ABUN-DANCE of ENERGY, JOY, ZEST FOR LIFE, BEAUTY, MUSCULAR FULLNESS, VERVE.

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Why does that vanish as we age? These pages will chronicle my search for answers.

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I remember growing up in a small three bedroom house packed with six sisters and a few cousins.

 

It was pretty crowded but I always seemed to feel alone as a kid in this crowded house.

 

On weekend evenings, as darkness slowly descended and our wood floor reflected light from incandescent bulbs overhead, my sisters and I danced to music played on an old record player my dad brought back home from Hawaii.

 

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I could still feel the smooth wood under my bare feet as I danced.

 

And just like that joy, gratitude, energy and a feeling of oneness with the universe replaced the  pervasive feeling that I was alone.

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I felt I was surrounded by people I loved and who loved me as we all moved to music that seemed to hold us together and removed barriers.

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It seemed like heaven on earth.

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Like having your cake and eating it, too. 

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Pure ecstacy for a five year old. 

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And then slowly my older sisters moved out to work elsewhere after graduation. And the weekend dancing stopped.

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My parents had given in to exhaustion in midlife. 

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The church I attended frowned on dancing. It seemed sinful to express joy through movement to music.

 

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I stopped dancing. 

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The emotional funk of midlife made me wonder if there was something in my youth that I could recover.

  

I read this somewhere: "There are many shortcuts to happiness. Dancing is one of them." (Vicky Baum)

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I decided to incorporate dancing to my daily to-do list and found I had reclaimed some of that abun-dance!  

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 If you are in midlife and looking for a shortcut to happiness and more energy, watch the video below: 

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The young Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist, originally wanted to be a performer - a Broadway star.

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She came from a polite Japanese American family and becoming a performer on Broadway was a far fetched idea to her family.

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A freshman seminar class in UC Berkeley "The Brain and Its Potential" by Dr. Marian Diamond fascinated Wendy and convinced her to study the brain.

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Wendy realized she had gained a lot of weight and had no social life as she spent most of her time in the lab studying the brain.

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To solve her weight issue, Wendy enrolled in an exercise class that combined dance, martial arts, and positive verbal expression.

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She discovered a new sense of happiness as she lost weight and gained a new sense of self and friends through this exercise class.

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Her lab work now focused on the relationship of physical exercise to mental and emotional health

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Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist and certified physical trainer, can say for sure - physical activity works to lift your mood.

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More than that, regular exercise -- such as dancing or moving to music -- has brain changing benefits and may prevent or delay dementia and keep the brain alert, active and engaged.

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Dance displays our state of health, vitality, level of energy and happiness.

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Dance also serves as a great way to restore youthful energy, health, vitality and happiness.

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We are more able to work toward our dreams and goals when we are energetic in body and mind.

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When things look bleak and you feel like there is nothing to celebrate, moving to your favorite music could help you get your groove back.  

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Are other secrets to recovering more energy - more abun-dance?

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You bet. 

Here are a few more keys to help you unlock abun-dance.

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(NOTE: keys are usually in blue underlined text. Clicking on the blue underlined text or text in blue ribbons will lead to new pages or open a new window to another website).