obsessions to some degree or another; women who are political powerhouses, formidable educators and innovative thinkers. How can it be that here I am in 2009, having survived 1970's radical feminism, still feeling guilty about indulging in anything having to do with my girlie nature. I still feel like I have to defend these girlie values against my own private assumption that I must be just a little bit brain dead. What gives? I'm getting to old for this kind of narrow thinking. If as a woman of the 21st century I can have it all, isn't it about time that I can also be it all: Butch, femme, straight, bi, prissy, funky, loud, sensitive, beautiful, awkward, confident, horribly insecure, and powerful all in the same breath? Or at least in the same flesh?