I believe ballroom dancing can have a tremendous effect on your life.  The benefits go on and on, however, in my mind there are a few that stand out.  These are the ones that will convince you that learning to dance is more than just fun.  Not only does it make a difference in how you see yourself, but also how you perceive your place in the universe.  I know, that’s heavy stuff, but it’s true. So, if you suffer from low self-esteem or self-confidence, please read on and consider learning to dance.

Self-Esteem vs Self-Confidence

Self-Esteem

How you feel about yourself is defined as self-esteem. The shape it takes is based on events and people from early childhood and beyond. If you were told you’d never be any good at sports or other physical activities, you may actually believe it and avoid them like the plague. You’d probably feel inadequate and like someone who doesn’t deserve love and success. That’s your low self-esteem talking. Negative beliefs don’t come from nowhere; they come from careless remarks and attitudes of the people around you.

Self-Confidence

Self-confidence can be general or specific to abilities you’ve developed over time. For example, you may feel very confident about your understanding of what it takes to produce veggies in your garden. You’ve done it lots of times and you love being successful every year. But, when it comes to enjoying yourself at a social event, it’s another story. You tend to make yourself small and hide out in a corner. Because you haven’t mastered the art of being a social butterfly, your self-confidence is in the dumps.

Feeling pretty good about yourself and your accomplishments is a good thing. On the other hand, low self-esteem or self-confidence is a problem.

Once again, ballroom dancing to the rescue!

Sometimes you just kind of fall into ballroom, club/latin, or country dancing. For whatever reason, you tried it and you liked it. Welcome to our world. That said, your low self-esteem or self-confidence may be keeping you from even trying it. But, with all the good that can come of it, that would be a mistake.

Here’s why you need to learn to dance if you have self-esteem or self-confidence issues:

• Challenge yourself. Set a goal of learning to ballroom dance. Who doesn’t want to be more fit, look better, and have a great time while learning a handy new skill like partner dancing?
• This next step is important. Be sure to learn everything you can about what goes into developing your dancing so you can reach that goal. That means you need to find the right person to help you. It must be someone who can clearly explain and direct the challenge. Here’s a Dance Safari post that will help, “A Great Ballroom Dance Teacher is a Gem!“
• Embrace the journey. Don’t be in a rush. Setting goals and following through with them is key to increasing self-esteem (how you see yourself) and self-confidence (pride in your abilities and accomplishments).

It seems like ballroom dancing is good for whatever ails you. If you think you can’t learn, you’re wrong. As a matter of fact, everyone can learn to dance. Give yourself a chance to build up your self-esteem and self-confidence by joining the ballroom dance community. You’ll have plenty of friends who can tell you what it did for them.