If you’ve been reading my newsletters for a while, you know how much I love to dance.
Some have joked that I must think dancing is a cure-all for everything!
Well, it turns out that I’m not so far off the mark!
I recently read a story about a nurse whose sister, a healthy and strong 26 year old, fell into a coma and lost her ability to move or speak. When she woke from the coma, she still couldn’t speak. Her sister, who loved to dance as much as she loved her, decided to bring in music. She played her sister’s favorite songs and danced around the hospital room like no one was watching. Then a miracle happened – her sister found her voice, hollering deeply in a way that sounded like crying! It was a powerful and healing moment for both sisters.
There’s even more evidence of the benefits of dancing. A 2024 study from the University of Sydney, found that dancing provides more psychological and cognitive benefits — from reducing depression to improving motivation and emotional well-being — than any other type of exercise.
Another study, published in the BMJ in February, compared the mental health benefits of everything from aerobic exercise to cognitive behavioral therapy with antidepressants and found that dance consistently offered the largest reductions in depression.
Another inspiring story comes from Deborah Cohan, an obstetrician in San Francisco. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she turned to dance – an activity that had brought her joy since she took her first ballet class at age 3. Cohan said “As I danced, I was genuinely feeling joy, even as I recognized my own fears and didn’t turn away from them. I was experiencing all the emotions at once. It was such a relief to realize this wasn’t all going to be about sadness.” Cohan said.
Then she decided to bring this joy all the way into the operating room. Before her bilateral mastectomy, she asked her surgical team if she could have a pre-op dance party, and they all agreed! Cohan chose Beyoncé’s “Get Me Bodied” a song that resonated with her because, as she put it, “it’s all about being in your body and being your full self. I was like, that is exactly how I want to show up in the operating room.” The moment the music started, Cohan broke into dance, and all her stress melted away.
As a patient, Cohan experienced what she calls the “regimented” atmosphere of medicine, where you’re told where to go, what to do, and you have no control. But by bringing in dance, she felt empowered, saying, “it felt really radical that my healthcare team was doing my thing, not the other way around.”
Below is the video of Cohan’s pre-op dance party filmed by one of her friends. Look how joyful she is before going into surgery…
The video’s been viewed 8.4 million times and is so inspirational that soon others were following Cohan’s lead.
- Ana-Alecia Ayala, a 32-year-old uterine cancer survivor, danced along to “Juju on That Beat” to make chemotherapy more tolerable.
- Doreta Norris, a patient with breast cancer, chose “Gangnam Style” to serenade her into surgery.
Looks like dance, like laughter, is proving to being one of the best medicines!
Next time you’re feeling down, highly stressed, or if you are facing a medical challenge, put on your dancing shoes and Rock On!
Best of Health,
Kathi
