People today turn to yoga, dance, and other physical activities in order to improve their physical wellbeing. Dance, as yoga, helps individuals control their body weight, and improves their well being.

However, from my personal experience as a ballet dancer with 20 years of training, dance can sometimes be painful for the body and actually increase the levels of anxiety. When I turned to yoga, I realized that every dancer, especially those at a professional level should try it.

Yoga Makes You Love Your Body

Dancers can sometimes be convinced that if they do not have the ideally thin body, they can never be successful. So as a result, they refuse to accept their natural body weight and put their health at the risk.

However, yoga teaches practitioners that they do not need to have a particular body shape (thin, flexible, tall, short, etc.) in order to do yoga, because yoga is for everyone! Dancers can learn to love their bodies every single minute of the day through yoga.

Yoga Connects You with Your Body

Dancing and competitive sports can sometimes negatively affect individuals’ body image and body satisfaction and lead them to unhealthy habits and behaviors, such as eating disorders.

Since yoga is not competitive, there is no wrong way to do it. It teaches individuals to listen to their body (heart-rate, feelings, sensations, breathing).

In other words, yoga connects the mind, body, and spirit and can definitely teach dancers how to listen to and respect their bodies and physical needs.

All in all, yoga can definitely benefit dancers and help them increase their performance skills, while keeping up their levels of wellbeing.

love, k 🙂