For as long as possible, many of today’s retirees want to maintain their mental acuity. For that reason, rather than playing Sudoku or Scrabble with friends every Wednesday and Friday night, they head to a scheduled retirement community event – or the community center in town – to learn the Viennese waltz, cha-cha, or the tango. Why? Because the benefits of dancing are abundant. Those who reap the benefits of dancing keep both their brain and body in better shape.
Joy and Happiness
Chances are, through the years, you’ve worked hard. You’ve been a responsible adult, you may have raised a family, you paid your bills and taxes, went to work every day, took care of your lawn, etc., etc. It’s time for you to enjoy retirement to its fullest. It’s time to concentrate on joy and happiness.
That’s the thing about dancing – it makes you happy. The joyful feeling people get from dancing is possibly one of its greatest benefits. The dancing itself, as well as the music you listen to, causes the release of certain chemicals in your brain. Among them are serotonin and dopamine. Both can make you feel socially connected and happy. What’s more, they make you less aware of and/or susceptible to fatigue and pain. An effective treatment for depression, dance/movement therapy has been proven to lessen the deterioration of cognitive abilities.
Dementia Risks May Be Lessened
If you could stave off memory loss by doing something as fun and enjoyable as dancing, wouldn’t you? At the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a 21-year study was conducted that examined how the risk of dementia was impacted by a variety of regular activities. Dancing/physical activities were pitted against reading/crossword/traditional activities. The results?
- Crosswords reduce dementia by 47%
- The risk of dementia was reduced by 76% by dancing
(Just for the record, in this study, the risk of dementia was not affected at all by golfing or bicycling.)
Learn Something New Today
Even more studies have shown that when retirement age individuals learn something new – such as a new dance style – it can help keep dementia at bay and strengthens the connection within the brain. For this reason, and more, you should try to learn new things and challenge yourself as often as you can. Learning a new dance (or two or three) is a great place to start.
Live in a Retirement Community That Offers Numerous Opportunities for Exercise and Dance
The best in retirement living is offered by our community, courtesy of a unique combination of personalized service, premier residences, lifestyle programs, numerous on-site amenities, a knowledgeable care team, and much more.
Dance your cares away at one of our many celebrations, events, or scheduled activities. Not only will you be getting the beneficial exercise your body and mind need, you will be able to participate in socialization at its finest. Though numerous sites and attractions can be found in town, you may never want to leave the community, with all there is to enjoy and experience.
If you’d like to talk about the sale or lease of one of our residences, please phone 228-206-0138. Any other questions can be directed to someone at 228-702-0142. We also have a convenient online form you can use to start a conversation.
See for yourself what our residences look like. Schedule a tour today.
