[box type=”info” align=”” class=”” width=””]Dancing is not only fun but also guarantees you more years of life.[/box]
Dancing is fun and exciting; it calms our soul and makes us feel good, but is it able to rejuvenate us? Yes, and science confirms it.
There is no denying that there is something in the dance that inspires us, that fills us with energy and that fills us with happiness and if every time you listen to music your feet start to move automatically, don’t just sit there! Research suggests that dancing is the key to living longer and looking young. They even say it’s more effective than spending hours in the gym doing endurance exercises.
What is the link between longevity and dance? As you age, your physical health diminishes and you become increasingly limited in your ability to participate in activities with high levels of endurance or that require a lot of physical movement. Pain in muscles and bones becomes more present as you age and while it is an inevitable process, dancing is able to slow it down or at least decrease it.
To get there, specialists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Institute of Sports Sciences at the Otto von Guericke Magdeburg University, Magdeburg, Germany assigned weekly dance routines to volunteers with an average age of 68. Another group was given flexibility-focused activities and endurance training for 18 months. At this time, both groups had increased activity in the brain area of the hippocampus, where a large age-related decline occurs.
For example, this area of the brain is affected by Alzheimer’s because it plays an important role in learning and memory and is connected to maintaining balance.
The group that followed online dance, salsa and jazz routines tested their ability to take steps, turns, arm patterns, speed, formation and rhythm. These challenges are considered to be the main factor influencing the remarkable change in the balance achieved by the group of dancers, as well as improving their endurance and memory considerably.
It is no secret that dance can be therapeutic, so it is commonly used as a stress reliever. The result of this is that women dance for a living not only are less stressed, but they are happier. Researchers at the Swedish Health Science Centre discovered that dancing exponentially increases feelings of euphoria after analyzing the effects dance had on the mental health of more than 100 participating women. There is no better way to stay young than stress-free.