I Just Can't Stop Dancing!

By Stiles Bingham

The immune system, unlike the circulatory system, has no pumping system. The only way the immune system circulates its lymphatic fluids to all the body is by movement and activity. The lymph vessels and lymph nodes are mostly located around the arms, armpit area, the hips and what is usually called the groin area. We have all heard about the need for exercise, but this brings in another reason to MOVE YOUR BODY.

When I heard this I got a flash of understanding. The best and most joyous movement I've found is dancing ecstatically. The movements are all to do with the arms, armpit area, the hips and the groin. Is this why I have been so healthy for the last thirty or so years? I began dancing freely to my favorite music until I felt that my body was actually directing my moves and working out tension and kinks by itself. All I had to do was, as the Jefferson Airplane said in one of their songs "Come ride the music." Is this the ancient body wisdom beyond the mind that my favorite mystic talked about? A resounding YES echoed in my higher self-being. Why, although I've done quite a bit of it, should I bite the bitter bullet and do repetitive exercise programs when I get better results dancing like a wild dervish! Not to mention the endorphin release that comes after about twenty minutes of aerobic movement. And who am "I" to tell my body just how to move when if "I" just stand aside and let the body go, I get a feeling that I just had a massage and a hot tub?

Dance was originally a healing ritual in countless ancient human communities. There are a few remaining. Some of the youth, thankfully, are spearheading a renaissance in healing, joyful, ecstatic dance, circulating their lymphatic/immune system and just dancing for the fun of it. The only two rules are: 1. Don't talk on the dance floor. 2. Dance any way you wish.

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