How many times have you been excited over the idea of your daughter’s first ballet recital? Or to your son’s first little league game? Well, in the midst of that excitement, did you ever consider how all of that mindful movement is preparing them for the real world? Dance and yoga therapy are among one of many holistic healing techniques.
If you haven’t considered that idea before while getting excited about your child’s activities, don’t worry, because you are not alone. Although many people may not realize it, yoga and other mindful movements like dance, help adolescents develop skills needed to navigate through the difficulties caused by life.
Beyond curating necessary, lifelong skills, dance therapy and yoga therapy create a firm foundation that nurtures the mind and body for the remainder of your child’s life. So as children transition into young-adults, even acquiring car insurance for teens under parents’ insurance policy seems less of a risk because you know the child has the skills to make mindful decisions.
Though it is still common for people to be unaware of the benefits yoga and dance provide to the body, more people are learning to appreciate them as they become increasingly popular.
How Yoga Therapy and Dance Therapy are Good for the Body and Mind
When yoga and dance are taught with mindfulness as the center of its teachings, it offers more benefits than when taught with just traditional physical fitness as the center. Yoga, when taught correctly, can help to reduce impulsive behavior and increase patience.
Develop Impulse Control and Discipline with Dance Therapy and Yoga Therapy
Yoga and dance serve as an exercise for the prefrontal cortex, or the “brain” of your brain. The prefrontal cortex is located at the forehead area, and its function is to plan and regulate one’s mood. Full development of the PFC gives people the ability to think, focus, and respond rationally instead of impulsively to situations.
Growth of synapse formation in the prefrontal cortex happens the most as a baby, when a girl is 11 years old, and when a boy is 12 years old. Any other period outside of those three ages consists of synaptic pruning which is when weak connections are plucked out, and other links are strengthened.
Participating in yoga and dance therapy helps to support and potentially enhance the growth of the synapse formation and during its pruning stages.
Check out private dance and yoga therapy for teenagers and anxiety counseling in East Lyme, Ct.
Helps to Decrease Anxiety and Depression
Yoga also helps instances of certain mental health conditions. When someone experiences mental or physical stress, their body creates too much of the stress hormone called Cortisol. Too much of that one hormone creates a hormonal imbalance in the body. This results in depression and anxiety which create a ripple effect releasing an inflammation-promoting chemical called Cytokines.
This chain reaction results in your body aching during high-stress situations. Yoga is a great workout to release tension. It helps to relax the mind and comforts the body. Also, it helps to to destress and diminish the instances where the hormone, Cortisol, is released.
Improve Physical Health through Yoga and Dance
Yoga and dance therapy does not focus on traditional physical fitness when conducting their sessions. This is a benefit of using this form as therapy. Those participating in yoga and dance create a secure understanding of body awareness and movement.
Yoga and dance require participants to transition in and out of poses, movement, and positions that enhance their core muscles while improving their coordination, strength, balance, and flexibility.
Both yoga and dance can help increase confidence in people, especially adolescents. Yoga and dance help build confidence by teaching young people to dance along with life and all of the chaos it brings instead of going against it.
Like dance, life includes challenges, conflict, as well as beauty. Having the ability to comprehend and embrace the cycle of life creates confidence within a person. It also trains them on how to be less anxious when feeling emotionally unstable.
Enhance Concentration While Learning with Yoga and Dance
Mindful movement, like dance and yoga before school, homework, or tutoring, helps to energize and enhance concentration for children while learning.
This is an excellent daily ritual to incorporate beyond therapy sessions because it keeps the child’s mind sharp consistently. Take time to be mindful and meditate regularly. This is especially true for children who grow easily frustrated with learning and other activities.
You don’t have to wait for New Year’s to make resolutions about mindfulness. Here are some other benefits of mediation and mindful movement that are good all year around:
- Boosts energy
- Increases concentration
- Help reduce heart disease
- Helps with weight loss
- Helps regulate blood pressure
- Reduces stress and tension
How to Get Your Teen Interested in Yoga and Dance Therapy
It is pretty simple to convince younger children to partake in different activities, but teenagers can be a bit more challenging. With teens, having fun is good, but what is better for teenagers is doing something that is seen as cool as well as fun.
So if you find that your teen needs a little help dealing with anxiety, self-confidence, depression, or even physical health, you can get them excited about yoga by making it seem cool and fun.
Here are a few tips to help you make yoga and dance therapy be both relaxing and fun:
- Do not lean too much on the “therapy” aspect before understanding therapy is not a bad thing.
- Show confidence when they give eye-rolls or shrugs. If you do not respond to these reactions with negativity and remain calm, they will be less likely to balk at the idea of dance and yoga.
- Explain that they will play popular and cool music during the session.
- Ask if their friends know any of the cool moves and poses that they learn during the sessions. Then imply that it will be cool if they show their friends what they learn.
- Offer yoga and dance therapy as a fun alternative to sitting and waiting for parents to finish learning better communication skills in marriage counseling.
Lead by Example
While those tips can help you to persuade your child to participate in yoga and dance therapy, it may not make them take the practice seriously. An excellent way to ensure they are taking it seriously is if you lead by example and take it seriously is, too.
Marriage counseling in Mystic, Connecticut can help couples learn better communication skills, resolve conflict, and unravel unresolved issues. The benefits of marriage counseling can improve the quality of relationships between family members within the household.
You may decide to use dance or yoga therapy in your own marriage relationship. If your children see the positive effects of this being shown in your life, they will be more likely to want to imitate you and use dance and yoga therapy in their own life.
After all, the parents are the head of the ship.
Imani Francies writes and researches for the car insurance comparison site, CarInsurance.org. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media and specializes in various forms of media marketing.
