The Body as a Voice

 Movement as Medicine

In my opinion, the most powerful ways to express ourselves are through art, language, and of course, the body. This time, I want to talk about something I’ve never really explored before: dance and body language as forms of self-expression.

I was never seriously into dancing until this year, although I’ve always found it beautiful and captivating. Recently, I started exploring different dance styles, mainly Latin dances like bachata and salsa, and later on, belly dance. Besides being an amazing cardio workout, dancing has become a way for me to release stress and let go of negativity.

I’m still just a beginner, maybe even below average. Maybe I lack rhythm, or maybe it’s something else, but I keep trying. And little by little, it’s getting better, and I’m starting to enjoy it more. I’ve stopped focusing on whether I’m doing it perfectly and started focusing on how it makes me feel.

Take salsa, for example. It’s such an impulsive, high-energy dance. It’s impossible to feel sad or heavy after thirty minutes of dancing salsa. That’s exactly why I love it. It fills you with life.

“The body says what words cannot.” – Martha Graham

Then there’s belly dance. Unfortunately, social media has led many people to see it purely as something sexual. But historically, belly dance wasn’t performed for male audiences or male attention. It was originally danced by women, for women, as a celebration of femininity, not a performance for the male gaze. That’s something important to recognize.

I still get shy when it comes to dancing in public. There’s a small part of me that holds back, worried about how it might look or if I’m doing it “right.” But I hope that will change with time. And luckily, not all dancing needs an audience. There’s also that completely free kind of dancing — the one you do when you're just insanely happy, you blast your favorite song, and you move without thinking about the next step. No choreography, no pressure, just pure joy. That kind of dance might be the most honest one of all.

Each type of dance brings out a different part of you. Maybe it’s your femininity or masculinity, maybe elegance, passion, or simply a sense of freedom in movement. There are thousands of dance styles around the world, yet in recent decades, we’ve slowly forgotten about them in our fast-paced lives.

But go back just a hundred years, and you’ll find that dancing was part of everyday culture. People knew how to dance, whether it was the waltz or a local folk dance, and that was considered a basic part of one’s upbringing.

What I’ve learned through dance is that the body has its own language, completely separate from words. Some days, I don’t feel like talking or explaining how I feel, and in those moments, movement becomes my voice. A simple step, a turn, or a sway of the hips can say more than a sentence ever could.

There are days when I feel stiff, disconnected from myself, and dancing brings me back. Not because I look graceful or technically correct, but because I let myself move without judgment. That’s where the magic is. It’s not in performing, but in being present with your body.

Dancing alone in my room or in a class full of people — it doesn’t matter. It’s the inner experience that stays with me. And even though I still feel clumsy or unsure at times, I’ve stopped seeing that as a flaw. It’s part of the process. It’s human.

Each time I dance, I feel like I’m meeting a different version of myself. The joyful one, the vulnerable one, the wild one. And I think that’s something everyone should get the chance to experience.

So if you’ve ever thought, “I’m not a dancer,” I want to gently challenge that thought. You don’t need training, talent, or rhythm. You just need to let your body move. Start small, start awkward. But start. Because there’s a kind of freedom waiting for you on the other side of movement, a version of yourself that words alone could never express.

Nena

“When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you.”

Paulo Coelho