MUMBAI: Dance has always been known as a great exercise but off late dance is being used for its therapeutic qualities. Dance professionals tout that unstructured dance movements strengthen the mind-body connection, thereby helping your mental state direct how you feel physically.

Dilshad Patel, Dance therapist said, "I ask my students to express yourself as water. What sort of authentic movement comes through when you dance as water. It can give you a sense of confidence because you are the creator of the movement. It helps healing the mind and your focus on dance. You are not told what to do, you are just moved arbitrarily. You using the earth as the canvas and your body is a tool that paints. To someone like me, trying dance therapy for the first time, these abstract steps may appear bizarre! It seems like the dance you'd do when no ones watching."

You don't need any kind of formal training for dance therapy. It's about releasing your energy abd expressing your emotions. It's got no structure, no format; you only have to be comfortable with yourself and let yourself be.

A dance therapy class typically begins with 15 minutes of work-out, followed by structured dance and finally unstructured dance movements. Sure it feels awkward, but once the art of guiding your body movements through your minds imagination is mastered, the therapy can be practiced at home too. The word therapy may sound like its only for those suffering from an ailment or illness but dance therapy can be taken up by anyone and everyone and proves to be a good tool to manage your emotions.

Preeti Savardekar, Doctor said, "Being a doctor, my movements are very mechanical at work but this dance therapy has made me less conscious of myself and I have realized so many things about myself. I have become less conscious, less held back, relaxed and more confident."

Rashmi Raisinghani, Working professional said, "The best thing about this class is that you just move the way you want to, the way you are comfortable. In these stressful lives, when you are told what to do, this is very relaxing."

Fees for eight sessions of dance therapy in a month is approximately Rs 2,600. If you're keen to take it up too, research well about the therapist you go. Some therapists you could consult are Dilshad Patel (www.dilshadpatel.com) in Mumbai, Veena Basavarajaiah (www.veenadance.com) in Delhi and Tripura Kashyap in Bangalore (www.discoverbangalore.com).