Lailah Gifty Akita once said: ““Daily dance uplifts the soul to spiritual realms.”
Movement is not only good for our fitness, it also works like medicine for the body and mind and can be a real fountain of youth. This is not about esoteric theories, but simply about the proven positive effect of rhythmic movement on the organism. No hocus pocus, just good old movement and its natural healing power on people. Whoever moves feels better and whoever swings his entire body to the music gets in a better mood.
What happens in the brain when you dance?
Dancing combines movement, touch and music and trains the brain like hardly any other leisure activity. The many steps and turns require a high level of concentration and coordination. The rhythm of the music activates regions of the brain that are also responsible for processing language. In addition, when dancing, the body releases the happiness hormones dopamine and endorphin. The multitude of stimuli causes the brain to be stimulated on very different levels. The complicated turns and steps involved in dancing can even cause the brain to increase in volume in some areas and create additional neural connections.
Dancing and Medicine
Crazy Dance Family are experts in professional dancing. Dmitrii Bulanov, Olesya Shirokova and their 7 years old daughter Alina Bulanova are a famous dance family on Instagram, masters of sports in ballroom dancing, coaching experience over 15 years, accredited specialist (Fred Astaire America). Dmitrii and Olesya taught to dance more than 5000 people from children to adults.
Crazy Dance Family explains the connection between dance and health. Dance is not just an expression of emotion, it is older than any of our records. Dmitrii and Olesya even suspects that he played a central role in our cognitive development. The coordinated movement creates new synapses in the brain and helps us to think comprehensively. Dance reduces the risk of dementia by as much as 76 percent and has a positive effect on intellectual performance in children and adults. Studies with chronically ill people, for example, have shown significant improvements in symptoms through regular guided dance. School concepts that rely on regular exercise instead of pure frontal teaching also have a great effect on the memory performance of the students. Moving lessons bring the students from their passive position to an active one. This stimulates concentration and improves learning performance. The networking of several functions of our body can improve our performance in general. This is the case with learning while moving and also when moving to the rhythm of the music.
When dancing, music, coordination and a sense of rhythm are added to the movement, so the body is holistically challenged and works at full speed. You also have to remember sequences of movements and be able to repeat them at the right pace. That keeps you young, vital and fit, regardless of age. Dance works without any side effects and can improve the quality of life for all of us. Especially for beginners, however, a good trainer is necessary to correct any bad posture.
Spatial understanding and concentration are encouraged
Crazy Dance Family found on an example with their daughter Alina Bulanova, that teenagers who dance a lot do better with math problems and develop a good understanding of space. Scientists at the University of Bochum also discovered that dancers are not only happier, but also more responsive, more agile and able to concentrate better.
Dancing has healing powers
Dancing also has a healing effect: a study with Parkinson’s patients shows that the tremors can be relieved with the help of dance therapy. Automatic movements are actually no longer possible for Parkinson’s sufferers. However, while dancing, sufferers can practice doing these movements again. Dancing promotes the formation of new nerve cells well into old age. This reduces the risk of developing dementia by around 20 percent. Regular movement to the rhythm of the music can even stop the progression of dementia.
In the case of chronic pain, dancing loosens the muscles and can relieve tension. Dancing also lowers the level of the hormone cortisol in the blood – this relieves the body of stress.