April Showers
The Benefits of Dancing in the Rain

By Amy Tilley, PsyD

April can be a lovely month. Spring is in the air, trees are blooming, grass is growing, and colorful plants and flowers are ready to be potted and planted in your front yard and garden. It is time to play in the dirt and get grounded in nature. April can also bring spring rain showers, helping to rejuvenate nature after a long winter of dormancy and clean out all the pollen and pollution in the air.

April is Stress Awareness Month 

Now, don’t let that stress you out! Stress is a normal reaction to situations or events that make us feel overwhelmed, uncertain, or threatened. Since 1992, April has been the month to educate the public on: the causes and effects of stress, coping with stress in healthy ways and developing new habits, and increasing conversations around stress and how it affects mental health, in hopes of reducing the stigma. Stress can become debilitating if we do not recognize it and handle it in a timely manner.

The Stress Management Society (http://www.stress.org.uk) is the founder of Stress Awareness Month. Each year they promote a theme; this year is #Lead with Love. It focuses on unconditional love, self-compassion, and positive regard for others. The website offers many tips and free resources for you to use in your own life or your organization. The founders want individuals to remember the care and kindness they are giving to others also needs to be given to themselves to promote a healthier lifestyle and physical, mental, and emotional wellness. Don’t put yourself on the back burner!

What does dancing in the rain have to do with stress awareness month and your mental health? 

Lots of significant benefits! Being outside puts you in touch with nature and can help you get grounded. Dancing can help reduce your stress, improve your mood (want to feel like you are 5 years old and jumping in puddles again??!?!), produces endorphins (those feel-good hormones), give you a sense of joy, and provide you with a great workout.

Make sure it is safe to go outside (no lightning or thunder in the area) and have a blast getting soaked! Dancing can be done solo, or with a partner. Dancing with a partner can teach you skills and you can foster strong connections while dancing in your driveway or backyard.

Dancing also has cognitive benefits. It exercises your brain in new and challenging ways: learning new dance moves can improve short- and long-term memory and utilizes both fine and gross motor skills. It also requires focus and coordination, which aids in memory function. Research also shows that dancing may help combat the onset of Parkinson’s Disease or dementia, because your brain is being stretched in different ways as you learn new dances.

Next time you experience a rainy day, you can make a choice: sit inside and watch TV and grumble about the gloomy day or go dance in the rain and bring out your inner child. There are many physical, mental, and emotional health benefits to being outside with nature. Which will you choose to brighten your day?

Amy Tilley, PsyD. has 20 years in the mental health and addiction recovery field. Her clinical interests include working with young adults and adults diagnosed with cooccurring conditions.

Learn more about Desert Star Addiction Recovery Center at www.desertstarARC.com or call 520-638-6000