Zumba and Scotland; Music and Memory

Do you ever find your mind wandering from something your body is doing and wake up to discover you’re thinking of something completely out of context?

Say, when you’re dancing in your zumba class?

How does the brain make make connections and why do they sometimes seem completely off?

I ruminate on this oddity often at six o’clock in the morning while taking my Zumba class.

We dance to Latin music or pop tunes with a strong beat and once I get the steps down, I confess, my mind often wanders.

But why does it take me so often to the Edinburgh train station?

If I’m stepping to a quick salsa, or even cumbria-ing with my hands in the air, why is my memory drifting to the grocery where we picked up food for the train, or the news stand where we hunted for books?

Of course, realizing this oddity, I veer off into musing on memory and I’ve concluded that whatever the song is that takes me there, it must have been playing over the loudspeakers when I was in Scotland.

I never think about the Central and South American countries I’ve visited when I’m samba-ing like a combination of Woody and Buzz from Toy Story.

When the instructor puts on Forever, I’m right there with the Youtube wedding dance sensation and savoring the joy all over again–that at least makes sense.

As we sweated yesterday, I thought about the busy corner store that serves “the best ice cream in Budapest,” according to one of the relatives.

That had nothing to do with the mambo, other than the wild ride down the street–or my flailing arms as I tried to dance.

Music is said to tame the wildest beast, but it also has other unconscious effects on the body. It can make time seem to shorten, speed up your heart rate,  improve your rhythm, and it can even touch your soul.

(And it can do that in odd ways. See this post: The Five Weirdest Ways Music Can Mess with the Human Brain).

I took a skiing lesson many years ago and at the end of the lesson, the instructor launched us on our own. But he didn’t want us to head down the hill without assistance, so he told us  sing whatever song came to mind and let the music help us.

When we got to the bottom, he asked us our choices. Most had sung a Beatles tune or something popular.

I had slalomed with joy and ease all the way down and he was impressed. “What did you sing?” he asked.

I had to think a moment before I laughed. “Amazing Grace.”

“No one has ever sung that before!”

Maybe not, but the reassuring words that I was saved helped me get down the hill without a wipe out!

And that song, at least, had something to do with my physical activity!

What music has slid into your mind during unusual moments? Where do you suppose it came from?

Tweetables

Why does the brain go there? Zumba and Scotland. Click to Tweet

Curious mental connections while dancing! Click to Tweet

Dancing Zumba but thinking of Scotland! Click to Tweet