Dance is a beautiful form of performing arts and allows emotions to be expressed in a different way. Not only dance can be a form of performing arts or considered a sport, but dancing is also highly associated with people’s physical health, but many people do not know that it can help your mental health as well. So here are some ways that dance can enhance your mental health…
Improve your mood
Dancing allows people to express themselves and let out their tight feelings! According to a study in the UK, the body releases joyful hormones like dopamine when a person feels liberated. This hormone improves a person's mood and relieves anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition to boosting energy and happiness, dancing, specifically hip hop, lowers stress levels in the same way that aerobic exercise does.
Helps eliminate social anxiety
When dancing, you can interact with others which helps them "loosen up" and feel less self-conscious. These advantages can be particularly beneficial to people who suffer from social anxiety. Some of the dances that increase social confidence include salsa, hip hop, freestyle, and ballroom.
Boosts memory
Learning new things, such as various dance steps and styles, actually improves memory. This is because you have to pay attention to how movements are constantly changing and keep track of all their patterns. This may lessen the risk of dementia. The most common dancing genres that increase mental acuity include ballroom, hip hop, and modern.
Enhances brain health
Dancing is now being utilized to treat Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological movement illness, because it can improve brain health. While some studies have identified the brain areas that are stimulated by dance, others have looked at how the emotional and physical aspects of dance affect brain activity. For instance, a lot of the research on the health advantages of dance-related physical activity links these advantages to the ones linked with physical activity, benefits that vary from memory enhancement to improved neural connections. For example, a study made by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine looked at how leisure time activities affected elderly people's chance of developing dementia. Only one of the 11 various types of physical exercise analyzed- dancing- was shown to reduce participants' risk of developing dementia. It was discovered that social interaction and mental exertion are both necessary for dancing, and that this kind of stimulation lowers the risk of dementia!
So why is dance so important to me? I love performing arts itself and regardless of when or where I’m dancing, it brings me into another world that allows me to focus only on the rhythm and the moment. There are so many dance styles, and I can always find something new to do. With other sports, I have to play with the same rules and the same type of movements with the same aim. With dance, it’s always something new and exciting. I truly believe that anyone can start dancing, from any background, any age, and any gender. It is incredible how much this one activity can benefit you whether it's mental or physical health.
“4 Reasons Why Dancing is a Shortcut to Better Mental Health” Pru Life UK, https://www.prulifeuk.com.ph/en/explore-pulse/health-financial-wellness/4-reasons-why-dancing-is-a-shortcut-to-better-mental-health/#:~:text=Dancing%20and%20other%20movements%20allow,symptoms%20of%20anxiety%20and%20depression.
“Dancing and the Brain” Harvard Medical School, https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/dancing-brain