Why can dancing relief stress

Hey readers, 

You may be wanting to start trying something new in the year so here's the reasons why you should consider dancing.

1. The mind feels good. 

The scientific reason why dance can act as a stress reliever stems from the idea that when the body feels good, the mind does, too.

 Any type of physical activity releases neurotransmitters and endorphins which serve to alleviate stress.

 Neurotransmitters are chemicals within the brain that help communicate messages throughout the body. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkiller to reduce stress and improve the mind’s perception of the world.

 Thus, after a good workout, the endorphins cause the body to feel calm and optimistic. The endorphins also aid in improving the quality of sleep, so that a few sleepless nights due to stress can be avoided after dancing! 

2. Improve your fine motor skills, coordination and balance.

 Good coordination and balance are what stop you from walking into things or falling over. 

Dancing is a very intricate art form, and as you can see from the routines on Strictly, it requires a lot of coordination and balance.

 With a lot of practice, you will even find you become less dizzy when doing a dance that involves lots of spinning around, such as the waltz.

 Dancing is also an excellent way of improving your fine motor skills - these are movements involving your hands, fingers, feet and toes, which aren't necessarily the focus of other types of exercise. 

Dance classes can even teach you how to fall more safely, so you'll learn how to reduce the impact if you do take a tumble.

3. Dance can help with weight loss. 

Dancing is also a form of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, which is a great calorie burner, Dr Gardner says, “Jumping and twirling movements are great aerobic training while holding positions of squatting and balance positions can turn on the anaerobic energy system,” she explains. In general, the more up-tempo the dance style, the more calories and energy will be burned. 

Depending on the style of dance and your body weight, 30 minutes of dancing can burn between 90 and 252 calories. This type of high-intensity calorie burning can help support weight loss if you’re trying to shed pounds.

 If you want to maximize calorie burn, Granger suggests taking a dance cardio class, designed to blast calories and improve physical fitness.

 

4. Social touch.

Many types of dance require you to be physically closer to people than you would usually be in everyday interaction. 

Your dance partner or group enter your bubble, known academically as your ‘peri-personal’ space.

 This form of close contact (when it is consensual and with partners, you are comfortable with) releases a chemical called oxytocin. 

This hormone makes us feel sociable and helps us bond with the people around us. 

We are innately social animals, with much in common with our primate ancestors. Our need for physical social contact is not dissimilar to how monkeys use grooming to connect with and comfort each other. 

In today’s reserved society, we are considerably lacking in intimate, platonic interactions. Christensen says we need at least 8 hugs a day to feel human. Alternatively, 4 hugs and a dance class.

5. Dancing is fun. 

Dancing is an enjoyable exercise. Although dance is an art form and a discipline that requires concentration and practice, it is also a very enjoyable form of exercise. 

Whether your favourite type of dance is Classical Waltz, Jazz, Tap, Zumba, Hip Hop or Free-Form Modern Improvisation, you will enjoy the social aspects of classes that include partnering with other dancers, group dancing and creative, free-form expression as you learn, practice and perform different modes and styles of dance. 

You will feel youthful, free limber and stronger from dancing regularly. 

Cheers for reading X