Is Salsa Dancing Hurting Or Helping Your Life And Relationships?
In the last five years, the number of salsa dancers has literally exploded. This exciting dance form has become increasingly popular in the United States and all over the world.
For good reason, salsa dancing has captured the souls of many people who have tried it. It is exciting, great exercise, a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people. The music is captivating and the sounds can literally take you to a whole other world.
The first time I went to a big salsa event, I was absolutely amazed. It was at a San Francisco salsa congress in 2005. Before that event I had never really been to a big salsa event or seen world-class salsa dancers. I still remember the feeling of entering the large hotel conference hall decorated to suit the mood of the occasion. The lights were dimmed, thousands of dancers all dressed their best, and the orchestra playing great salsa tunes.
I felt an amazing surge of energy and clarity, just like a real high. I felt so alive. I spotted a corner where some of the most amazing dancers in the world had come to show off their unbelievable skills. These couples were dancing beautifully and effortlessly together. It was like amazing art was being created on the spot. I felt as if I had been transported to some magical place.
If you are a salsa dancer and you have gone to a big event, I am sure you can identify with my experience. If you have not, even if you are not a fan of dancing, make sure to attend a big salsa dance event sometime before you die. You will be amazed. Guaranteed.
Ever since that date, I have been an avid salsa dancer and promoter. However, as you know, everything too good to be true usually also has a down side. Many of us dancers often joke about Salsa dancing being addictive, and the truth is that it can be. And like with any addiction there can be negative affects on other aspects of your life if you are not careful. Allow me to explain.
When we go salsa dancing, a brain chemical called dopamine is stimulated. Dopamine gives us pleasure, motivation, and a sense of purpose. Dopamine is stimulated whenever something new, exciting, and different happens, like exciting salsa music or dancing with different partners every few minutes. Both men and women enjoy the stimulation of this brain chemical, but men generally have less dopamine in their bodies than women do, as women’s brains store and produce dopamine faster than men’s brains do.
This is why generally it is men who are more prone to become addicted to dopamine-induced behaviors such as racing with mountain bikes, excess running, working, using alcohol, or in its extreme version, even using cocaine (a massive dopamine producing drug).
Women can also become addicted to dopamine-producing activities, especially those involving all forms of exercise. When exercise is done past a certain pain threshold, our bodies will produce endorphins to make us feel good.
Salsa dancing is also a powerful way of stimulating the brain chemical serotonin, particularly for women. Serotonin is responsible for making you feel happy and relaxed. Serotonin is stimulated through any cooperative behavior like talking and sharing with friends while waiting to dance in a relaxed and non-pressured environment.
Since women’s brains store and produce less serotonin than men’s do, it is often women who are more prone to become addicted to serotonin-producing behaviors such as overeating, excessive talking or gossiping, or use of anti-depressant drugs as a relief and as a way of producing this brain chemical.
Testosterone, the male hormone, helps men cope with stress and is also stimulated through salsa dancing. When men feel confident and in control, as when they lead on a dance floor, massive amounts of testosterone are being stimulated. Research clearly shows that testosterone lowers men’s stress when measured by the drop in their cortisol levels.
Now hang in there, I know this is a lot of technical information, but I will soon make my point. I just want to cover all of the benefits of salsa dancing first.
Also, the hormone responsible for lowering stress in women when measured by levels of cortisol is called oxytocin and is also stimulated through salsa dancing. As the woman is able to relax into the confident arms of a leader, massive amounts of oxytocin are being created. Other times when oxytocin is being stimulated is when you are holding a baby, sharing talk with a friend, or being intimate with your partner.
In addition to these benefits, both music and exercise are in and of themselves very powerful ways of producing healthy brain chemicals to make us feel good. In fact, studies show that just 30 minutes of exercise twice a week can be a much more effective treatment for depression than any anti-depressant drug.
The point here is that salsa dancing can truly be the ultimate cocktail for generating a natural high for both men and women.
And if you add to this mix a couple of cups of coffee, a glass of alcohol, or an energy drink, the effects are just like those of a powerful drug.
So what is the problem, you may ask? So far so good, right? Well, maybe not.
During the night of dancing, when you hear loud salsa music over an extended period of time, something happens in your brain. In fact, your brain will get over-stimulated. As your brain cells gets too excited some of them actually begin to die. Your brain is doing this to protect itself from too much stimulation. It will then send a message to the dopamine pleasure sites to lower them in order to protect its cells from further dying out.
These “pleasure sites” are called receptor sites. The consequence of lowering your receptor sites is that the next day after the party your life will feel flat and less exciting. Normal routine now seems simply boring.
This is part of life. There is really nothing dangerous about this process. Life has natural highs and lows. If you allow your brain to rest for a week or two after excessive stimulation, your brain will naturally and automatically begin to gradually raise these receptor sites back up again.
However, the problem begins when any addictive behavior is done in excess. When the brain is constantly over-stimulated, it will slowly begin to adjust its dopamine receptor sites to a lower degree. In its extreme form, this can result in Parkinson’s disease.
In salsa dancer terms this means that if you go dancing again the next night, at some point you will feel like you need even more stimulation to bring you to the same high as before. And over time you may build a tolerance to this dancing and find that even an exciting salsa event won’t bring you the same excitement that it used to.
The problem with all of this in terms of your relationship is that normal things that excite most other people with healthy brain functioning simply may not excite you anymore.
After an exciting night of salsa dancing, normal life and everyday relationships may bore you. For example, when your girlfriend or wife gets a new haircut you may hardly even notice, or when your boyfriend or husband asks you out for dinner, you just don’t find that exciting anymore. In other words, your relationships may start to suffer.
So, while salsa dancing is a fantastic way to meet new people, to rekindle your romance, to exercise, and to stimulate feel-good hormones, unfortunately the only problem with it is, as the old saying goes, that too much of a good thing can actually be harmful. So even salsa dancing, when done in excess, can have harmful consequences. If you are that type of dancer and feel like your normal life has become bland, now you know why.
With this understanding and awareness you can now make different choices.
And to make things better, in this case, it may be as simple as taking a short rest from salsa dancing, as painful as that may sound to many of us dancers.☺ Also, the better your diet and the healthier your lifestyle, the faster you can assist your brain to recover from any excess stimulation.
By resting your brain, you will give it a chance to raise its receptor sites again to healthy levels. And if you are feeling bored with your life or with your partner, resting your brain can also gradually recreate that interest. As an additional benefit, when you go dancing again, you will be able to feel the natural excitement and high of salsa that you felt at the beginning.
Wishing you all the best with your relationships, and maybe I’ll see you soon on the dance floor,
Mikko Kemppe
