Such a beautiful write-up Ma'am. It was a pleasure starting my day with this blog, thank you for the same! I appreciate the way you related dancing to meditating and that you spoke from your very personal experience makes it even more appealing. Incidentally, I had recently read an article on how dancing can fight depression. It mentioned how dancing is like moving meditation which can soothe the mind and body and avoids getting distracted by depression inertia. Dancing, as you mentioned, helps one connect to one's inner self and hence can also help one feel better about oneself. I have been dancing since the age of 3 and it has been an endearing experience. Just like you and million other dancers of the world, I have found solitude in dancing. I have danced through happiness, love, stress, anger and the way it has helped me bare my emotions is inexplicable. Dancing has liberated me in many ways. There was a time when I used to be very stressed with academics and I was under the constant pressure of being a rank holder. This stress kept building on and I had to do something to escape from it. I had taken a break from my dance classes during that time. One day I saw a group practising hip-hop in the college foyer for an upcoming competition and that’s when I knew what was missing in my life. I re-joined my class. And then it was just a matter of 2 hrs as I began to destress myself and started feeling lighter. Not only did I started feeling better about myself and could feel the connection with my inner self, I also started doing much better in my academics. As you rightly pointed out Ma’am, management students today, hard pressed for time, should be involved in one such activity. It can be aerobics, Zumba or even simple rhythmic exercise can bring a breath of fresh air into their hectic lives. In the daily continuous activities of a management student, a moment to stop, breathe, reflect into oneself and connect with the self within is of utmost importance because in this rat race to become the best, we sometimes forget who we are at the core. It was delightful to see that someone among the faculty at a top B-school thinks that meditation is not restricted to deep breathing and staying still, that even dancing can be a form of meditation, that letting yourself loose can be a form of meditation. That the idea of meditation itself is malleable. That it isn’t bound by any dictionary definition. That actually, anything, any form of exercise or activity, when performed with true feelings and passion, can be a form of meditation. And this very meditation is what will bring a person closer to his/her true inner self.

An intriguing piece of article Ma’am. Thank you for writing about this. Dance has been very close to my heart since childhood and I have been able to relate all the good I have achieved in life somehow to my involvement in dancing. I am fascinated by the fact that you could relate dancing to meditation. You have beautifully described how dance can be closely connected to the spiritual feel and how it calms you by rejuvenating you at the very same time. Dance has been called a moving meditation as it is intimately connected with spiritual practice and religious worship since ages. It liberates us as we are fully aware of our body and therefore the dancer becomes the dance itself. Studies say that dance has proven to be therapeutic as the hormones that bring us the feel good factor suddenly start moving rapidly and give life to each and every cell in the body. This is what enlightens our body when we dance. I have been dancing since the age of 4 and it has helped me maintain a balance in life throughout. I find peace, I find joy in dancing and I’m sure millions of dancers across the world would feel the same. It gives me clarity of mind and encourages positivity in me. To me, dance is the concentrating power. It is like a detox which uplifts my outlook toward life and I feel energized while dancing. You have rightly mentioned about pressures faced by management students due to the multitude of things they are expected to do. In SPJIMR, we were introduced to Yoga classes which I believed was very helpful for all of us. Yoga helped us take our mind off of all the day to day pressures and helped us link to our inner selves. It released me from all my mental pressure and helped me be aware of each and every sense in my body. Dance does the same to me. So, I try to take out 15 minutes when Im having a stressful day to just feel the music sync in and just let go of everything else. I dance my heart out and it actually helps uplift my mood and increases my strength and concentration to work better and effectively. I believe dance or yoga or any other form of exercise which helps you take a break from your daily monotonous routine should be encouraged. It helps you reconnect with yourself, it makes you feel alive. Happiness is the key to life and I found my happiness in dance. It is medication, meditation and everything else possible to me.

Beautiful article Ma’am. It is really wonderful to see meditation linked with dance. It is true indeed that dance can help a person connect with his inner self and achieve complete solitude and peace. This is something I also experience every time I dance. I personally feel that dance is a far more superior form of meditation. I can only talk about my experience and I have been trying to meditate for the last 4- 5 years and never been able to successfully concentrate on my breath and find peace of mind. The simple reason being the current generation is exposed to so many aspects of life at a time and that too at an early age to which I am no exception. I feel it is bound to happen that our minds are occupied with so many thoughts and situations that it is barely possible for us to remain calm in the true sense. Hence the liberty to comment that dance is a far more superior form of meditation was made. When people dance, they let go of their fears and insecurities about being judged and become a free soul just swinging to the music. It’s like you are trying scuba diving for the first time and you realize there is the world that we don’t know and moments where you can feel each every breath of yours. That serenity, calmness, and silence are what I experience when I dance. This analogy can’t just be limited to dance but also any form of arts/ activity that one is passionate about. For an instance, I am a drummer and I have a similar feeling when I am playing drums. While playing a beat, I could literally feel my hands and legs moving to a tempo, can feel every muscle moving and my mind conscious about the next beat. When my ears are hearing the minute of the sounds the drum kit makes, that’s when I feel peaceful and calm. I guess that is the form of meditation I want and will keep me calm throughout the day. For any person, that one interest or that one thing which he is passionate about and he do it to make himself happy is the thing that he should always do because only that thing can give him tranquillity and peace of mind. No one can practice a greater form of meditation than doing something that gives them happiness. In my case, it is dancing and playing drums that make me not think about anything that is happening in my immediate environment, the one thing that keeps me away from thinking about the uncertain future and irrelevant past. So, I believe that everyone should introspect on that one thing that serves the purpose of meditation. Till that time, one may practice the actual meditation and wait until the moment of awakening. Lastly, thank you so much for the thought –provoking article ma'am, it gives extreme bliss to read something that makes you realize how passionate you are about the things you love and how important they are to you.

Dear Ma’am, Such an intriguing write-up. The title itself at once made me retrospect and introspect. I appreciate the way you merged meditation and your passion for dancing. Indeed there is much more to meditation than chanting Om. I completely agree with your point of view. Meditation is all about self-discovery and connecting with your inner self. It is all about relating to oneself and connecting the dots to find answers to the unanswered questions and dilemmas. Although sometimes it may not at all about seeking answers. In my opinion, meditation has various forms. There might be a peace seeking soul who would find a silent room an apt place to sit and meditate while another might find peace in any activity. For various people, the meaning of meditation is same though the path taken is often different. While for some chanting devotional chants might be meditation, there might be others who meditate when they dance, cook, eat, sometimes even sleep. For some meditation is 12 minutes of breath in… breathe out. While for some it may be a 10-minute jog, a 5-minute conversation over the phone with a friend. Meditation is like saving money, it’s one of those things which offer a plethora of benefits. Closing your eyes and taking some deep breaths has its advantages; so does sitting in solace, but what about people who have the constraint of space. Do they have no right to meditate? Do people who stay busy all the time have no right to meditate? Of course, they do. Everyone has the right to meditate and each one of us has a different approach towards it too. Personally speaking being brought up in a believer family; I have always seen my parents meditating in the small room trying to concentrate on a red dot while chanting OM. As I grew up they did try to influence me into it but to their utter disbelief, I complained of not being able to concentrate for more than a minute. I never understood meditation till I found my own version of it; that is Baking. Meditation is when my entire energy is concentrated on that one task in hand. That happens when I bake a cake. While I am baking a cake I feel disconnected from the outer world and I connect with my inner self. For that fraction of the time, I don’t care what the world says and thinks. My entire energy and effort are focused on making that cake the best possible cake on all parameters. I realize that trance state of concentration and happiness when I bake. For that some time I just forget what, who, where. All I do is just focus and make the best cake possible. And indeed that moment is so surreal and enriching that perhaps that, in my opinion, is meditation.

Dear Prof. Divatia, I really enjoyed reading this beautifully written piece. Your views on dance and meditation are really intriguing and got me thinking about their role in my life. Being a dancer myself, I could really connect with your blog. Connection with the life of management students makes this blog even more close to my heart. Like you, I also feel energized, even after an exhaustive dance routine. Like you, I can also connect with myself through dance. Dance is a great stress buster. I am sure that all management students can agree that they are under pressure and time constraint. I’m from PGP-1 and my Div students have also realized the same. We have started doing Zumba 15 minutes before a morning class. This jolts us out of the morning hypnotized state. Scientists believe that energy can neither by created and nor be destroyed. I believe that dance can CREATE energy. I would like to share my views on dance and meditation. For me, dance has the opposite effect when compared to meditation. Dance excites me and gives me an adrenaline rush whereas meditation reduces the adrenaline and calms me down. While dancing, alone in a room, I am rarely aware of my body, hands and breath. If I’m dancing and I create or learn a new step, I get all hopped up. I can’t just sit after that, I feel energetic and want to stay physically active. Meditation helps me to earth this energy. Though, different effects but like you mentioned both helps me connect with myself within. I have been dancing since the age of five. I am Kathak diploma holder as well. I have discovered few more benefits which I would like to share with you. Dance enhanced my understanding of beats and rhythms. Patience and discipline became a part of my life, since learning classical dance in a slow process and my Guruji was very strict. My primary physical exercise has been dancing. Every dance performance gets me back in shape due to the rigorous practice sessions. Group dances have another important benefit, social interaction and bonding. Every dance team has to go through a lot together, which may develop very strong relationships. In the beautiful picture you have attached, the smiling faces show a sense of accomplishment. Every artist, academician, business owner, all the people toil for this sense of accomplishment. The audience is another source of happiness and energy. While I’m dancing on stage and audience appreciates it through claps, my energy level skyrockets. The appreciation received after the performance further gives me confidence and motivation. To prove our experience and views and add more benefits of dance, I would like to share results of few studies in this domain. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine conducted in 2003, by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine concluded that dance can significantly improve brain health. It can help lower the risk of dementia. Another study by North Dakota’s Minot State University researchers found that Zumba can improve mood and certain cognitive skills, such as visual recognition and decision-making. There have been numerous other studies as well proving how dance can reduce stress and increase levels of serotonin (happiness hormone). Recently researchers have also discovered that new neural connections are formed because of dance. These connections are especially in regions of the brain which is involved in executive function, long-term memory and spatial recognition. Thus, developing these functions as well. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity through your blog to deep dive into my thoughts and analyze the effect of dance and meditation.

Thank You so much for this beautiful write-up, ma’am. As soon as I read the title, I formed a certain idea about what this blog would be all about. The first paragraph itself gave a clear message to stop guessing and start enjoying this linkage between dance and meditation. Though not a pro at it, dancing is something which I have been enjoying since my childhood. I used to believe that meditation was all about closing the eyes and relaxing. Basically, not doing anything that consumes body energy and tires me. I realized how wrong I was. It's more to do with peace of mind, something which we all want but fail to make that extra effort to achieve it. After going through this blog, I understood how deeply dancing impacts you as a person and I asked myself if it’s the same for me. The answer to my own surprise contradicted my theory of meditation. Before knowing that I enjoy dancing, I realized something else. I realized how much I loved playing sports, especially Badminton. I remember how I used to play for hours and my parents had to force me to stop playing and get back home. I used to get so tired after every session. But it also made me very happy every time. The feeling of hitting those smashes correctly, confusing the opponent with the drop shots or getting annoyed on losing a game, it all worked as meditation for me. No matter how exhausting the sport is, it made me connect to myself during those matches. All that I think that time is to ensure that I have correct body posture, maintain balance, be alert, push myself that extra yard and ultimately give my best. It is my ‘me’ time which gives me a feeling of satisfaction and content. After my graduation, I took up various professional courses and then joined SPJIMR. Basically, I was away from the court for years. Recently, I decided to play at Andheri Sports Complex and I realized how much this game affects me. I could relate to each and every movement of my body. My smashes, drop shots, though not perfect, gave me that same feeling of belonging and happiness. It acted like the perfect stress buster. Even though I was dead tired after playing, I was happy and I felt like going back to the court again. Yes, this tight schedule of management studies restricts my chances of playing more and more but it is something I look forward to every week. Everyone has their own method of meditating. I am happy I found mine and realized its importance in my life. So, it needn’t be something creative like dancing. It can also be as fast and fierce like Badminton. What really matters is how as an individual, we relate to it and what purpose it fulfills.

Thank you, Ma'am, for the lovely blog. I am not a dancer but yes, I too take out those fifteen minutes break and do a jig to feel energized for the day ahead. Many companies and organizations like Raahgiri and Zorba to name a few have started this initiative to connect us back to your -“inner-self” from our fast moving lives. Dance, aerobics, Zumba or any rhythmic exercise is the best stress-buster for me. This is actually something that makes me feel liberated and lost in my world of dreams. Dance in every possible form for me is a key intersection between spirituality and physical fun. It lets my body flow to my inner core and connect with the highest form of divinity – Nataraj. Lord Shiva is considered as the cosmic ecstatic dancer and his dance is believed to be the most intoxicating dance form. There have been times that I have tried to amplify myself as a dancer like Lord Shiva and I find myself in the oblivious of the conscious reality that surrounds me. It has helped me overcome my migraine, control temper and release the negative energies back to the cosmos. I believe dance is the most useful meditation practice for an active mind and a process for expanding self-awareness. The power of dance for me is a therapy connecting my body, heart, and mind. I don’t think one needs to become a yogi or go to mountains or divine places to uplift their inner selves but try dance to give them a sense of power to transform things around them. Even in many workplaces, people are made to dance daily for just 5 minutes before they start with their long day as people now believe dance to be not only religious but to life is momentarily beyond ourselves and make us rethink about all things around us mindlessly. “It is paying attention in a different way”. It is like sometimes we don’t need intellectual talks to know what we must do or entertainment to enjoy but actually to flow out our emotions freely by this moving form of meditation. Dance is meditation in motion that “uses the robust energy of the physical body to enhance the refined energies of our mind and emotions in order to make a transcendent state”. And, so I dance like there’s no tomorrow, for dance is my passion and a perfect form to express my inner-self to me.

Thank you, ma’am, for sharing this thought. With the fast pace life and increasing stress to balance every aspect of it meditation has become both a necessity and trend in modern world. But there is lot of confusion around what is meditation. I have often seen people using meditation and yoga as synonyms. My research on various portals and my own practices have made me believe that meditation is a state of consciousness, deep peace when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and is calm and silent yet completely alert. It helps us transform and takes us to higher level of awareness. But, is yoga is the only form of meditation? I have had arguments previously with many people and believe that to reach the state of peace and awareness, performing any type of art can help. The art should help you empty your mind and synchronize it towards one goal. Dancing, singing, painting, gardening, poetry and yoga are some of the ways by which people perform meditation. If these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation. Breathing in yoga, coordination of body movements in dance, catching the beats while singing and feeling the plants while gardening has the same effect on a person which generally our mediation teachers teaches. I had started dancing at the age of 6. From then till now, whenever I dance it brings a different energy in me. With every thumping of my feet in coordination with my hand and eye movements made me realize that it empties my mind. It fills me with the peace and positive energy which I require after a tiring day. My mother used to always force me to do yoga as I was short tempered and had hard time controlling my emotions. But dancing, I believe has transformed me without performing yoga. Dance not only brings grace but also a confidence in you. And for the matter of fact, any art you perform with passion, transforms you as a human. I have seen similar transformation in people who paint and sketch. The emotions they have while mixing the colors to paint the canvas is like the dancer who sways on the entire stage to paint it with her dance steps. As you mentioned, today the management schools have started courses on meditation to help students cope with the hectic schedule. But I believe, apart from performing just breathing exercises and yoga, we should go one step ahead and have a time slot for the students to perform the art which helps them meditate. I believe it can be transformation in terms of the experience the teachers and students will have.

Why do we dance? Why do we meditate? Two separate questions with wildly different answers, if you ask someone. But as so eloquently put in this blog, maybe the two aren’t so different after all. Dance is an activity which humans share with only a handful of other animals in the world. Throughout our history, we have danced to perform rituals, intimidate our enemies, attract and bond with people or to simply express ourselves. There is another aspect, however, which most people do not think of when they think of dancing - Dance as a method to heal ourselves. A way to stitch back the tears in our souls and mind, resulting from the rat race which our lives have become, and isn’t this also the outcome of meditation. Two names, same purpose. We dance when we feel happy, we dance when we are at our lowest and we dance when language is no longer able to express what our hearts scream. Words become superfluous. Our bodies, moving in rhythm with the pulse of music, strive to connect to something higher than us. Classical dancers, street performers with their dance battles or even tap dancers will tell you what dancing has done for them. It is the ultimate form of meditation in my opinion. Whether I am dancing in a group or alone in my locked room, I can feel the flow of energy. I become one with myself, all of my senses attuned to my soul and the joy which comes from knowing that no one can steal this feeling from me. I can never close my eyes and concentrate enough to meditate because the outside stimuli is always too hard for me to ignore. But while dancing, all those distractions become a background buzz merging with the music. I let go of all of my pent up rage, frustrations, resentments, and even though I may get tired, my soul is refreshed. Whether done in the morning, or late in the evening, dancing never fails to stimulate my mind. Meditation results in a cohesive mind and so does dance. All the erratic thoughts, feelings, ideas inside of me coalesce and are expressed by my dance. I find that I am able to focus on my other tasks better, deal with people in a more calm manner and feel good about myself. Dance has been used in many cultures as means to reach a trance state, a higher state of consciousness. Another promise of meditation fulfilled by the immensely entertaining art of dance. Shiva, the eternal yogi, whose name has become synonym with meditation and is chanted by thousands across the world, is often depicted in his Nataraj form – the cosmic ecstatic dancer. Dancing, in my belief, connects us to the universe in ways even meditation cannot. We may not dance under the stars to appease the gods and bring about rain anymore, but we should definitely dance to appease our souls, wrap them in happiness and be the gods of our own lives.

Thank you writing this beautiful piece on meditation via dancing, Ma’am. I have always been fond of dancing since I was a kid. I had started dancing at a very young age. I learnt the Classical dance form, Bharatnatyam when I was in school and I have been learning Belly Dance professionally for quite some time now. I want to keep dancing and keep learning new dance forms because it gives me a different kind of energy that nothing else does. Dance has made me graceful and imbibed confidence in me. Dancing makes me feel happy and uplifts my mood whenever I am having a bad day. In today’s world, we are just so occupied in our work and our routine is so hectic that we almost forget how important it is to spare some time for ourselves in the day. It is very important to have that 10 minute talk with yourself regarding your thoughts, your plans, etc. If that isn’t done, you can’t really keep a track of what you do and why you do it. Dancing does that for me. I feel some kind of freedom while dancing. I can express myself through dancing. It helps me connect with myself and helps me to know how I am feeling. There has not been a single instance where I have danced and not smiled while doing that. It is something that gives me internal happiness and satisfaction. Our mind is constantly talking to us. We hear a few things that it says to us and a few things remain unheard. How do we control our thoughts when it is constantly saying something or the other? Meditation helps people to gather their thoughts and hear what the voices in their head have to say. Dancing helps me to attract positivity in my life. As mentioned in the book The Secret, how you think attracts what happens with you in life. If you don’t like to meditate, I’d suggest you dance. You don’t need to be a good dancer. All you need to do is let yourself free and dance like no one’s watching. It will bring a new kind of energy in your life along with a lot of positivity. Dance works for me but it could be anything else for you. Talk to yourself in a day, be it via dancing, playing an instrument or simply playing a sport. Also, dance keeps me physically fit. When you exercise/ workout, you feel good about yourself. Doing something that makes you feel genuinely happy and lets you connect more with your inner self is very important to avoid the amount of stress and work pressure we deal with today.

Ma’am, you have worded this piece so beautifully and it made my day! It resonates completely with me. In fact, this was the very line that I quoted during my interview for SPJIMR. Dean Sir, took my interview and when he asked me to talk about my hobby and passion I told him “Dance is like meditation to me!”. He was intrigued by this answer and asked me to explain further. To put in simple words meditation is rest to the mind. For me meditation is disconnection from the world and connection with your inner self. For me, meditation is not sitting in a hall chanting OM, or closing my eyes to block thoughts and feel relaxed. Rather, it is Dance that is my cup of meditation. Dance gives this relaxing feeling to me. Being a trained classical dancer, I was always taught to connect to the theme of dance, feel the emotions and portray them. I get engrossed so much into the dance, and for those few moments I am in my dance world, completely cut off from external world. This is what meditation is for me! Free your mind and connect to your soul is the mantra that defines dance to me. During my formative years I was introduced to several forms of meditation. “Concentrate on that dot and let your thoughts flow” they said. Little did they knew that the thoughts flew in instead of flowing out. “Yoga connects to your soul and will help you relax” said another. Yoga helped me in concentrating but I got peace of mind only through DANCE! Not only dancing individually but even group dance worked. Whenever I meet my gang of friends we dance it out and everyone feels so revealed after that. During my hectic schedule, here at SPJIMR I somehow find few minutes at least twice a week for myself to meditate through dancing. I close my room and let dance get over me for those few minutes. It energizes me and is like sugar for the rest of the week! To test my theory, whenever I meet people I ask them about their beloved hobby and what keeps their mind uncluttered for at least a little while. And I have got similar responses; a friend who loves football says he gets the same feeling while scoring goals, even the smell of wet ground brings him peace, another friend loves to swim and goes dedicatedly to swim every morning to energize himself for the day. Ranjan sir had told us to find time for our self too in midst of the academics and extra-curricular, in our two-year journey and pursue a hobby, and now I exactly know why he had said this. I will continue this dancing hobby of mine and try and develop it even further during my college days at SPJIMR. In the same way, I would urge everyone to follow their passion and find their own CUP OF MEDITATION!

A very insightful blog ma’am, and so very pertinent in the context of an MBA college where students are under constant stress while juggling with multiple assignments, competitions and exams. Whilst finding the time to sit still and meditate doesn’t appeal to the majority of the youngsters who are so used to the constant running around, finding an activity which helps them leave the outside world of confusion and stress, find a sense of calmness from within and truly connect from within can work wonders. Whilst most people will grab the first moments of spare time they have to socialize and go out partying, it is of utmost importance to keep aside some time for yourself to connect from within and truly become aware of yourself. Even your hobbies can become your small getaways from the world. Take sports for example, whether it is playing basketball or going for a morning run, that adrenaline rush which you get from an exhaustive, extensive workout is unbeatable. High energy games like basketball which require constant attention on the ball are the best way to leave your worries behind and keep your focus solely on getting the ball in the hoop. All your body senses are heightened and your reflexes are at their quickest, sprinting your body into action and truly energizing it from within. The physical exhaustion you feel towards the end of the workout takes away entirely the mental exhaustion from a long, tiring day at work and makes you feel truly elated. Sitting long hours at work and mentally draining ourselves is more tiring for the body than actual physical exertion. Painting is also another beautiful way to detach yourself from the world and drown yourself in the vivid colours on the canvas. It’s the best way to let your imagination flow and get far away from the regular monotonous repetitions of the day. Watching the colours merge into each other brings a true satisfaction and is truly calming from within. It’s a real stress booster and that’s why adult colouring books are big thing nowadays. Moreover, putting down your ideas and thoughts on canvas feels like you are unburdening a lot of what was on your mind and it makes you feel a thousand times lighter mentally. Not to forget the delight and pride you feel to have actually created something which is a product of your own creativity and intellect, a master piece you can cherish. I think it’s important to spare an hour or two every day to disengage from the world and spend time with yourself, doing whatever it is that helps you relax, unravel and reenergize before stepping out to face the world again. It is important to be in touch with your own inner thoughts, and emotions before going out and making sense of the chaotic world out there. So find your own getaway meditating activity and end your day with a peaceful smile on your face.

Dear Ma’am, please allow me to thank you for such an enthralling article. I couldn’t agree more. The way you portrayed dance is no less than an art in itself. The delicacy with which you carved the feelings and emotions you go through when you dance speaks volumes about your love for it. Owing to the fact that I too am passionate about dancing, this article resonates beautifully with me. I felt as if your words were expressing my emotions. I was once asked by a close friend of mine that if I were to speak one line about dance then what would it be, and I said, “Dance is not a passion, it’s a religion.” As you mentioned in your blog that anytime is dance time, I would agree that they don’t need a dedicated time slot in one’s time-table since I believe dance is like an emotion, just as any other emotion such as joy, elation or sorrow and thus, it should flow as freely as wind. It should, in itself find a way into one’s life. There are moments in my life when I am extremely low – moments when I just want to isolate myself from the external world, moments when I start questioning everything, moments when I’m filled with negativity. In such moments, I close myself in a room, put on some slow music and I dance to the rhythm of the music. To be honest, I don’t even dance, I just let the music guide me and trust me, in no time I start feeling as if I’ve had a rebirth. I feel the negativity flowing out of my body with every single beat, with every single movement. I will always find myself losing out on words when I attempt to describe the ethereal beauty of dance. To extrapolate your idea of dancing being transformational, I’d say, dance is not something that drains one’s energy, but actually revitalizes him/her. During my undergraduates, my college did not have a dance club. By the time I was a sophomore, I had motivated enough people to start one in our college. I used to be extremely happy when someone asked me to teach them a dance step, but during the dance club sessions, I would always emphasize on the fact that steps are just ornaments, the core/body is the emotions. The moment you lose yourself to the music, to the rhythm, dance comes from within. You can only teach someone the steps, but not dancing. I strongly believe that dance is an innate quality that is present in every single one – probably that’s why they say, “Anybody can dance.” The ones whom we call good dancers are probably the ones who are good with steps/movements, but the emotions stay the same. Thus, just to put the two and two together, I would reiterate what you mentioned in your article that in the world that stops for nothing, dance can prove to be a way to cherish life. It not just alleviates sorrows but also elevates elation.

Thank you for the lovely write-up, ma’am. You have penned down a thought which resonates with that of many dance-lovers. When I was in class eight, I had a teacher of English who strongly believed in meditation. She would ask the students to meditate for five minutes before starting every class. While most of my classmates did it with conviction, I was not able to appreciate it. On the other hand, I have loved dancing since my early childhood. During my school days, I never missed out on an opportunity to perform on occasions like Independence Day. In fact, I would excuse myself for skipping a class or a test only when the reason was dance practice. I did not understand at that time that it was creating the same effect my English teacher used to talk about. As I grew older, I understood that dancing was my equivalent of meditation. After a long tired day at work, I used to listen to music as I walk from the bus stop to my home. Just a couple of minutes before I reach home, I used to pick a peppy number from my playlist and start listening to it. As soon as I enter my apartment, I start dancing my heart out. The duration used to vary, from 10 minutes to half an hour, but by the time I finish, I used to feel energized and rejuvenated. And this was my routine for more than a year. Those ten minutes of dancing relieved me from the worries about unfinished tasks, unsolved bugs, unstable mock CAT scores and uncertain future. There were times when I used to return home with my stomach growling with hunger, but I would still spend those ten minutes dancing before I rush to the kitchen to cook. Even in the course of a hectic MBA life, I find time to dance whenever possible and it helps me feel motivated and de-stressed. When you dance, it feels like the world has paused for a bit and the only thing which is happening right now is your body swaying like a boat in the sea. When you let your limbs move in the direction they want to, you feel liberated. You feel disconnected from reality and it makes you relaxed and calm. Sometimes I tend to put immense effort in certain activities, but still feel unsatisfied by the time I complete them. Surprisingly, a ten-minute impromptu dance, without any planning and without any practice makes me so contended that it makes my entire day happy. Dancing, according to me, creates a virtual world which is hard to describe in words. It is a world which cannot be engineered by any technology. One has to live in it to understand it.

Dear Ma’am, I really enjoyed reading this article. I loved the way how you linked dance and meditation. Mostly because I can relate to it. Oh no, I am not a Dancer, I am a dancer. I have not taken any training, nor do I practice it enough to be a professional dancer. I dance just to dance. Whenever I hear music playing, I start tapping my foot. I don’t care where I am, if I want to dance, I will dance. I have danced in a Starbucks, locked in my room, in the corridors of my Hostel or even inside SPJIMR classrooms post classes. The interesting part is I do it when I am high on energy, when I am happy or frustrated, when I am feeling anxious or sad. And I can very well relate it to meditation. Just as meditation helps us channel our energy and focus on breathing only, dance can help us do the same. Through physical activities like dance (and sports), we lose the excessive energy that we have in our body, we shed it out by moving our limbs or jumping or playing. And when it happens, we do not have a lot of energy left to digress from the task at hand. We are able to focus better on whatever we are doing. This is similar to what meditation does to us. I completely agree with you when you talk about management students facing a lot of stress and finding it difficult to manage it. It is because of a lot of time during a day goes to assignments and projects of which, we are not focused most of the time. If we incorporate physical activities like some sport or a dance session during our day, we just have enough energy left to focus on the task at hand. Here, an individual is not energized but becomes efficient. This efficiency at work is what comes across as being energized. Then, the point of stress management goes out of question as there is leisure becomes a part of the individual’s life, and one is spending less but quality time on things that invoke stress. But rather than making students attend a meditation or a dance session, institutes should incentivize such activities. These activities are not the same for all individuals but differ from person to person and everyone should have the option and time of indulging in one physical activity specific to one’s liking. It does not have to be dance or a gym, it can be a sport or just simply running. In that situation, a person does not care about the time of the day or the weather conditions, a person simply takes out the time for “meditation”. “Meditation” then, simply becomes an indispensable part of a person’s life. “Meditation” in its true sense is to be able to connect to your inner self, and if dance does that trick for you, then dance is “meditation”. You just have to identify the trick.

Beautiful article ma’am! Your point on dancing as form of meditation resonates with my idea of any art form as a source of inspiration, calm and joy. I enjoy singing and it gives me a feeling of bliss when I immerse myself into songs. Your article is very relateable to the feeling I experience with music and it feels inspiring to see similar feelings being shared by artists across domains. The manner in which you have portrayed the experience gives a rich taste of the emotions which an artist feels while performing her art, almost like a sacred ritual. The description of the instructor guiding the process of reaching a state of calm and in touch with oneself brings out a feeling of satisfaction and peace. You have mentioned the details of how each part of the body feels the rhythm of the song and flows with it while dancing. I experience a similar sensation in singing. The entire body aligns to the feelings of the protagonist of the song and the modulations in the throat act as a passage to express the emotions to the outside world. I no longer stay aware of my surroundings or the people around me but am in the situation of the protagonist. The environment, the people, the surroundings are overshadowed by the settings of the song. The emotions rise steadily and spread throughout the body reflecting on the face as the eyebrows stretch, the eyes narrow and an intense concentration sets in the throat. Next the melody hits the ears and the hands start conveying the emotions through varied movements. The sound serves as a reassurance of the spiritual world where everything is perfect and free from any stress. It helps the body to transcend into a higher state where it finds solace. I am intrigued by the section where you have mentioned how this solace from a dance form, or for that matter any art form, can help in contributing in our day to day lives, particularly in the life of MBA participants. As stated, the life of MBA participants remain quite hectic and we can also feel a high stress level during the course. While this is required in the course to be prepared for the future, pursuing a passion at such a time of life can indeed help in keeping the mind calm and in relaxing. This will eventually lead to better focus by relaxed minds and greater efficiency of most MBA students. There is a general opinion among MBA participants that time is elusive and pursuing a passion apart from academics might be a challenge. Participation in different cultural events across campus can provide such opportunities and formation of cultural clubs can help the students engage more into art, thereby releasing their stress and being more productive. Such meditative practices through art can go a long way in making the lives of MBA participants less stressful.

Comments: Meditation/ Passion - State of Awareness “A certain calmness takes over and I am completely steady and still for a while”: such a beautiful way of describing mental state! Thanks for an inspiring blog, Madam. I second your thought on the how meditation and passion are connected. The blog made me walk down memory lanes when I would try hard to meditate; sit still, close my eyes, concentrate on breathing and between two eyes; leave aside all thoughts coming to my mind and concentrate only on breathing. Alas! This would never extend beyond two minutes. And I thought, sitting still and concentrating only on breathing wasn’t my cup of tea. However, an article from the Times of India shown to me by a friend changed my understanding of meditation. The article mentioned about a group of doctors learning dance amidst their hectic schedule. The article also mentioned how these ‘dance sessions’ worked as a stress buster for them. ‘What is meditation?’, I thought. As rightly mentioned by you in the blog, Meditation is nothing but a state of awareness’. Your passion brings out a state of awareness. It makes you aware of your feelings. When I sing, I am aware of my body parts; of my thoughts; of my emotions; of my involvement in the Sur and of my breathing. According to me, meditation is not only about a state of peace for few minutes but your ability to be aware of the thoughts that come to you, park them aside for a while and not ponder over them. I also agree with your thoughts on students (especially Management students) not getting time to connect to the inner self. Management schools like ours, SPJIMR, work on this aspect as well and facilitate personal development of students. Courses and initiatives like Yoga, the PG Lab, Management: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow have surely made students introspect and increase self-awareness. However, during the 3 months in the Institute, I observed that the urge to introspect and the level of self-awareness also depends the personal life experiences of each student; few students would have had experiences which would have already made them connect to the inner self while few may not have thought about it before. I am sure all students of SPJIMR, who haven’t found their passion yet, will get inspired by your blog. I hope they find their passion or way of meditation and hence help connect with their inner selves.

A very nice article which I could immediately relate and would like to pen down by share of experiences. Meditation according to me is to control and able to disconnect your thought process. In today’s hectic, stressful and tech savy life its very difficult to have control on our thought process and achieve a peace of mind. Last 1 year has been a difficult phase of my life as I have gone in depression/aggression mode due to some personal incident which has affected me badly. It’s very hard to forget and forgive. It keeps on reminding me of the same in whatever activities I do. I was not able to enjoy the good things which struck me in last 1 year. This took a toll on my mental wellbeing and harmony. Later I decided to channelize my thought in activities which will help me control my thought process. I started doing Yoga, meditation, walk, exercising and listening to music. Which has helped me to divert my thought and bring inner peace. This has greatly helped me to dispose off my negative thoughts and aggression for time being and bring the peace within. Your article stuck me because, my three year old daughter is very much into dancing and will always insist me to dance with her once I come home exhausted from office. I am forced to accompany her for 5 – 10 mins but those 10 Mins are so much fun that acts like an energy boosters which will take away all my days stress and will make me feel refreshed and rejuvenated for hours together. So this has become a practice and I have started to enjoy the feeling. Also it’s a good form of exercise to burn fat collected from entire days of desk job. Also one similar instance I remember from by sister’s wedding, one of my close relative, whom we considered to be introvert and docile for years, when was insisted to dance, she danced like a small child by letting all her feeling come out which were kept inside for may be many years. It was well appreciated and accepted. Later we could find a change in her personality and later she become very talkative and expressive which was not a case earlier. The article was actually thought provoking, as I feel instead of suppressing the feelings, we should let our feeling come out in a subtle way and help us to feel better from within. Music along with dance will have a union of body and mind and will help to disconnect your thought process and give a sense of disconnect from the present which is very important in our stressful life. Also there is a hidden child in all of us, which should come out tearing apart our egos, esteem, self-respect, image and spend some quality time with oneself. I am going to put on my dancing shoes in my daily routine and share my experience with you shortly. God give my family strength to see my disastrous dance moves!!! The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.

An amazing article Ma’am. I connected to this article the instant I saw it. Dance helps me find my inner peace. I am a trained ‘Bharatnatyam’ dancer and every time I perform I find myself in a completely different space. According to the Hindu tradition the name of this dance form was derived by joining two words, ‘Bharata’ and ‘Natyam’ where ‘Natyam’ in Sanskrit means ‘bhava’, emotions and feelings, ‘raga’ is melody and ‘tala’ is rhythm. Precisely ‘Bharatnatyam’ is dancing to the rhythm depicting emotions. Every ‘Bharatnatyam’ performance tries to tell the story and the performer is the story teller. She recites the story with her expressions. Whenever I perform, I do not need any additional effort to bring those expressions on my face. It happens so naturally the moment I am in synchronization with the ‘raga’ and ‘tala’. The performance starts and ends with a ‘namaskar’ which is typically for taking the blessings from mother Earth and asking for her permission to dance. Once the performance starts the eyes move in the direction of the movement of my hands. The face expressions emote a story. It seems so effortless. Dance has always been my passion. It makes me happy. It lights up my mood and it’s a perfect stress buster amidst our busy schedule. Dance has also helped me improve my concentration and yes, it is also a good source of exercise. The one extraordinary part of ‘Bharatnatyam’ is that it helps exercising each and every part of your body. Starting with the eyes, the eyes move in the direction of the hands. Then the hands, it has to be maintained in a particular form thus exercising your arms and shoulders. Then of course your legs, a posture has to be maintained throughout the performance. I have been dancing since I was seven years old and it is something which has never left me and it is part of who I am today. I can never say no to dancing and it will continue to stay with me always.

I found this article fascinating and I could relate much of the content to my life as well. The thought of analogizing dance to meditation is put forward beautifully in this article. What would have been better if one could able to attain solitude and peace of mind through an activity one likes rather than meditating just because that has been the long followed norm among the masses. It would not be wrong to say that one’s pathway to serenity can be channelized through any activity one loves in doing and which gives him the utmost satisfaction. I got introduced to dance by accident when my name was suggested for group dance at my workplace. I was skeptical at the beginning, but as the time progressed, it became an integral part of my life. Dance has brought me a different identity and helped me gain confidence. Very rightly said by an Austrian author, Vicki Baum, that, “There are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one of them.” Even after a hectic day in office when your body is tired, it’s the craving for sense of fulfilment that drove me towards dance. It helped me to gain insights on my unexplored attributes and generate a consciousness of my own worth. It is now 3 years that I part away with dance due to various commitments in my personal life and sometimes it feels like there is a void. The life of a management student is so fast paced that one could hardly able to follow any routine and with every additional subject, stress starts to build up. The students hardly get enough time to sleep so there is no question of separate time for meditation. But you can dance anytime, alone or in a group which could help you cut off from all the worries and freshen up your mind. If I say in technical terms, the old cache has to be cleaned in order to improve the performance of the system. Also we cannot undermine the physical benefits that dance brings. It helps you to lose weight, increase your endurance and fitness and increase your physical confidence. After reading this article, I feel like I can make some steady time for myself to follow my lost passion which would help me rejuvenate my enthusiasm to be healthier and enjoy my student life to the fullest. I cannot wait to put my dancing boots on again and rock the dance floor.

I found this article fascinating and I could relate much of the content to my life as well. The thought of analogizing dance to meditation is put forward beautifully in this article. What would have been better if one could able to attain solitude and peace of mind through an activity one likes rather than meditating just because that has been the long followed norm among the masses. It would not be wrong to say that one’s pathway to serenity can be channelized through any activity one loves in doing and which gives him the utmost satisfaction. I got introduced to dance by accident when my name was suggested for group dance at my workplace. I was skeptical at the beginning, but as the time progressed, it became an integral part of my life. Dance has brought me a different identity and helped me gain confidence. Very rightly said by an Austrian author, Vicki Baum, that, “There are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one of them.” Even after a hectic day in office when your body is tired, it’s the craving for sense of fulfilment that drove me towards dance. It helped me to gain insights on my unexplored attributes and generate a consciousness of my own worth. It is now 3 years that I part away with dance due to various commitments in my personal life and sometimes it feels like there is a void. The life of a management student is so fast paced that one could hardly able to follow any routine and with every additional subject, stress starts to build up. The students hardly get enough time to sleep so there is no question of separate time for meditation. But you can dance anytime, alone or in a group which could help you cut off from all the worries and freshen up your mind. If I say in technical terms, the old cache has to be cleaned in order to improve the performance of the system. Also we cannot undermine the physical benefits that dance brings. It helps you to lose weight, increase your endurance and fitness and increase your physical confidence. After reading this article, I feel like I can make some steady time for myself to follow my lost passion which would help me rejuvenate my enthusiasm to be healthier and enjoy my student life to the fullest. I cannot wait to put my dancing boots on again and rock the dance floor.

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body” -Martha Graham It was one of those days which make everything tough for you to bear, and you keep praying that the day passes by faster. I could not even concentrate on my work due to so many things running in my mind. And suddenly, some unexpected music started blowing loud within the office space. No, I am sure no one’s mobile rings that loud. And before the mind can even scan for further options, and look around for probable cause, there were a bunch of people seem to rushing through the passage. To the utmost surprise, they were known faces from our own department, but wearing weird headgear. The later entry were done with even more colorful unlikely to be seen attire, and boom...The climax was when they all started dancing to a happy go mood song. Everything was so spontaneous, that it didn’t allow you to even think much, and the dancers intruded into the work spaces, holding our hands and dragging us to the hip shake. No, I am not a good dancer; I am surely not going to participate. But look at Mrs. Iyer, my goodness. She is in her late 50’s, but she too raised her hands, and imitated some portions of the move. Oh, that’s our CEO, joining the crowd by clapping hands. And there are others too. Those are the moments, when group behavior dominates all your conscious, and let loose, just dance. I had no further hesitation, as I folded my shirt, loosened the tie knot and I am there. I had no clue the steps I made, unless I saw the video recording later. It continued for total 15 minutes, when everyone ended with a fox howling and whistle. I realised the sweat tickling my neck as it rolled down. I heard me breathing, felt the ribs expand while gasping for breath. Had a sip of water, and then I looked at everyone and gave a big smile of contentment. And then, I realized, that’s the first time of the day that I have smiled. Many like me were still curious, what’s this all about. “Friends, we have successfully completed 20 years of service today. It has been a great journey to have you around, and hence, on behalf of the entire management, I thank each one of you for your valuable contribution”-clears our CEO. Huge round of applause, and slowly everyone gets back to their seat, still giggling, mimicking others moves a bit. I got back exactly where I had left. Soon I realized, that the work flow paced up with quick legitimate solutions. At the end of the day, I summarized the two parts of the day spent, with the dance in between. The productivity ratio was alarming. I pondered, and the only bliss I can relate is the Dance. Indeed...it was nothing less to meditation.