I read recently that Cristo Fernandez, who played soccer star Dani Rojas on the hit Apple TV show “Ted Lasso,” is training with a pro US soccer team and could sign as a professional player. He was famous for shouting out that “Football is Life,” a testament to his enthusiasm for living life to its fullest.
I love that show. It’s full of positive spirit and energy. While I enjoy Christo’s enthusiastic delivery of that wonderful line, I personally find myself replacing it with “Dancing is Life!” As Friedrich Nietzsche famously stated, “Let that day be lost to us on which we did not dance once!”
Dance fulfills so many aspects of healthy living that, to me anyway, it feels like the perfect recipe for a long and healthy lifespan. It combines movement, social interaction, balance, increased heart rate, coordination, and music. It has been proven to significantly lower the risk of memory-related diseases like Alzheimer’s. You can’t help but feel great when dancing.
Healthspan is the new lifespan
For some time, health and fitness experts focused on helping us live longer lives, known as extending our lifespan. But in recent years, this has been replaced by the concept of healthspan. This is the ability to remain agile and active as long as possible before eventually facing the inevitable cliff we must all fall over some day.
And the one thing that all longevity experts agree on is that there’s one habit we need to have if we hope to enjoy a long healthspan. These specialists are focused on optimizing our quality of life by helping people stay mentally and physically strong, active and as disease-free as possible.
So what is that habit they say is essential?
According to Dr. John La Puma, MD, a board-certified longevity expert who authored the book Indoor Epidemic, “The most powerful antidote to premature aging is free. It doesn’t come in a pill, a powder or an app. It’s just outside your door, and it may be the most overlooked, lifesaving medicine your body has ever needed.”
The best daily habit
That daily habit is to do at least 30 minutes of physical movement every day. It’s that simple.
Another board-certified longevity expert, Dr. Nisha Chellam, MD, adds that “Movement is the single most important and evidence-validated intervention to improve both healthspan and lifespan.” He points out that movement is completely free. It’s available right outside our door anytime of day or night.
People who move regularly have “lower blood pressures and lower BMI than sedentary individuals,” he says. “Regulation of the autonomic nervous system is better when the heart rate variability (HRV) is higher.” Your HRV increases when you exercise regularly.
In my posts, I often mention how dance is one of the best forms of fitness, because it’s true. Dance fits this role perfectly. We’ve got students in our group classes who come just because the love the ability to stay active. It’s especially nice when you have someone to share that active lifestyle with, but even if you’re single, learning to dance is a great skill that will give you confidence in social settings, improve your posture and balance, and prepare you to be able to jump into a social dance setting easily at any time.
Best of all, it’s never too late to get started, even if you’ve been sedentary. Get started gradually, and if you’re really out of shape make sure to seek medical advice first, but make a point of getting started. Dance is the perfect way to start moving. Check our calendar for the first week of any of the dances we teach in our Level 1 program to get moving, even if you have two left feet.
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