‘Bharatnatyam is not only an expression of the body but of the soul, mind and heart,’ says Dr Shikha Nehru Sharma. She gets candid about the healing properties of this dance form and how this is helping her manage stress. By Jigyasu Joshi
For generations, traditional healers knew that music and dance have the power to heal and even today several classical singers feel that tunes have the power to “take one out of himself for some time.” But Shikha Nehru Sharma, a doctor turned nutrition expert, wants to show that dance has the same powers of healing and is also a major stress-buster. “In the times when the stress of managing deadlines and achieving success is weighing on everyone’s mind, it becomes even more important to find ways to reduce stress and anxiety. We all should work towards finding peace despite the pressures of everyday life,” she said.
The nutrition and weight management expert surprised the audience at the Alliance Francaise with her debut Bharatanatyam performance. The dance performance was a preface to her book launch, to prove the points she made in her book Health, Stress-management and Fitness via Bharatanatyam.
Sharma realised by practical experience that Bharatanatyam is the perfect antidote to stress, which helps achieve a state of inner balance and peace. “After completing my medicine, I started practising in the heart care unit at a Government hospital. I often encountered cases when a person got a heart attack because of wrong diet and mostly because of stress. So my whole concept began from there as how to ensure preventive health care by correct nutrition and stress management,” she said. However, with her mission to spread stress management, came a tougher obstacle. “As my work grew and the mental pressures of following my dream with passion and determination took their toll on my health, I found I could treat myself with the correct nutrition and ayurvedic medicines. But the stress was getting difficult to manage. Once while searching for solutions to fight stress, I stumbled upon the word Natya Yoga, also known as Bharatnatyam, which was a combination of breathing, exercise, meditation and music. I thought I had found the antidote. This was that Eureka moment for me and over time it proved right.”
She also shared the benefits of Bharatanatyam in her book and explained how dancing to the intonation of Sanskrit mantras and shlokas is like praying in motion. She said, “Initially when I joined the classes, it was a tad difficult to pick up on the dance form but gradually I realised that it gave me a lot of positive energy and took a lot off my mind.”
Sharma found that Bharatanatyam not only helped her manage stress but also improve concentration, memory, build flexibility and strengthen her spine and back. “The foot-tapping movements are like acupressure that help press all the points of the body connected to the feet. They also help increase concentration power essential to dance,” she added.
Training for more than two years now, she said that Bharatnatyam has also improved her mind and body coordination and fitness levels. She discovered that it may have application in learning subjects like geometry and maths via the beats of rhythm. “Unlike most of the dance forms which are fluid in nature, in Bharatnatyam you have to draw a straight line while dancing. The dance form uses nodal geometric shapes, natural angles that the axis of the body makes with the limbs while dancing. Also, every motion uses the cardinal numbers 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 to arrive at a sum of 32, which is the basic numerical structure of Bharatnatyam,” she explained.
With other dancing forms taking the centre stage lately, Sharma wanted that Bharatnatyam should be well-practised too for it has ample of healing properties. “Apart from the book, I will try to tell more and more people about how this dance form can curb stress. Even now, I try to spread a word through the lectures I deliver,” she concluded.
