Why Don't We Dance?

I’m sitting in the waiting room, camped out while my daughter is in surgery. Pretending to read a magazine. Trying to stay calm as I breathe the air redolent of fear, powerlessness, uncertainty that I and my neighbors exhale.

I get up and walk around a lot, doing the socially acceptable version of what I’d really like to do here. Dance.

Which brings me back to wondering once again why we in this culture generally do the least helpful, least healthy thing in stressful situations like this: Sit. Or, slightly better, stand still. And, no, generally not in the meditative way, although that would yield its own benefits …

What if we got up in hospital waiting rooms and doctors’ offices and danced? Come to think of it, maybe even in airports and in train stations. And in stressful situations when someone says, "Have a seat and someone will be with you … shortly.”

Perhaps led by a dance facilitator, or not? I’m not talking Swan Lake here. I mean something simple or cathartic or fun.

What if instead of trapping our bodies in our chairs with our hearts pounding in the flight or fight response, we moved around, generated some endorphins, and released some stress hormones – and even got a little exercise in the bargain?  

I was working myself up to do an unobtrusive little solo in the corner, giving myself my “Flashmob of 1″ pep talk. Just couldn’t make it happen. Coward! Did I mention that I’m very shy?

I did manage a few half sun salutations. I decided that I’d come home and research whether any studies had been done on dance, or even yoga, in hospital waiting rooms. Nada. Really? If anyone knows of one, I’d love to hear about it.

I can see how things might get out of hand. But limits could be set. We could experiement. After witnessing the sheer terror in folks’ eyes, after watching people’s taut body language as they waited and then were called in to visit post-op patients (“Please, PLEASE let him/her be ok”), I wished even more fervently that an option to move could be offered. 

Because, as indigenous peoples know full well, when your feet repeatedly make contact with the floor and your muscles move around, you’re grounded and the bad stuff gets moved. Maybe not all of it and maybe not all the way out. But better than stuck inside our jittery bods. We’d be better off ourselves, as well as for the patients we’re waiting to visit in recovery.