"A little bit of weight is taken off": A phenomenological study of Celtic folk dance as a stress management strategy for women in midlife.

This investigation sought to study the phenomenological experience of participation in a Celtic folk dance class and to determine the relationship between participation in an exercise program based on Celtic folk dances and stress reduction. This research was conducted as part of the Northern Interior Health Region Women’s Mid-Life project which is part of the B.C Women’s Health in Mid-Life Project (WHIM). A dual methodological approach descriptive phenomenology and quantitative testing was used to investigate the indepth experience o f midlife women participating in a beginner level Celtic folk dance class. Women (n=2S) ages 33 to 65 participated in seven introductory level classes based on Scottish Country Dances and Irish Set Dances. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire during the first class. The 40 item Speilberger’s State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y (STAI), a commonly used instrument in research on exercise and stress, was completed preand postclass during the first and sixth weeks. Feedback firom the participants (n =17) on the STA^ results was obtained during a group activity conducted at the beginning of the seventh class. All participants also filled in a brief guided journal after each class. Five women who fit predetermined criteria — 1) age 45 to 65,2) present for at least 6 o f the 7 classes, and 3) indicated above average stress levels on the preliminary questionnaires participated in audiotaped interviews designed to explore their phenomenological experience of the dance classes. Phenomenological analysis of the interviews, guided journals and group activity yielded a thematic structure around the two core themes “Increase in Stress” (“Social Stress”, “Stress from the Dancing”,“Extemal Stress”, “Challenge”) and “Decrease in Stress’’! "The Group o f Women”, “Movement and Music”, “Change o f Focus”,“Fun and Laughter”). The core phenomenon that emerged was described, in the voice o f one o f the women as, “A Little Bit of Weight is Taken O ff’. Two other themes emerged as keys to balancing and managing the stress implicit in the dance class, “New Learning and Mastery” and “Leadership”. The researcher proposes that participation in a physical activity program, based on Celtic folk dances, is a potentially effective method for managing stress.