Let’s dance! Rhythmic motion can improve your health

For a week each spring there’s dancing in the streets of Harvard Square as Dance for World Community, a project presented by José Mateo Ballet Theatre, demonstrates how people of all ages and abilities — from nimble preteens to people who use wheelchairs — can express themselves through dance. At almost every performance, spectators and passersby find themselves joining in. Dancing is a universal human experience. We dance to express joy, celebrate life events, and enact religious and cultural rituals. Dance also has physical and cognitive benefits that may exceed those of other forms of exercise. What dance does for your health The evidence for the health benefits of exercise is indisputable. Physiologic studies have demonstrated that regular activity builds muscle and bone, reduces fat, increases aerobic capacity, lowers blood pressure, and improves the ratio of “good” to “bad” cholesterol. Dance has been shown to have all the benefits of other forms of exercise. Moreover, by incorporating music, dance may have benefits beyond those of exercise alone. Music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits. Dancing has improved balance, gait, and quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders. And several — but not all — studies have indicated that mastering dance movements and patterns yields greater improvements in memory and problem-solving than walking does. Dr. Lauren El...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Brain and cognitive health Exercise and Fitness rhythmic dance rhythmic motion Source Type: news