Moving Through the Noise

Dance is therapy for an uncertain world

In a philosophy session for our upcoming June program, we experienced a connected share that the world feels chaotic globally and personally. How do we find our way back to center? This evocative post by Navatman member, Abha Rajbhandari, explores dance as a means to finding flow, healing, and connection at the intersection of neuroscience and ancient wisdom.

This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on cross-cultural community, ancestral memory, and the ways dance carries both joy and resistance. These stories are not separate from the work on stage. They ARE the work.

When the Sun Rises brings these threads together in a live experience. Join us June 26–28 at Ailey Theater.

Be part of what we are building.

Scientifically with uncertainty, stress accumulates, purpose can blur, and fear can sometimes leave us feeling stuck. In these moments, an important question arises: can we find grounding, flow, and understanding through movement? More specifically, can dance be a form of therapy?
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Emerging research suggests that it can. Dance engages the body and brain together, flow state, supporting emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and a sense of connection. It is not just movement but it is a way of processing, expressing, and reorganizing experience. For many, including myself, dance has been one of the most direct ways to enter a flow state, a space where attention is focused, self-consciousness softens, and action feels both effortless and deeply engaged for a bigger purpose.

Both science and spirituality point toward a similar insight: creativity and healing in these times can flourish when we quiet inner noise, expand awareness, and create space for new possibilities. From a scientific perspective, dance integrates imagination, memory, attention, and flexible thinking. When we are less reactive and less caught in overthinking, the brain shifts away from threat-based actions toward exploration and adaptability. From a spiritual perspective, creativity like dance is something we allow to happen. As the mind becomes quieter, we become more receptive. Movement becomes less about effort and more about listening.

This understanding is deeply reflected in the tradition of Bharatanatyam, rooted in the ancient Natya Shastra, which describes a powerful sequence of awareness:

            Yatho Hasta Tatho Drishti | Where the hand goes, the eyes follow
            Yatho Drishti Tatho Manah | Where the eyes go, the mind follows
            Yatho Manah Tatho Bhaava | Where the mind goes, emotion arises
            Yatho Bhaava Tatho Rasa | Where emotion flows, experience is evoked
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This progression shows how movement shapes perception, perception shapes thought, thought shapes emotion, and emotion becomes a shared experience for the dancer and the observer. Dance, in this sense, is not just performance but it is a pathway from awareness to connection.

​In times when everything feels heavy or uncertain, dance offers something fundamental: a return to the body. Fear can feel paralyzing, but movement restores a sense of agency and of being able to feel, respond, and express. Dance becomes a space where emotions such as uncertainty, anger, or frustration are not suppressed but transformed into something meaningful.

It is also a reminder that even in difficult times, there is still rhythm, still expression, still life moving through us. Dance does not deny the complexity and dualities of everything and the world we are in, but it allows meeting those complexities of the world with the non-dual presence and awareness.

Ultimately, dance is more than art. It is regulation, expression, awareness, and connection. It brings light not necessarily by removing darkness, but by allowing us to move through it!

About this post
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on cross-cultural community, ancestral memory, and the ways dance carries both joy and resistance. These stories are not separate from the work on stage. They ARE the work.
​
When the Sun Rises brings these threads together in a live experience. Join us June 26–28 at Ailey Theater.
Be part of what we are building.

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can't make it? consider donating!

​About us
Navatman and Baila Society joined forces in 2024 for a uniquely New York City experience: a place where two women-led arts organizations based in the cultural traditions of Afro-Latinx arts (Salsa, Latin Hustle, Afro-Cuban) and Indian arts (Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Hindustani and Carnatic music) come together.
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In this shared space, we explore how the force of artists and students working together can promote, define, and create a sense of stability and strength, joy and love within communities at large - particularly through artistic endeavors.

​Written by Abha Rajbhandari