Guest Post by Emily John
Are you ready to shake your groove thing?
Dancing is one activity that comes with multiple benefits. It helps you develop coordination, strength, and flexibility. It improves your posture, balance, and agility. But the best part? You don’t need to be a pro to learn dancing; even beginners will see a difference in their body after just a few sessions.
Social dancing can be as simple as waltzing at an event or as challenging as learning New York-style alongside other dancers at a studio. Regardless of where your current skill level falls on the spectrum, there are numerous social dances that are beneficial for your health. Read on to find out more about how social dancing is beneficial to your health and wellbeing!
Breathe Easy and Enhance Your Mood
Toxic relationships, long hours at work, family issues, PCOS weight loss and other stressors can take a toll on your mood.
Over time, these factors can lead to anxiety and depression, which can be difficult to reverse. Social dancing can help you manage your mood and improve your overall mental health. It’s an activity that allows you to focus on the present moment, allowing you to let go of your worries and stress while you move to the music. It’s an excellent way to foster positive connections with others, which can help you feel less alone and lead to support during trying times.
Additionally, dancing is a low-impact activity that doesn’t require much effort. It’s a great way to exercise without
putting too much strain on your joints, knees, and ankles.
Promote Healthy Weight Loss
Weight gain can occur for many reasons — a change in diet, less exercise, stress, or a combination of these factors. Social dancing can help you shed some pounds, but it’s important that you make healthy choices.
First, choose a clean eating plan. It’s a good idea to avoid high-calorie items like pizza, fries, and burgers. If you’re hungry after a dance session, have a healthy snack, like a few pieces of fruit or a handful of nuts, instead.
Next, find an activity that you enjoy doing, whether it’s dancing, running, or yoga. It’s important that this hobby is something you look forward to so that you don’t burn out. Finally, don’t forget to get enough sleep and create time for self-care.
Improve Your Balance and Coordination
Social dancing helps strengthen your core, back, and leg muscles, improving your posture, balance, and coordination. It also exercises your shoulders, arms, and fingers, helping you improve your typing speed, typing accuracy, and mouse clicking speed.
If you play an instrument, playing will further boost your coordination and motor skills. If you’re new to dancing, you may want to start out with a light practice — maybe an hour or two a week. As your body adapts to dancing, increase the length of your sessions until you’re up to three times a week for optimum benefits.
As you start to dance, you may notice that you’re not as precise as you were before. Don’t fret, this is normal! In
fact, it’s a good thing. It means that you’re training your brain and body to be less calculated and more spontaneous. As you progress, you’ll find that your coordination improves, which helps in other aspects of your life, too, like sports or driving.
Jumpstart Your Cardio Fitness
Dancing is a great way to jump-start your cardio fitness. If you’re new to dancing, you may start off with a light practice. As your fitness improves, you can choose more challenging dances. You may want to incorporate other cardio activities into your dance practice, like jogging or biking to increase your heart rate and boost your fitness even more.
If you’re a beginner, it’s important to start slowly and gradually increase the length of your sessions over time. Just like with strength training, you don’t want to push too much in the beginning. It’s important to take breaks and hydrate often when participating in a cardio dance practice. Be sure to stretch frequently, too.
Strengthen Your Core and Back Muscles
Social dancing helps strengthen your core and back muscles. It’s an excellent way to build endurance, too. This can help you avoid back pain, which can be common among people who sit at a desk for long hours or women who went through treatments like IVF.
As you get more advanced at dancing, you can also incorporate back bends, crunches, and planks into your routine. Doing this regularly can help you strengthen your core and back muscles, improving your posture. As with any other type
of exercise, it’s important to warm up before you hit the dance floor.
Here’s a simple mobilisation sequence to get warmed up:
- Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your knees slightly, and put your hands on your hips.
- Rotate your knees to the left and bend your torso to the right.
– Rotate your knees to the right, and bend your torso to the left. - Rotate your hips in a circle to the right and to the left
- Stand upright, and lift your arms above your head.
-Lean to the left, then to the right - Roll your shoulders back in circle motions, then roll them forwards
- Look left and right, up and down and then tilt your ear toward each shoulder
Stress and Anxiety Relief
Social dancing is an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that dancing can reduce stress and anxiety, even when the activity is done in a group. Even if you’re a beginner, social dancing can help relieve stress.
Dancing is a great way to connect with others, which can help you manage your anxiety. It’s also a low-impact activity that doesn’t require much effort, so you can dance almost anytime and anywhere.
You can dance in the comfort of your own home, at a studio, or even at work. Participating in a dance class, like salsa or swing dancing, can help you reduce your stress even more. It’s an excellent way to meet new people and make new friends.
If you’re looking for more ways to relieve your anxiety, you can also try meditation, yoga, or progressive muscle relaxation.
Bottom Line
Social dancing is an excellent way to get fit and stay healthy. It’s also a great way to relieve stress, make new friends, and foster positive connections with others. If you’ve been thinking about getting into dancing, now is the perfect time to start!
Don’t let the thought of “not being good enough” stop you. It’s one of the most inclusive activities, so there’s plenty of room for you to join in, too. Ready, set, dance!
