5 Ways Dance Boosts Happiness!

Dancing has brought happiness to people of all ages. We all need a little boost of happiness, and dancing delivers that, 100% of the time. What drug can promise those results? The best part? It's 100% healthy for your body.

So, the next time you are feeling lonely, sad, frustrated, or angry, TRY DANCING! There is tremendous power in connecting with music, people, and your body. The science of dancing has proven that EVERYONE can benefit from dancing. Not only is it a physical workout, but it is also a way to relieve stress, celebrate life, bring people together, and it can tap into a part of ourselves we often have a hard time expressing.

Here's 5 ways Dance Can Boost Your Happiness!

1 - Dancing is Happy Exercise

For a lot of people, exercise feels like a chore. When exercising feels like work, it's hard to make it an effective habit, which is why dancing has such a positive effect on children. Just an hour of moderate dancing can burn 330 to 500 calories, depending on your body weight. Although vigorously running may burn more calories, it is much more difficult to sustain because the repetitiveness is boring. In contrast, boredom is seldom a word used to describe the feeling while dancing.

And as with any form of exercise, dancing starts releasing the chemicals that cause happiness: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.

2 - Dancing Stimulates Happy Chemicals

As with any form of exercise, dancing stimulates the release of important happiness chemicals, particularly dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. When you dance, the chemicals interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce the perception of pain, increasing the pleasure feeling in your body.

3 - Dancing Reduces Stress

As children have increased levels of stress, aggression and negative emotions, dancing can be a relaxing escape, especially when accompanied with great music. Dancing improves your mood, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Also when you set a goal in dancing, such as learning a new move, step, or technique, a huge surge of dopamine motivates you to take action towards your goals and thus reinforce pleasure emotions when achieving them.

4 - Dancing Brings People Together

Dance classes create unique opportunities to connect with other people. When we connect with others, it activates the oxytocin hormone creating intimacy, trust, and strengthening relationships. It gives you the feeling of significance and belonging. Dancing also brings people together for a good cause, like flash mobs to raise awareness for social causes or dance-a-thons to raise funds to help the community. And just like dancing, giving to a worthy cause can be very satisfying, too.

5 - Dancing Can Heal

Dancing can be a cathartic experience. It can help you find ways to express yourself and allow you to get lost in the moment when your body and mind need it most. When you pair music with movement, it can be one of the most effective tools for releasing negative emotions and replacing them with positive ones.

All in all, dancing has all the elements to make you happy, and now you know why you feel pleasure after attending a dance class. So, continue dancing like nobody's watching” it's one of the best forms to stay happy, healthy, and uniquely you!

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