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Kapag Tumibok ang Puso - Why Dance is the Best Thing You Can Do to Your Body

  • Francis Fresnillo
  • Jan 22, 2022
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jan 24, 2022

By Francis Fresnillo




Dancing for many individuals and generations alike is a way of expressing emotions, and dance for exercising and health optimizing activities. Dance itself not only works with all major muscle groups but also requires coordination, flexibility, and strength. Research presented at the American Heart Association found that older Latinos who didn’t exercise made big improvements when they enrolled in salsa classes. Furthermore, dancing also celebrates happiness, culture, aging, and how individuals interact and become social. A study that looks into the leisure of older people concludes “findings show participation in the class offered older student’s opportunities for dance and music engagement, active and successful aging, health and well-being, social connection and purposeful leisure.” Dancing as a way of leisure and activity provides enjoyment, and prolongs the quality of life of older people. Of course, dancing can be suitable for beginners as well, Since dancing engages your entire body, it helps you build muscle mass overall. Which is a key in losing weight, and burning calories more than fat itself.



Other than burning calories, and losing weight, dance also has numerous positive health benefits in our body. For starters, every form of dance improves balance and coordination. A good example of this is the Argentinian Tango which requires many twists, leg kicks, and torso rotations. It heavily requires keeping the center of gravity balanced and stable to make sure you don’t lose your step as you move around. While group dancing relies on coordination as all dancers need to be in tune for the performance to work.



Dancing also affects one's posture and position. An article by LiveStrong claims that “The muscles, located around the spine, contract to help you maintain posture. When you don't have good muscle tone, the muscles have to work harder to contract, so they get tired more quickly.” Dancing itself works the muscle’s core, stomach, back, as well as the muscles that surround the spine. In other words, dancing, and training help you gain better posture and muscle tone.


Lastly, Dance improves one’s mood, it is leisurely, and it focuses on a person's state of mind. As we dance our mind and body only concentrate on the leisure side of dancing. The brain releases dopamine which relaxes and gives a feeling of happiness, and adrenaline which gives the body energy and puts it in a state of surprise.


Moreover, a study that looks into White Matter and Fractional Anisotropy defines dance as a “pleasurable and captivating activity, which involves aerobic exercise, sensorimotor stimulation, and cognitive, visuospatial, social, and emotional engagement.” The studies indicated that the broad multimodal stimulation had greater benefit for White Matter Integrity than aerobic exercise alone, mainly walking and having good nutrition. To add to this combined exercise and cognitive interventions have more benefits for cognitive, physical, and mental health in older populations. To further deepen the importance of White Matter in dancing, the study has also stated that despite positive changes in the WM in the Dance group, the researchers found no cognitive benefit for any of the intervention groups.




Benefits of dancing in epidemiological studies found that ballroom dance has also been associated with a protective effect against dementia onset in older adults. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that dementia developed in 124 subjects, Alzheimer's in 61, Vascular Dementia in 30, Mixed Dementia in 25, and other types of dementia in 8.


Among leisure activities like dancing, reading, and playing musical instruments, were associated with a reduced risk of dementia. In the same study the data, which also corresponds to participation in an activity for one day per week, was further associated with a reduction of 7 percent in the risk of dementia. Results for Alzheimer's, as well as Vascular Dementia were also similar.


The inclusivity and health benefits of dance are truly outstanding and are a hallmark in exploring the brain as well as the body. The best thing that we could do as citizens is dance! It is in our nature to be expressive, and push ourselves to further learn about the scientific benefits of dance as children, adolescents, and teens. From the wise words of Rumi a great Persian poet “Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.” Dance is the best thing you could do with your body!



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