Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) students kicked up their heels in Surrey recently for an unconventional lesson outside the classroom.
Instead of teaching her regularly scheduled Thursday afternoon class, KPU instructor Dr. Jocelyn Lymburner met her students at Surrey’s Kennedy Hall where they were taught partner and group dancing.
“Over the years we’ve tried nature walks, art projects and museums, and this year a dance teacher suggested trying sequential dance,” says Lymburner.
The two-hour country dance class is part of the Science and Practice of Wellness course created in response to high student stress. Lymburner says the course emphasizes health and wellness by allowing students a chance to step away from stress.
“There’s a lot of research suggesting that sequential — group dancing — increases social bonding, increases happiness and it can actually increase your pain threshold,” says Lymburner.
Before entering the dance floor, students could participate in an ice bucket challenge. Each student would submerge one of their arms into a bucket of freezing cold water for as long as they could. After the dance class, they tried the ice bucket again.
The experiment was to test their pain threshold before and after participating. Some students increased submersion time in the ice water after the class, demonstrating the benefit of group activity.
“For me, even if the only thing they got out of this class was a good friend, it would be a success, as the scientific literature suggests that social support is the single biggest predictor of mental, emotional and physical wellness,” adds Lymburner.