Taking Action for Mental Health: Dance of Life
Posted: 13 May 2026, in News
This Mental Health Awareness Week we’ve been talking to our members about how they are taking action to support mental health.
We spoke to Rachel Ballard, Founder and Director at Dance of Life Community CIC, a social enterprise that offers inclusive, music-led movement for all ages and abilities.
Can you give us a short description of your social enterprise?
Dance of Life Community CIC is a brain-based movement programme that uses music, rhythm and inclusive movement to support mental health and wellbeing. We deliver seated and accessible sessions in care homes, retirement villages, community settings and online, supporting people who may feel isolated, unwell, or disconnected from themselves. While the sessions feel fun, social and uplifting, they are carefully structured to stimulate both the body and the brain. The sessions look like a party, but it’s actually therapy through movement!
What does community mean to you in the context of taking action on mental health?
For me, community is about connection, especially when that connection has been lost. After my strokes, I didn’t just lose my physical health, I lost my sense of identity, confidence, and belonging. Being back in a room with others, even just sitting and gently moving, was the beginning of reconnecting with myself. Community creates spaces where people feel seen, included and valued, and that can be a powerful first step in supporting mental health. For me personally, community is where you start to feel like yourself again.
How does your social enterprise take action to support mental health in the community?
We take action by making movement accessible to everyone, regardless of ability or circumstance. Our sessions are inclusive and adaptable, encouraging people to move in whatever way their body allows. Through music, rhythm and shared experience, we help people reconnect with their bodies, lift their mood, and engage with others. We also involve volunteers and dancers from the wider community, helping to create a sense of togetherness and shared joy across generations.
There was a time when my body wasn’t able to move and my mental health took a nose dive. I always say to the participants: “If it wiggles, wiggle it. If it jiggles, jiggle it, just be grateful you can move it!”
How do you take action to look after your own mental health?
This is deeply personal to me. Following my sudden strokes and heart surgery at the age of 41, I received incredible medical support including input from a stroke psychologist, physio, therapy, and the offer of medication. All of that was valuable.
However, what truly made the biggest difference to my mental health was movement and connection. Being in a room with others, moving to music, sharing that energy and sense of togetherness – that was what lifted me and helped me find my way back. Movement became a way to be present, to focus on what I could do, and to begin rebuilding my identity. Movement became my medicine.
Have you faced any challenges when taking action around mental health in your work?
One of the main challenges is helping people recognise the impact that something as simple as movement can have on mental health. There can be barriers around perception, accessibility and funding, particularly when working with older adults or individuals recovering from illness. On a personal level, rebuilding my own confidence after illness was also a journey. However, that lived experience is now what allows me to connect with others in a meaningful and authentic way.
What recommendations do you have for how communities and organisations can take more effective action to support mental health?
I would encourage organisations to think more holistically about mental health support. It doesn’t always need to be complex or clinical, sometimes it’s about creating opportunities for connection, joy and shared experience. Activities such as movement, music and social interaction can have a profound impact. Listening to lived experience is also essential, as it provides real insight into what truly supports people. Sometimes the simplest things have the biggest impact. I just wish something like Dance of Life had been there when I needed it… and that’s why I’ve created it now.