If you haven't got time for exercise and hate the gym, do this

First light a candle, because it initiates a feeling of ritual and it's an invitation to the sacred.

Turn on some of your favorite music, either Pandora, your I-pod, cassette tapes, the radio, whatever you have.

Then dance. Let go of the compulsion to "do it right" and simply get moving to the music.

If you allow yourself, in 30 minutes you will be exhilarated and drenched with sweat, opened up to your sensual side, freed in body and soul.


And, you've burned more calories than a trip to the gym.

It costs nothing and requires no equipment. It's liberating and cleansing, expressive and inspiring, and it's fun.

It's important to choose music that inspires you to move. My own personal choice is a mixture of jazz, blues, classical, folk and bluegrass, with some Van Morrison, Neal Young and Tom Petty thrown in like a dash of cayenne pepper. Pandora is an excellent delivery system, because it keeps surprising you with new choices.

A daily 30-to-45 minute dance workout can energize and transform your entire being. It will improve your posture, balance and coordination and allow you to discover the exhilaration of sweat, and it doesn't have the drudgery of a workout.

You don't need permission, a membership, or an expensive studio, just 10 square feet of floor. Push the coffee table out of the way, and dance.

Pablo Picasso once said that every child is an artist but the problem is to remain an artist once he grows up. In the same way, children are natural dancers, boogeying with an infectious joy the moment a song comes on. The dancer is still within you, as is the child. It's an invitation to rediscover the joy of both.