Benefits of Dancing for Mental and Physical Health

Dancing is one of the best ways to improve your mental health and into good physical shape without you even knowing it. What makes it great is that anyone from any age, background or gender can try and you don’t need any prior experience with it.
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Not only is does dancing benefit your physical health, but it can also improve your mental state which a lot of people can surely benefit from these days. So if you’ve never been to a dance class before or have no idea where or why you should start, let’s discover more on how dancing can significantly impact your health and how you can get started.
Different types of dance include:
- Salsa
- Jazz
- Ballroom
- Ballet
- Tap dancing
- Pole dancing
- Hip-hop
Mental Benefits of Dancing

1. Improved Cognition
Research has shown that dancing can improve and boost your cognitive abilities as you age. Some studies have shown that physical activities like dancing are strongly linked with the development and functioning of parts of the brain that are responsible for memory, organization, planning and decision making.
2. Keeps the brain active
Similar to a lot of ball sports, dancing requires the body to work along with the brain and challenges it to stay active through being responsive and sharp. Not only does it challenge the brain, but it also helps you to improve hand-eye coordination and responsiveness.
3. Boost your mood
Dancing is very similar to a sport; however, you can remove the competitive side out of the frame in most cases. Unless you dance to compete, the main purpose of dancing is for self-pleasure and enjoyment. Having fun while dancing is the primary purpose why most people pick it up in the first place. Dancing can certainly help to improve your mood and can work as an escape from a tough and demanding day.
4. Better self-esteem
A lot of people struggle to pick up dancing due to their insecurities. If people weren’t afraid of letting loose and being themselves in dance, more people would pick it up. By trying it in the first place and realizing that its fun will help you to realize that there’s no reason to feel insecure. Overtime the improved self-esteem from dancing will leak into other aspects of your life where you may feel insecure.
5. Makes you social
Unless you prefer to dance on your own behind closed doors, a lot of people enjoy the benefit of meeting new people and catching up with friends. Just like most other hobbies, the social aspect can become one of its main appeals. Dancing helps you to integrate and get along with other people who share the same interests and passions as you.
The Physical Benefit of Dancing

1. Helps you lose weight
With obesity rates being at an all-time high in the UAE, dancing can certainly help a lot of people who are trying to lose weight but don’t know where to start.
Dancing can be as intense as you like it or at a pace most suitable for you. Dancing can challenge you to push yourself while still having fun, so you don’t feel the strain. Regardless, the physical requirements to perform a dance will get you burning calories in no time.
2. Improved body balance, endurance, and strength
Another quite obvious benefit of dancing is that it will improve your overall strength, stability, and endurance. Dance activates almost every part of your body from head to toe.
This encourages the body to work as one and to balance each other out with every movement and pose. As a result, your body balance, strength and endurance will improve, and you can notice a difference outside of dance when done consistently.
3. Safe for people with health conditions
If you have a chronic health issue, recovering from an injury or have a health complication that limits your motor abilities, dancing may be the perfect form of exercise for you. With the large varieties of dance available, there are ones that are suitable for people who have limited physical ability.
Dance can also be modified to suit your personal needs and preferences. When searching for a class, look for one that is tailored towards your physical impairment. If you’re in a class or studio, speak with the trainer or teacher before you start so you can have a modified plan.
How to Get Started

There are so many ways and different avenues where you can get started. With the large varieties of dancing styles available, you’ll be able to find the one most fit for your purpose as well as the most enjoyable. You can search the internet for online programs and courses or local pop gyms and attend classes.
The UAE also has dance studios available all catered towards people who want to share their enthusiasm for the hobby as well as cranking up their fitness levels. Search around until you find the one that can fulfil your needs and your circumstances.
Head over to the Okadoc app to immediately book an appointment with your health practitioner.
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