Mental Health Benefits of Dance/Ballet

Continuing our conversation about the dance benefits for mental health, here are some facts why dancing is great for mental health:

1. Enhances Mind-Body Connection: Improves self-care and mental health by increasing awareness of body needs and limitations.

2. Reduces Depression Symptoms: Dancing improves mood and decreases symptoms of depression, as per a study in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies

3. Improves Sleep Quality: Dance enhances sleep quality, which is essential for maintaining good mental health, helping to reduce insomnia symptoms

4. Increases Endorphins: Dance boosts endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals, dopamine and endorphins, two neurotransmitters responsible for feelings of pleasure and happiness.

5. Improves social skills: Dancing among others helps reduce any social anxiety. It’s a supportive and inclusive environment that encourages connection and growth.

6. Friendships last a lifetime: The bonds formed during dance classes are truly special and create a sense of belonging that extends beyond the studio. Experiencing the joy of camaraderie and building friendships that last a lifetime.

 

Dancing

It is well known that physical activity is also associated with lower risk of dementia, and Spires-Jones says that this is because it keeps the many tiny blood vessels in the brain healthy. Issues relating to the blood supply to the brain have been linked to greater rates of atrophy, or brain shrinkage, which occurs as we age.

Joyce Shaffer, a psychologist and behavioural scientist at the University of Washington, has found that dancing classes can be one of the most beneficial forms of physical activity.

Dance classes are one of the most beneficial forms of activity for brain health

Dance classes are one of the most beneficial forms of activity for brain health 

“There’s the calorie burning from dancing that has an impact alone,” she says. “But because it’s a form of aerobic exercise, getting oxygen to the muscles, you have this increased supply of nutrients to the brain. This causes the brain to increase the production of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF.”

BDNF plays an essential role in keeping neurons healthy, and the brain agile, and capable of easily forming new connections, which is the essence of memory.

“When you do aerobic exercise, your brain cells create more BDNF, which makes them healthier, and it also makes the neighbouring brain cells healthier,” says Shaffer.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/mind/chess-card-games-brain-health-rishi-sunak/