World Dance Day – Dance a form of holistic wellness therapy

By Sidhharrth S Kumaar,

Something about swaying to music makes all of our concerns fade away. Maybe it’s the beat of your favourite music or a heart-pumping workout that motivates you to get out of bed. Perhaps it’s the challenge of getting the hang of the more difficult manoeuvres you like. 

Whatever your reason for dancing, there’s no doubting that it provides several physicals, mental, and emotional benefits. These benefits get increased manifold when dance form is selected based on name and date of birth. In our proprietary real-world studies at NumroVani based on the principles of zero numerology, customized dance forms enhances quality of life and increases productivity by 5 times. 

Some of the improvements offered by dance includes: 

1. Leads to the improvement of mobility: Age, a lack of movement — or simply doing the same actions — can cause stiffness and a loss of mobility, leading to pain and damage. However, dance can be beneficial. According to one research, cross-country skiers who got months of dance instruction improved their joint and muscle flexibility, spine mobility as well as their speed and agility.Cross-country skiers who got pre-season dance instruction had a more excellent hip range of motion, improved spine flexibility, and a lower risk of back injury, according to comparative research. Although these studies focused on cross-country skiing, you don’t need to visit the slopes to gain the agility and flexibility advantages of dancing to music.

2. Helps in increasing balance and coordination: While you may feel relatively steady on your feet, there’s no doubt that your balance and coordination decline as you age. One of the reasons elderly people are more prone to falling is this. On the other hand, dance’s capacity to enhance these health indicators in older people is hopeful. According to one study, social dancing was found to aid persons over the age of 80 improve their balance and walking speed and contribute to a more steady walking pattern.

3. Helps in muscle development:  Many of our regular activities (walking, stair climbing, etc.) take place in a straight line. Dance, on the other hand, incorporates lateral and rotational motions. Your body never gets tired of it. This increases agility, coordination, and balance, but it also develops muscles like your abdominals, which are typically overlooked at parties.

4. Crucial in losing weight and maintaining your body: Dance is aerobic activity (wildly dancing to the point where you get friendly and all covered in sweat, as you would in a good hip-hop class). According to the ADA, aerobic exercise can help with weight loss or maintenance. As if you needed more reasons to stomp on anything your mother handed you.

5. Boosts cognitive function: According to one research, Zumba — a Latin dance-inspired workout — improved cognitive functions such as visual identification and decision-making.

6. Improves memory: According to another study, it can aid in the formation of new connections between brain areas involved in long-term memory and executive function. Some physicians have even suggested dancing, and dance-style workouts help with brain damage healing.

Dance can also help people from developing more severe memory problems. This is especially true while dancing with a partner or in a group. Dance was the only kind of exercise-related to a decreased risk of dementia for participants in one research out of 11 various types of exercise (including dance, swimming, golf, cycling, tennis, and others). The gain, according to experts, was due to a combination of social engagement and mental focus. According to a 2017 research, dance can boost the quantity of white matter in the brain. As people become older, their white matter starts to break down, leading to cognitive deterioration.

7. Improves mood: “Mood enhancement” came out on top in a 2015 research on people’s motivation for dancing. This might be because dancing is expressive and helps you escape or let free in ways that are usually forbidden in maturity. Dance therapy has also been demonstrated to help those with severe illnesses like breast cancer or Parkinson’s disease and students cope with grief and psychological stress. Dance may also help your body produce feel-good endorphins (more than other types of exercise) and decrease the levels of the stress causing hormone cortisol, according to research published in 2014.

8. Helps in gaining confidence: Jumping on a treadmill or elliptical machine can be a terrific way to get some exercise, but it also requires you to run/walk on the spot indefinitely. You get a workout while learning a new ability when you dance. This may be quite gratifying and might help you gain confidence. Any sort of exercise, according to research, may enhance self-esteem (and we’d never discourage you from researching what works best for you). But there’s something about learning new choreography or nailing a new technique that makes you feel ready to take on the world.
Dance promotes many aspects of health, including physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It allows you to express yourself and have fun, but it also contributes to your weekly cardiovascular activity minutes. 

(The author, Sidhharrth S Kumaar, is Founder of NumroVani, and Astro Numerologist, Spiritual Business & Personalized Wellness Coach. He is a renowned name in Astro numerology. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)