Finding Connection Through Movement: A Volunteer’s Reflection on ‘Joy in Motion’

Hi, my name is Megan, and I am an occupational therapy student and volunteer at Moving Minds, a not-for-profit creative health organisation that provides creative dance sessions for people living with a variety of long-term health conditions.  As a volunteer, my role encapsulates being both a physical and emotional support for participants at ‘Joy in Motion’, a dementia focused group, as well as acting as advocate for the organisation and dementia awareness outside the sessions. Prior to my studies, I worked as a healthcare support worker for 2 ½ years, which introduced me to the field of occupational therapy, a profession which enables individuals after a significant injury, illness or disability to regain or acquire skills for independent participation in necessary and valued activities in their daily lives.

As someone who was initially hesitant at the thought of dancing in front of strangers, my head, shoulder, knees and toes were soon far too busy to worry and I was surprised to find in myself, a dancer. Moving Minds is not about following structured routines but empowering participants to explore endless creative paths through movement, song and meditation.  So far, my volunteering journey has been nothing short of incredible, thanks to the amazing people I have met and the dedicated team of facilitators.

I first joined Moving Minds, because I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to create connections and promote the wellbeing of people within the dementia community. In a society in which people living with dementia are often faced with ‘you can’t’ and ‘you shouldn’t’, I wanted to be a part of a project that promotes ‘you can’.

What especially drew me to Moving Minds was the focus on the co-creation of its dance sessions. The sessions are designed with care for individuals’ needs and consideration of everyone’s unique abilities and choices. I relish participants having the opportunity to craft movements themselves, through props, costume and even singing or humming a tune. Each session is such a special experience, with each new person I have met, I am shown a new aspect of their story, such as being taken back to the first time they swooned over a pop idol postered on their wall, the first dance on the first date, a cherished moment from childhood or maybe a memory of a loved one. Enacted in every session is the focus on the individual, not the condition. Every song is an opportunity for individuals to demonstrate what they are capable of, rather than their limitations. As an occupational therapy student, it is that message I seek to promote to enable positive change against the negative dementia narrative.

Moving Minds has been such a valuable experience for me as an occupational therapy student, because it has given me the opportunity to expand my professional experience beyond the clinical setting. It is often forgotten that learning does not only exist behind a desk or through reading literature but engaging with one’s community and exploring skills that go beyond your comfort zone. Through volunteering, I have seen such a benefit not only in my professional skills, but in my confidence and self-esteem.

As a health student, I have welcomed the opportunities for reflection and have developed a new resourcefulness that I have been able to apply to my studies and professional practice at university. Such reflection has been essential in my developing leadership, as I have been able to create and lead dance activities for the sessions. What has been particularly meaningful is learning how to improvise and lean into what the participants need and want to do in the moment, as part of creating and maintaining an inclusive environment where participants and their families/carers can safely explore unique movements of expression.

Spending time with individuals within the dementia community, I have come to appreciate considerations I can make to my communication skills, particularly non-verbal such as body language and facial expressions, in myself and in others when they may otherwise be unable to verbalise their needs themselves.  An aspect I have really valued has been working with the enthusiastic facilitators in the Moving Minds team. Not only have I enjoyed the chance to work as part of a team, but also expand my worldly perspective by learning about their various professional and volunteering experiences.

Initially, my term at Moving Minds was meant to be 10 weeks, subsequently I never left, and it has become an integral part of my life; I am proud of the role I get to play and the wonderful people who prove that a life with dementia can still be fulfilling and meaningful, because the sparkle that is often thought to be lost is still in fact there, shining very bright indeed.