Dancing Into Emotional Wellbeing: A Year of Living Well-ishly Begins
Discover the science-backed emotional benefits of dance and join Claire’s “Year of Living Well-ishly” — a playful, accessible journey into movement, connection, and micro-adventures in wellbeing.
When was the last time you truly moved — not just walked or exercised, but swayed, spun, or laughed your way across a room?
For me, it was at a Friday morning disco class. I showed up, a little nervous, wearing all black but with bright turquoise trainers — a quiet nod to that day’s theme. My body, after a couple of midlife years of feeling rigid and cautious, was ready (though uncertain) to wake up again.
That class, led by the radiant Cheryl Sprinkler, became more than just a workout. It became a micro-adventure into reconnecting with my body, my emotions, and my life — and a surprising beginning to the year-long experiment I’m calling A Year of Living Well-ishly.
This month, we’re focusing on how our bodies might be speaking to us — and how we can learn to listen. One powerful way to start? Dance.
Why Dance? The Science Behind the Joy
Dance isn’t just fun; it offers a range of benefits for our emotional wellbeing. Here’s why moving to music can transform not only your body but also your mood and mind:
Emotional Regulation & Mood
Mood Lift & Stress Relief
Dancing to your favourite tunes releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin — the “feel good” chemicals that lift your spirits. Research shows that even a short dance session reduces stress, lowers cortisol, and boosts mood.
Processing Difficult Emotions
Sometimes, words just aren’t enough. Dance gives us a non-verbal way to express feelings like grief, frustration, or joy, helping us process what’s been sitting unspoken in our bodies.
Combating Depression & Anxiety
Structured dance programmes (even as short as six weeks) have been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety — sometimes even outperforming other forms of exercise in emotional benefits.
Embracing Yourself: Confidence, Growth & Body Positivity
Boosting Self-Esteem
Learning a new move or simply letting go in a dance class offers a real sense of achievement, building confidence and emotional resilience.
Body Acceptance
Dance encourages us to notice what our bodies can do, rather than focusing on how they look. Moving freely fosters self-compassion and a healthier body image — especially important for those in midlife navigating shifts and changes.
Resilience Through Movement
By reconnecting with your body, reducing stress, and staying present, dance helps you better manage life’s challenges and bounce back from emotional setbacks.
The Power of Connection: Dancing Together
While dance can be deeply personal, it’s also beautifully communal.
Belonging & Community
Dancing in a group — whether in a church hall, at a party, or even a Zoom class — creates a shared rhythm, a sense of togetherness that fights isolation and fosters connection.
Shared Joy & Laughter
In that Friday disco class, it wasn’t just the music or the moves; it was the glances between women, the laughter when someone went right instead of left, the quiet understanding that we were all there for something bigger.
Your Invitation: Join Me on This Well-ish Journey
This year, I’ll be sharing weekly (or so) micro-adventures — small but powerful experiments in feeling better, reconnecting with ourselves, and making wellbeing more playful and accessible.
This month’s theme: How are you listening to your body?
This week’s invitation: Try dancing — wherever and however you like. Take a class, dance in your kitchen, or just put on a song that makes your shoulders shimmy. To read more about how why I’m starting out with dancing click here.
Let’s do this together. Share your stories on Substack or socials, tell me what music moves you, and let’s build a community of women exploring what wellbeing means for each of us — imperfectly, joyfully, together.
Want extra support? Join The Wellery and join one of our two Co-Wells where we explore these themes in community.
Daybreakers
Daybreaker is a global community hosting early-morning dance parties and wellness experiences focused on joy, connection, and conscious movement. With events in iconic spaces—from museums to rooftops—it offers a fresh, fun way to connect mind and body.
Perfect For
Anyone who wants to move their body, feel amazing, and start their day with a serious spark of joy. Ideal for people craving connection, ritual, and something different before 9am.
Why You’ll Love It
What if your morning started with a DJ set, a dance floor, and a room full of strangers moving like no one’s watching—completely sober?
Welcome to Daybreaker: a global movement that turns wellness on its head.
Equal parts early-morning rave, mindful movement practice, and joy experiment, Daybreaker events are designed to wake up your body, uplift your spirit, and reconnect you with fun.
What Makes It Special
Sober, high-vibe dance parties – No alcohol, no late nights—just sunrise dancing in iconic locations, from rooftops to museums.
Movement: Without the pressure to get it right or look good while doing so.
Community without dressing up– No velvet ropes, no staying awake beyond 9pm—just people who are there to feel good and connect.
The Story Behind It
Founded by Radha Agrawal in 2013, Daybreaker was born out of a desire for joyful connection and conscious community.
Radha, frustrated with traditional nightlife and craving something deeper, imagined a new way to gather: one rooted in wellness, intention, and playfulness.
What began as a 6am rooftop party in NYC has now grown into a global movement across 30+ cities—and counting.
Something Else We Love
We love how Daybreaker’s heart-led energy doesn’t stop at the dance floor—through its sister platform, the Belong Center, it’s creating deeper spaces for connection.
With courses, community gatherings, and creative initiatives like Belong Circles and Belong Benches, it’s all about helping people feel seen, supported, and part of something bigger.
The If Lost Take
We love Daybreaker because it reminds us that joy is a wellbeing practice. That dance floors can be about more than sticky surfaces. That community can be felt in a great song to dance to.
This is movement as a medium for joy, self-care as something done together and mornings reimagined as about more play rather than more productivity.
Kelechnekoff Studio
A pole-dance studio that has diversity at its core that’s changing the shape of the wellness industry.
Nigerian-born Londoner Kelechi Okafor (recently named a Wellness Visionary to watch by Vogue) opened her pole-fitness and twerk studio space in 2016 to offer a more diverse space for women to get into their bodies and a more authentic approach to the dance styles that she teaches. Kelechnekoff Studio has since become a place of welcome to all, irrespective of body shape, ability, or background, restoring confidence to women who have been told one story of how they should look, and kindness in an industry that can seem anything but compassionate. Here the studio tells us more about their approach:
What is it? Kelechnekoff Studio is a pole dance studio in Peckham that offers classes of different levels, as well as classes in yoga, Wing Chun self defence, and handstands and flexibility.
Why do people need it? Kelechnekoff Studio is a place for all bodies to explore different types of fitness that have the power to make them feel sexy, powerful and confident. The space was started at a time when in the UK there were few fitness spaces that had inclusivity at their core and hardly any Black-owned pole dance studios.
What do you offer? The studio offers a range of pole dance classes — that include spinning pole, sexy pole, pole flow, pole dance inverts and climbs — from absolute beginners to intermediate levels. There are also sessions in Wing Chun self-defence, yoga flow, vinyasa yoga, and handstands and flexibility.
What makes it different? Our studio is based in the heart of Peckham and honours the origins of the dance styles we teach. Kindness and how people feel in their bodies are more important than appearance to us. We also strive to keep our classes as affordable as possible and create a caring community within our studio.
What do people need to know? We have classes every day of the week and even offer pole hire sessions for £5 during the week. In addition to this, you can buy a party package and have a pole dance or twerk party with us!
Tell us a little about your story: Our studio founder Kelechi Okafor is a trailblazer; she is an actress, personal trainer, pole instructor, director, author, and award-winning podcaster. Kelechi opened her studio in September 2016 to create a space for those who are often erased from mainstream fitness culture. These classes aim to nurture the relationship between mind and body and to be a safer space for people to enjoy fitness whilst exploring their sensuality with guidance and without judgment.
Kelechnekoff Studio Peckham
Sojourner Truth Centre
161 Sumner Road
London, SE15 6JL
Contact: info@kelechnekoff.com
The Centre de Danse du Marais
When you step off Rue du Temple, under the arches, and down the cobbled path to the central courtyard, known as “la coeur”, the heart of the Centre, you can feel the significance of this sacred space.
Steal away from the hustle and bustle of Paris to one of the city’s finest gems, a refuge that is only steps from the popular Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement: The Centre de Danse du Marais, a mecca for dance.
Many types of classes and workshops are offered daily to people of all ages and abilities, including yoga, music, and other performing arts, but dance is the focus, and classes are available to fit any skill level, from beginner to professional.
When you step off Rue du Temple, under the arches, and down the cobbled path to the central courtyard, known as “la coeur”, the heart of the Centre, you can feel the significance of this sacred space. The beautiful old classic stone structure houses many uniquely shaped studios, each with its own personality and named for famous composers, like Debussy, Chopin, and Beethoven.
Magic is created every day here: Magic in the way that the light flows through the window into the room; magic in the way the floor creaks when embodied dancers move across it; magic in the way the drums make the sacred walls vibrate; magic in the way the vibration overflows, spilling into the courtyard, filling “the heart” with rhythms of the soul, rhythms that can be understood in all languages.
Studies have proven that dance is one of the best forms of exercise for health, wellbeing and longevity. It improves memory, balance, depression, anxiety, weight loss, sleep, sex, youthfulness, and overall happiness. But you don’t need studies to encourage you to dance. We’re betting that the smile on your face while you’re dancing will be evidence enough.
So do yourself a favor: Wherever you are in the world, find a way to dance! Try a few different styles and teachers. See what you like. Be open. Be vulnerable. Go for it.
But if you find yourself in Paris, you simply MUST visit the Centre de Danse du Marais. Yes, there’s the Eiffel Towel and the Louvre, but there’s this too. And where your body, your life, your sense of self is concerned, you will not regret an afternoon spent dancing here.
To find out more: website www.centrededansedumarais.fr / Instagram @centredansemarais / Facebook @centre.de.danse.du.marais