• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
live love fruit logo

Live Love Fruit

Eat Vibrantly. Live Vibrantly

About Start Here Work With Me

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
  • Health
  • Remedies
  • Recipes
  • A-Z Conditions
  • Fitness
  • Environment
  • Self Improvement
  • My LLF
  • Shop
Category: > Health > Surprising Health Benefits of Dance

Surprising Health Benefits of Dance

May 14, 2013 Carly Fraser Save For Later Print

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2020

399 shares
  • Facebook391
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Young woman dancing street dance over ocher background

Do you enjoy dancing? Well you may be getting a variety of benefits you might not have otherwise known! There are numerous health benefits of dance, whether you do it with yourself, a partner, or in a dance class. Not only does it increase your amount of daily exercise, but it also has incredible mental and emotional benefits as well!

The New England Journal of Medicine recently found that in elderly individuals, their risk of dementia was significantly reduced by over 76% simply by dancing frequently (compared to other activities, such as reading (35%), bicycling and swimming (0%), doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week (47%) or playing golf (0%)).

Why was dancing better than other activities for improving mental capabilities? Dancing often requires split-second rapid-fire decision making processes, and integrates several brain functions at once which increases the connectivity in the brain. Dancing simultaneously involves rational, kinesthetic, musical and emotional processes.

Dancing also helps with your flexibility, strength, endurance and overall sense of well-being! Dancers must strive to gain full range of motion for all the major muscle groups because with greater range of motion comes greater flexion and extension of the muscles. Many styles of dance also require jumping and leaping which require tremendous amount of muscle strength in major leg muscles. Endurance is the ability of muscles to work hard for longer periods of time without fatigue, and regular dancing helps improve your endurance (as with anything, such as running, walking, hiking, biking and swimming).

Dancing is effective in improving your self-esteem as well as reducing stress and depression. Emotionally, dancing improves self-awareness and self-confidence. It also can help strengthen the immune system through muscular action and physiological processes which can help prevent disease. Through dance, people can help identify and express their innermost emotions which creates a sense of renewal, unity and completeness.

Getting involved in dance is a great way to connect to mind, body and spirit. When I started dancing I felt at first, very sweaty and tired, but over time I became much more expressive in my dance. I got excited over the new moves and expressions I felt were a way of releasing tension, emotion and connecting to my inner self. It is incredibly fun and brings about an overall sense of happiness and bliss.

Sources:

Verghese, J., Lipton, R., Katz, M., Hall, C., Derby, C., Kuslansky, G., Ambrose, A., Sliwinski, M., & Buschke, H. (2003) Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly. The New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 2508-2516.

Jeong, Y., Hong, S., Lee, M., Park, M., Kim, Y., & Suh, C. (2005) Dance movement therapy improves emotional responses and modulates neurohormones in adolescents with mild depression. International Journal of Neuroscience, 115, 1711-1720.

Hopkins, D., Murrah, B., Hoeger, W., & Rhodes, C. (1990) Effect of low-impact aerobic dance on the functional fitness of elderly women. The Gerontologist, 30, 189-192.

Federici, A., Bellagamba, S., & Rocchi, M. (2005) Does dancing improve balance in adult and young old subjects? A pilot randomized controlled trial. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 17, 385-389.

Brown, S., Martinez, M., & Parsons, L. (2006) The neural basis of human dance. Cerebral Cortex, 16, 1157-1167.

399 shares
  • Facebook391
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: Diet & Lifestyle, Happiness, Health Tagged With: Brain, Dance, fitness

Carly Fraser

About the Author

Carly Fraser has her BSc (Hons.) Degree in Neuroscience, and is the owner and founder at Live Love Fruit. She currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a determined life mission to help inspire and motivate individuals to critically think about what they put in their bodies and to find balance through nutrition and lifestyle. She has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals to re-connect with their bodies and learn self-love through proper eating habits and natural living. She loves to do yoga, dance, and immerse herself in nature.

View Profile

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

  • health benefits of dill
    6 Surprising Health Benefits of Dill
  • 10 Surprising Health Benefits of Mulberries
  • woman doing cobra yoga pose
    10 Health Benefits of Yoga: The Key To Good Health and Wellbeing
  • Detox green smoothie with spinach, pineapple, and banana
    10 Health Benefits of Green Smoothies
  • 4 Surprising Facts About the Health Benefits of Tea
  • 20 Surprising Health Benefits of Pomegranate
  • Baked pumpkin slices with thyme on a wooden board over grey table
    10 Surprising Health Benefits of Pumpkin You Never Knew About

Comments

  1. Estrellita Rimorin says

    May 14, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    Thanks for sharing this benefits of Dance,.. now i”ve learned more bout the benefits of dance to me coz I really love to dance seen I was a kid,,And now my mind is open I know now the answer to my question to my self..I read already…But I give you a bit example to my question…1.why im still energetic,flexible,strong,memory good and ect..at the age of 49 im still like that and im still love to dance..I hope some of people know about this..thank you so much…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Free Ebook

Success! Please check your inbox to download your FREE eBook.

Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally!

The Ultimate Guide to Fight Inflammation and Restore Your Health!

21 Ways to Reduce Chronic Inflammation

Recent Posts

visual illustration of toxins stored in fat cells in body

How to Eliminate Toxins From Fat Cells That Are Making You Fatigued and Swollen

foot with demonstrated achilles pain

This One Stretch Relieves Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, Achilles Pain, and Heel Pain

Neutrogena and Aveeno sunscreens recalled by Johnson & Johnson

Latest Sunscreen Recall Raises Concern Over Chemicals

lemongrass plant in garden

How to Plant Lemongrass to Repel Mosquitoes

Female Reproductive System next to adrenal glands representing organs in the body responsible for hormone production

10 Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones

freshly pressed pineapple juice

15 Impressive Health Benefits of Pineapple Juice

Popular Posts

Man spraying pesticides on tea plants with other side of image showing dry loose tea bags

Pesticides in Tea: Is Your Favorite Tea Contaminated with Harmful Chemicals?

glyphosate in wine

Monsanto’s Harmful Chemical Glyphosate Found In 100% Of California Wines Tested

whole dandelion plant with flowers and roots on cutting board on a table

Dandelions Are Not Weeds! Top 10 Health Benefits of Dandelion

johnson & johnson baby products in pharmacy

Johnson & Johnson Finally Admits: Our Baby Products Contain Cancer-Causing Ingredients

10 Plants That Attract Dragonflies for Mosquito Control

companion planting chart

Use This Companion Planting Chart to Help Your Garden Thrive

France Bans Neonicotinoid Pesticides

France Bans All Five Neonicotinoid Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths

Glyphosate in Food: Complete List of Products and Brands Filled with Dangerous Weed-Killer

whales dying from plastic pollution

Whales Dying From Plastic Pollution Are a Grave Reminder to Give Up Our Addiction to Plastics

illustrated piriformis muscle showing trigger points and radiating pain

How To Get A Deep Piriformis Stretch To Get Rid of Sciatica, Hip & Lower Back Pain

RECOMMENDED

Thank you! Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription!

Want to reduce inflammation and restore your health?

Join Live Love Fruit and we'll show you how!

Footer

Stay Connected!

Follows
  • 317k Followers
  • 1.9k Followers
  • 107k Followers
  • 600 Followers
  • 11.5k Followers
  • Home
  • About
  • Start Here
  • Write For LLF
  • Contact

Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.
Content on Live Love Fruit may not be reproduced in any form.
Ads provided by AdThrive. Displayed ads do not constitute endorsement or recommendation by Live Love Fruit.

Copyright © 2012 - 2022 Live Love FruitPrivacy Policy | Terms of Service | Full Disclaimer | Affiliate Disclosure

399 shares
  • 391