What Are The Health Benefits Of Dancing?
Dancing is a good way for people of all ages to stay in shape. In addition to being fun, it has many positive health benefits. Then read more about the health benefits of dancing!
Dancing is one of the ways to eliminate monotony from our lives. It can benefit our health in general, whether emotionally, mentally or physically.
When we decide to start some type of exercise, we should consider the level of fun that exercise can provide. And that’s what dancing is, fun!
Benefits of Dance for Overall Health
A help for the heart
Dancing is a great activity for people at risk for cardiovascular disease.
An Italian study showed that people with heart failure, who practiced dancing as an exercise, improved the performance of this organ.
In addition, the breathing and quality of life of the people who participated in the study also significantly improved compared to those who cycled or walked on treadmills.
Weight loss
Weight loss is another benefit of dancing when practiced regularly.
A study by the Journal of Physiological Anthropology has shown that an entertainment aerobic exercise program, such as dancing, is as useful for weight loss and increased aerobic power as cycling or running.
power up
Do you feel out of energy during the day? Dancing can help you get her back. Research published in The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition showed that a weekly dance program could improve physical performance and increase energy levels in adults.
Improves flexibility, strength and endurance
Dancing sometimes requires great flexibility. Most dance classes start with a warm-up that includes several flexible stretching exercises. When we dance, we must strive to achieve the range of motion of all muscle groups.
Dancing increases strength, forcing the muscles to resist the body’s own weight. Many styles of dance, including jazz and ballet, require jumping, which requires a lot of strength in the main muscles of the legs.
Dancing is a physical exercise, therefore it increases endurance, which is nothing more than the ability of the muscles to work intensely for longer and longer periods of time, without causing fatigue.
Benefits of Dance for Emotional Health
provides happiness
Dancing is something that just about everyone enjoys. If you watch a person as they dance, you’re sure to see a big smile on their face.
Smiling and laughing while dancing is absolutely natural! This is a sign that we are allowing ourselves to enjoy the activity.
Dancing does not impose age barriers, so anyone can dance and enjoy the health benefits of this activity.
It ends stress and depression
One of the benefits of dancing has been found to come from the fact that it helps prevent mild depression and improves the confidence of the individual who chooses to dance. This is great, as depression has become a growing problem among teenagers and adults.
A study in the International Journal of Neuroscience found that dance movement therapy improves depression. It also improves psychological stress by regulating the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the body.
As dancing is a social activity, it can help with the feelings of isolation characteristic of people who suffer from depression and older people who live alone.
Improves confidence and self-esteem
Dancing also helps to improve confidence. Each time we master a new dance step, we experience a gain in confidence as well as a heightened mood. This increased confidence is reflected in every aspect of our lives.
Dancing is a social activity, which provides many opportunities to meet other people. Thus, research has shown that social ties and socialization contribute to an improvement in self-esteem and positive attitudes.
Physical activity reduces stress and tension, and dancing itself provides an overall feeling of well-being. Therefore, taking part in dance classes can increase your self-esteem and develop social skills.
Benefits of Dance for Mental Health
improves memory
According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine , dancing can improve our memory and prevent the development of dementia as we age.
Science has also revealed that aerobic exercise can reverse the loss of volume in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls our memory. The hippocampus naturally shrinks during adulthood, which often leads to memory problems and sometimes dementia.
Fights Alzheimer’s Disease
A study of seniors, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , showed that dancing often helps stave off the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, as well as increasing mental accuracy for people of all ages.
They also found that some people with Alzheimer’s disease are able to recall forgotten memories when they dance to songs they used to forget.
increases intelligence
For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have described dance’s health benefits, often associated with physical activity. Now, thanks to studies, it has been shown that dancing is capable of increasing intelligence.
The essence of intelligence is making decisions. To improve our mental accuracy, the tip is to get involved in activities that require quick decision making (in seconds).
So, to increase intelligence, instead of simply memorizing, we should choose to work our physique by dancing.
One way to do this is to learn something new. Not just dancing, but something new. Taking dance lessons challenges our mind and stimulates our brain connectivity, generating the need for new avenues.
Difficult classes are best as they encourage us to have a greater need for new neural connections, thus increasing our neural connectivity.
What kind of music to dance to?
There are many styles of dance. Jazz, salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton, zumba, hip hop, ballet, contemporary etc. Each style is equally beneficial and all provide the means to live healthier lives.
Dancing can help us in many ways, meaning all forms of dancing are equally effective. What remains for us is to choose the type of dance we prefer and practice it constantly to get the benefits of this activity on our health.
