Salsa Classes: Good for Mental Health?
Research is finally catching up to the amazing fact that Salsa classes and Salsa dancing Are basically one of the best things you can do. There are physical benefits but the mental benefits are amazing, especially as you get older because it has incredible influence over memory. When compared to things like physical exercise and other activities, including Sudoku, Salsa keeps the mind young. So, if you’re planning to take Salsa dance classes, Here are three amazing things that you will gain for your physical and mental well-being.
Community
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Toronto and the rest of the world, I knew that now more than ever, we needed Salsa dance in our lives. With mental health at its lowest, Salsa Classes give you Vitamin C (that’s connection!). Salsa helped me feel less alone in the world. There’s something to be said when you come into a dance class and you have people physically around you. It’s you and your classmates and the positive energy is flowing and you’re vibing to Latin music.
I joined Salsa dance classes in order to feel confident, but I stayed for the community, the connection, the friends and the relationships. One of the best cures for the blues is having healthy connections in your life. Salsa provides that whether that’s in a dance class or that’s on a Salsa dance floor. I’m always excited and looking forward to stepping on the dance floor because I know my people are there.
Physical Benefits
Raise your hand. If you hate working out. I think that will be most people at least in the beginning. Now I love doing yoga and just taking better care of myself. But at the beginning, it was really hard and Salsa dance helped me to start to take better care of my body.
As I started to dance more, I wanted to be physically lighter. I wanted to be quicker because Salsa is all about speed. And the simple fact is that you burn a lot of calories, and you do a lot of steps when you’re dancing. I swear, I feel like I could lose a pound or two just from one night of dancing.And here’s the best part because you’re connecting to really positive people and you’re having fun, you come out with a massive smile on top of a slightly slimmer waist.
A general rule for me is that the thing that you can control the most is what you put in your body and what you put out. And so, when I felt overwhelmed with life, when I felt frustrated, I could go on a dance floor and physically release that energy. And so, on top of the physical benefits of dance, there’s the mental benefit of releasing that anxiousness and frustration, and even gaining some joy and friends in the process.
Mental Health
I didn’t realize until years later that the biggest wins weren’t just the physical benefits and the community but the combination of the two which improved my mental health. As you dance more and grow and improve, you gain confidence. I always believe confidence comes from competence – and it is all your own hard work that made it happen.
It’s incredible! You continue to learn and grow and challenge yourself by learning new moves and dancing with new partners. It is incredible, rewarding, enriching and challenging. So the challenge, the connection and the physical movement all combine to make me feel more balanced in the world and mentally I am much stronger than when I started dancing.
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you coming in week to week, having fun, socializing, and letting loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here to check our current schedule.
If you have any questions you would like me to answer here are some ways you can contact me: message me on Instagram (torontodanceSalsa), on Twitter (#torontodanceSalsa), on Facebook (Toronto Dance Salsa) or email me at [email protected].
