"Stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health - it rusts your spirit and your hips." - Terri Guillemets
We begin
dancing, our heart rate increases, the number of blood vessels increases,
increased blood flow delivers more oxygen and nutrients to our muscles, and our
circulatory system becomes more efficient as was discussed in last week's post.
Additionally, our nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems are called upon to
work at their peak levels, and our bodies reap the benefits.
As we
dance, our nervous system responds in a variety of ways. The nervous system is continually growing and
adapting to accommodate the body’s needs. Each time we engage in a new
movement, a new neural pathway is formed. This pathway is the route that a
message travels on to go from the brain to the muscle and back to the brain
again and is made up of specialized cells called neurons. Messages are passed
along the neurons with the help of substances called neurotransmitters. As we
begin to move, the brain, which is the control center of the nervous system,
signals the body to release extra proteins and neurotransmitters. The proteins
promote new neuron growth, and the neurotransmitters help to improve the speed
at which messages travel the pathways. These new, efficient neural pathways
increase muscle responses and coordination.
Additionally,
when we dance, the brain releases endorphins, which are hormones that promote
feelings of happiness and euphoria. These feelings help improve moods, and
studies have shown that physically active people recover more quickly from mild
depression and have a healthier mental state.
Dance can
also create a healthier skeletal system.
Since dance is a weight bearing activity, it can positively affect bone
density. The cells in our skeletal
system respond to increased weight loads, or stressors, by increasing bone
tissue to protect the body. The constant
impact with the floor that occurs when dancers execute dance steps, jump, and
practice choreographed falls increases the load, or amount of weight, the body
must support. The bones respond by adding more layers of protein cells called
collagen to support the load. These
layers increase bone density and help protect against broken bones and stress
fractures. Dancing can also decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis, which
is a bone disease that manifests itself in brittle bones that break because
they are not dense enough to support the body and the loads placed upon it.
Lastly, the
muscular system’s response to dance is also a healthy one. As we dance and call
upon our muscles to move our bodies in various ways, several things happen. As
physical activity increases, the number of mitochondria found in muscle cells
increases. The mitochondria are the organelles found in individual cells, which
produce the ATP, or energy, that the body needs to move. The more mitochondria
in our muscles cells, the greater the energy production capabilities. As
muscles are exercised continually, individual muscle fiber size increases by
40-50%. As fiber size increases, muscles grow stronger, the nervous system must
create more neural pathways, and muscles generate more power. Additionally, connective tissue like tendons
and ligaments also grow stronger, and the body develops greater protection
against injuries.
Clearly,
dance provides the body with a multitude of benefits and can create happy,
healthy people when they take the time to learn to dance in ways that are
anatomically correct for their individual bodies.
