Healthy, Happy, Whole

Last Wednesday Dance Kansas City had the pleasure of participating in the "Healthy, Happy, Whole" expo, held at the Federal building for the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal employees.   

Nicole Hernandez was the organizer of the event. She called us because she loves to dance and wanted to offer the powerful benefits that learning to dance provides to the other Army Corps of Engineer workers.

 Ballroom Unlimited teachers: Perry Gingerich, Matt Schissler, Josh Thornton, Katie Moshier, Abby Vogels and my husband Mark attended the event. We met hundreds of folks and had a blast introducing them to the benefits of dance.

Every time I get the opportunity to share the physical and mental and social fitness benefits ballroom dance provides, I feel so priveleged.  I thank my lucky stars for the day someone invited me to their studio...I never stopped dancing! Hopefully, these folks will feel the same.  

 The new Monday night Beginner's Only group class will be full of these folks, so if you see them in the Studio, introduce yourself and give them a warm welcome. 

The Surgeon General Recommends Dancing

I came across this article in the New York Times Magazine. Turns out the Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, agrees with me - at least on this one point!

What sort of exercise do you recommend for people who don’t love it?
I want exercise to be fun; don’t want it to be work. I don’t want it to be so routine that you’re bored with it. We used to jump rope a lot and double Dutch and went to a disco to have fun and enjoy ourselves. We didn’t go to the disco because somebody said, Go dance for 30 minutes.

When was this? When did you go to a disco?
When I was younger. I want us to get back to doing things because they’re fun.

Maybe we need to dance more as a nation.
Yes, I love to dance, and whenever I’m at events and places with music, I will dance. That exercise is medicine. It’s better than most pills.

Read the full article on the NYTimes website.

I particularly love that last comment. I've long wondered how to communicate to people that dancing is the best anti-depressant there is. Music, movement, social and physical contact are all to credit. And when you're dancing all those factors are coming together at the same time. 

Dont' take my word for it, ask the Surgeon General!