How Does Dance Help You???

We have all been hearing and experiencing the many benefits that dance brings with itself. Studies have shown that dancing does definitely improve the cardio-vascular movements of the body. Also recent studies have found out that how dance helps in considerably reducing stress levels and helps you lead a happier and a more relaxed life. Still more recent studies have come up with the conclusion that dance is the only physical activity that helps in reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Hence dance is that one physical activity that helps you in staying fit physically, mentally, emotionally as well as socially.

But how does all this happen? How it is that dance is the only activity with such a wholesome set of benefits? The physical benefits of dance are well known and can be measured too, and that too quite easily. The social benefits of dance come from the fact that when you join a dance class or a dance camp, you interact with others of your age that share the same interest as you. Also you learn better the skills of working in a group. Learning dance together in a team builds team spirit and co-ordination.

No when we come to the cognitive benefits of dance, it can only be explained on the basis of a reliable study, as to how dance helps you become smarter, how it prevents dementia and Alzheimer’s attacking you. Taking the citations from the New England Journal of Medicine report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging, it can be shown that how dance actually helps you preserve and sharpen those grey cells in your brain.

Intelligence is the faculty of the human brain through which it makes decision. The decision making ability and reasoning is most critical to the human mind. One way to keep on the smarter side is by learning something new. No matter whether it will be used in future or not, letting your mind learning something new keeps it in a good condition. Thus take a dance class to challenge your mind. It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain by generating the need for new pathways. Difficult or rather frustrating dance classes are even better as they create a greater need for you to find new neural pathways.

Dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing connectivity. Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes. When so many functions are involved, dance obviously facilitates in better split second decisions. This is the key to maintaining true intelligence. Not all dance forms involve making split second decisions. Mostly the free style lead and follow dance serve the purpose best. In this too women benefit more as traditionally the man leads and the woman follows. When following the woman has to make many decisions so as to quickly decide what to do next that is right. Actually women don't "follow", they interpret the signals their partners are giving them, and this requires intelligence and decision-making, which is active, not passive. This benefit is greatly enhanced by dancing with different partners, not always with the same fellow. With different dance partners, you have to adjust much more and be aware of more variables. This is great for staying smarter longer.