| Who hasn't experienced the feeling of being unsure | | | | act. It relaxes you. |
| of themselves now and then? I don't care if you are | | | | Don't see the connection between dancing and social |
| the most self-assured, vivacious, outgoing, and | | | | ease? Let me explain. Knowing how to dance is much |
| confident person that ever lived, chances are, you | | | | more than just knowing dance steps. It is knowing |
| have felt out of place, or unsure of yourself at some | | | | how to ask for a dance, how to accept, or decline. It |
| point in your life. For most of us, this is a pretty | | | | is knowing how to touch another person in a |
| common feeling when we are placed in a situation we | | | | respectful way. It is knowing how to read another's |
| don't know much about, like going to a party where | | | | body language, how to make them comfortable, how |
| we don't know anyone, besides maybe the person | | | | to control your own body. It is being more aware of |
| who invited us. Most of the time, most people just | | | | another person than we are normally aware of the |
| make up an excuse for not going. Babysitters cancel, | | | | people around us. |
| cars break down, non-existing relatives come into | | | | Learning to dance is not a quick fix for shyness. It will |
| town, or need urgent hospital care... We've all used | | | | bring out a different side of you, a side that will allow |
| these before. I have personally hospitalized enough | | | | you to become more of a person you've always |
| made-up aunts and uncles to start a baseball team. | | | | wanted to be. I am still a naturally shy person, and I |
| I finally stopped refusing such invitations and enjoying | | | | still prefer spending a long evening with a couple of |
| myself much more, when I learned how to dance | | | | very good friends to going to a crowded party. Only |
| socially. I know this sounds like a simplistic fix, but | | | | now, when I walk into a room full of people, I don't |
| knowing how to fit another person on the dance | | | | feel invisible and panicked. In fact, I normally know |
| floor, even somebody you've never met before, | | | | almost everyone in the room within an hour. I don't |
| does something to you. It makes you feel like you | | | | know how to explain it, aside from telling you to try |
| have something in common with other people. It | | | | it. What have you got to lose? |
| makes you less at a loss for what to say, or how to | | | | |