Dance to your health

Dance is a great form of exercise and self-expression. It is for everyone, young and old alike. The movements help with strength, flexibility and posture. It improves circulation and promotes cardio-vascular health. It is a great stress-reducer.

A January 2013 study that was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) states “Dance is a well-established and popular form of physical activity, particularly for young women. It can provide a supportive environment and an opportunity to enhance low body attitudes and physical self-perceptions. It is suggested that dance can reduce disabling conditions resulting from stress.”

Studies are also being conducted on the effects of dance on cognitive flexibility in aging.

The National Institutes of Health has published a few studies on this topic. One such study concluded that “Contemporary Dance improvisation may be a useful way to boost cognitive flexibility known to decline even in high-functioning older adults (Coubard et al., 2011) with helpful impact in daily life (Vaughan and Giovanello, 2010). How our result can generalize pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease is a challenging issue for future studies.”

TIPS:

o Take lessons or go on YouTube for free lessons.

o Turn a small corner of the house into a “dance studio”.

o Put on some favorite tunes and dance the cares of the day away, wherever you are.

o Dance while doing some housework.

o As the saying goes, dance like nobody is watching.