As I watched the dancers on stage  at a fundraiser supporting victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, a profound sense of joy washed over me, contrasting with the gravity of the cause. This was a powerful reminder of dance's impact on our emotional landscape. Trauma makes us freeze (or take flight or brace for a fight). The opposite is dance.

In this episode we celebrate the mind-body connection via movement and music, sharing stories of my own experience with sexual assault and the collective effervescence of dance. Together, we explore how dance is your brain's "pleasure triple play", share a musical brain break, discuss the benefits of letting loose in professional settings, and provide a multitude of ways to inject play into your work life.

Links:

• One Safe Place website: https://www.ospshasta.org/
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/ or (800) 799 - SAFE (7233) 
• Harvard study showing that music is a human universal: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/epl/files/mehr_et_al_2019_science.pdf
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine study showing how dance improves cognition in the elderly: https://www.einsteinmed.edu/research-briefs/8930/social-dancing-to-improve-cognition-reduce-alzheimers-risk
• Scientific American article on dance and the brain: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/
• Collective effervescence article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/arts-and-health/202108/please-don-t-take-my-collective-effervescence-away
• Shake and dance with the Center for Mind Body Medicine: https://cmbm.org/self-care-resources/resource/shaking-and-dancing/

For complete show notes, transcript, and free downloadable resources go to: https://www.irenesalter.com/podcast