Dance Breaks

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is, a year's worth of advice for all of the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. They may not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 23 Break it down

You are sitting alone in your bedroom and possibly your roommate is sitting alone in his bedroom. You are both working under a deadline and trying to accomplish whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish. Your eyes feel like they are going to bleed from starring at the computer screen. You are trying to decide between brewing more coffee or switching back to Mountain Dew. Your energy is gone, and you still have a few good hours left to work. All of a sudden a really great song comes on your ipod. You turn it up as loud as it will go, plug it into the speakers, and run into your roommate's room.
"DANCE BREAK!!!!!!"
You both get up and and dance your faces off until the song is over. By the end of the song, you are both panting and sweating, especially in the unairconditioned NYC summers. Your blood is flowing and you have just saved yourself the calories from another soda, or the heart palpatations from another Red Bull, or the jitters from having one more cup of coffee.
Dance breaks are not just good for the soul. Dancing to one really long song is a great impromptu cardio workout. Especially if you are out of shape like I am.
Dance breaks do not only have to be done at home. They can also be done at work. The people around you might think they have entered a scene from Beetle Juice, but who cares? Let them think that. Get up, stretch, get your blood flowing. Trust me, it will help you get over your mid work energy crisis.

The first piece of advice...

As a grown up, I have realized that in the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some I learned in school and through experience. Many I learned from my aunts. Now I am aunt and my oldest neice recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know, you learn in kindergarten. I believe that there are many things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are things that can only be learned by living. So, for the next year I plan to give some tiny words of wisdom to all of the neices and nephews in the world, or really to anyone who will listen. They might not work for everybody, and you might not agree with all of them, but each one is a rule that I either try to live by, or wish I did.

Today I want to begin with this one:

Dance in the rain. It helps you grow.
It may seem silly, but there is nothing like getting caught in a warm summer rain. Instead of running for the nearest place of refuge, take a second to stand there with your arms open wide, your eyes closed, and your head turned to the sky. Let the water splash your face and cleanse your heart. Then when you are certain that everyone is looking at you as if you are crazy, wave your arms and DANCE. It doesn't have to be good, or to a beat, because when you dance in the rain it is to your own tune and your own melody. Let the rain embrace you and dance until you are completely soaked. I almost guarantee that you will feel all of your burdens lifted and your spirits will be a little higher.