If you’re reading this, you’ve probably felt the buzz that comes after a session of dancing. The music, the movement, the energy, coordination, pulse-pounding adrenaline all builds to you feeling breathless and, usually, amazing. Dancing boosts your physical health, mental wellbeing and has all sorts of other benefits that might not be immediately clear.
Dancers Are Strong
Constant movement, lifts and balancing your weight all lead to dancers getting incredibly fit. While the pressure on dancers to under-eat is a sad and controversial part of our industry, most dancers are in great shape. Repeated, high intensity moves produce lean muscle, so dancers often stand out for their healthy-looking physiques.
Dancing for Mental Health
Any form of exercise helps to balance and boost your mental health and sense of contentment. Dance schools are packed with students who love dance simply because it makes them feel great! The mixture of focus, fluidity and connection to music are all part of this process in dancing. When we exert ourselves, our brains release endorphins, dopamine and other beneficial chemicals. This process reduces stress, makes us feel happier, improves self-esteem, cognitive function, sociability… the list goes on and on. You may have heard of a “Runner’s high,” but the sense of wellbeing that comes after you push yourself can be applied to any exercise.
Feel Your Heart Beating?
We love to visit Canadian dance schools and see the flushed, exhilarated expressions on the faces of working dancers. Moving your body to the beat gets your heart pumping, so dancing is a perfect cardio workout. While a lot of cardio workouts are a drag, dance is fun and addictive. This means you’re not just going to quit when it gets hard as many do when a workout feels like pure work.
Dance to Exercise Your Brain
Dancers have stronger memories, as they are used to learning something quickly and repeating it until it’s perfectly memorized and replicated. This is the basis of all learning. You might see an experienced dancer figuring something out and moving their hands as they do so. This is because dancers are used to moving while they learn and the action kickstarts their memory. As attending dance school requires committed, continued effort, people who dance are also more disciplined and hard-working in other areas of life.
A Balanced Life
We can all picture the stereotype of the up-and-coming professional dancer waiting tables around ballet school and carrying seven plates at a time. Well, dancers are much more balanced on their feet. This might not be noticeable right now, but as we grow older our balance can sadly degrade over time. One of the long-term benefits of dance is fewer falls in old age. Old you will thank you for this!
Stand Up Straight! Touch Your Toes!
We supply dancewear all over Canada; dance clothes need to stretch, retract and repeat. Why? Because dancers are so incredibly flexible! If you only run with other dancers, you might not think this is out of the ordinary. However, after you start dancing, your flexibility continually improves. This leads to better posture, being comfortable in your own skin (closely linked to confidence) and reduces the risk of injury, aches and pains.
Good For The Body, Good For The Soul
There are many schools of thought on dancing and the activity means different things to different people. Dancing when you’re alone. That beautiful memory of bopping in the kitchen while you cooked with your mother. You might have had that first dance in a club with the person who ended up being the one. That performance, at your dance school, where you and your partner hammered out a routine over months and knew something exceptional had happened when the performance drew to a close. Wedding dances, parties and performing, stage productions, nights out, classes and romantic, quiet moments. Dancing is beautiful and creates beautiful connections between so many people.
Leave A Comment