Maria Löfskog --The Psychology of Contemporary Dance

The Psychology of Contemporary Dance Who is Maria Löfskog? Maria Löfskog is a dancer that grew up in the mountains of Sweden. She decided to pursue her own path through life to accomplish her dreams that were considered very far away from the safe village in the middle of nowhere that she was from. Maria grew up in a family where there was always a competitive love for sports and also for dancing. This passion or dancing was very early installed into her mind, and this allowed her to go against actively pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer.  Dancing has held a special place in her heart ever since. Marias dancing style is provocative and aims at making people think about themselves and about their surrounding.  Maria loves to emphasize the importance of asking questions. Her work is a manifestation of this philosophy. While other dancers entertain you, Maria Löfskog will challenge you to not only think one step outside of the box but ten. Why I wanted to interview Maria Löfskog I wanted to interview Maria Löfskog for The Psychology Podcast because I was curious about what dancing can give a person in regards to happiness, fulfillment, and purpose.  One thing that I'm fascinated by and one thing that I still have my fair share of battles with is depression and anxiety. Depression is also a phenomenon of movement. Or to be more precise, a lack of it.  It's almost as if you can describe happiness episodes as physical states of agitation. The worst state is depression, it equals the physical state of freezing. You can't get out of bed anymore, your thoughts all revolve around the same unsolvable issues over and over again.  Dancing is one the other side of the spectrum, it's almost like flying. In order to measure happiness, psychologist use the Hamilton rating scale. It basically means how shitty you are feeling.  21 is rock bottom suicidality, 1 is dancing in joyful excitement.  I wanted to interview Maria Löfskog because I was curious if contemporary dance was making her happier.  What I found was much more than I hoped for: A powerful ingredient for the recipe of happiness which is contemporary dance.  Where can I listen to this episode? ITUNES SPOTIFY STITCHER Google Radiopublic  Castbox player.fm  Listen Notes InstagramTv  Youtube What is this episode about? • Her first 60 minutes of the day • Why she became a dancer • What happiness is for her • Her advice to an aspiring dancer • Favorite / least favorite words and noises • Three success tips that have helped her • The book she has recommended most often • The life slogan she would put on every coffee mug in the world • What her childhood was like • What it feels like to evoke emotions in people • What she would love to see standing at the gates of heaven Want to follow Maria Löfskog? Instagram, Facebook As always thank you for listening! Drop a comment and let me know what your biggest take away was!