Steps to De-Stress

How often do you get stressed out? Do you have occasional, transient moments of stress, such as when you press the “Coffee Without Milk” button and get coffee with milk, or does your work and lifestyle seem more like a stress-laden conveyor belt – complete with loud thumping noises and no off-switch – with you as the dumping area?

While the notion of a night in, feet up with a glass or two of red, may seem like an attractive option, it is more of a comfort than a cure. It’s not so easy to just switch off. Or is it?

To really switch off, the mind mustn’t just be set to idle. Instead, it needs to be completely absorbed in something. If the experience is pleasurable, then so much the better for reducing stress levels and restoring balance. Talking of balance, a record number of people are now improving their balance through leisure dancing. Classes are often drop in, so you don’t need to book a course, and, for many dance styles, partners are rotated, so you don’t even need to take one with you. In classes where partners are rotated, it also means that you get to know your classmates very quickly and so make it easy to set up your dances for the dance parties that often follow the classes.

In recent years, the leisure-dance industry has cast off a dated image and stepped into the 21st century with new, exciting and widely appealing innovations. The Strictly Come Dancing series of Pro-Celebrity dance competitions now regularly hits the top viewer-rating figures at peak Saturday evening viewing times. It’s fun to watch but what it really shows is that celebrities are normal people, at least in terms of their dance ability, and that they can and do learn to dance. If they can, then so can you. And it’s fun!

Leisure dancing is recommended as a real stress-buster because it is totally absorbing at so many levels: physical, mental and social. The benefits in terms of health, fitness and weight management are clear. So get your dancing feet on today and beat the stress!