Shall We Dance?
We all know that remaining physically active is important to staying healthy, but it seems that you can take your well-being to another level by applying your mind to the motion. New evidence suggests that expressive forms of mind-body exercise, such as dance, tai chi, and yoga, can have significant overall health benefits.
A recent New England Journal of Medicine study of people ages 75-85 found that dancing several times a week correlated with a reduced risk of developing dementia. And although frequent bicycling and stair climbing offer clear physical benefits, researchers found that neither was associated with a lower risk of dementia.
The thought of dancing might seem intimidating to someone with physical limitations, but Alan Kremen, a surgeon in the San Francisco Bay area, believes that the key to learning—or relearning—any type of movement is simply to start from the beginning. "It's amazing to see a 70-year-old patient who is recovering from a stroke learn to walk again," says Kremen, who's studied dance for many years. "They might be supported on both sides and take fifteen minutes to take two steps. The way that dance is taught, when it's taught well, is the same. The idea is to start as if you know nothing." Returning to that true beginner's mind while you're moving, Kremen says, can "make dance a journey within."
San Francisco-based Sonja Riket, who became a professional movement therapist after a long career in modern dance, teaches her students to add mindfulness to body motion, insisting that everyday physical actions can be re-learned in ways that relieve physical stress and promote relaxation. Riket says that her clients are consistently surprised when they find that they're able to perform simple tasks—walking, getting out of a chair—with far greater ease after movement therapy. "Sometimes they need support, in every sense," but they become more independent, adds Riket, who also teaches Argentine tango as a tool for helping people relate to each other.
There are plenty of options if you want to enter the world of emotive-motion. Bruce Van Horn, author of the 2002 video Yoga for Healthy Living, has come up with a meditative dance called "Yomenco," which combines traditional meditative yoga poses with lively Flamenco music. "Seniors appreciate the gentle, sexy movements," says Van Horn. "It's a lot of fun." And those who aren't ready for the more challenging poses can still move their hands to the music.
Other low-impact activities, like the ancient Chinese art of tai chi, can be a gentle but apparently effective health-boosting option for anyone, including people who are injured or new to exercise. Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine's Center for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), which studies neurodegenerative diseases, are in the process of investigating whether tai chi and another Chinese mind-body practice called Qi Gong can reduce the disabilities associated with Parkinson's disease by comparing their effects with a walking-and-cycling exercise routine. It's a follow-up to a previous study at Emory that found that regularly performing tai chi could significantly reduce the risk of falls in people age 70 and older—after a 15-week tai chi program, the participants were 48 percent less likely to fall. Researchers concluded that the tai chi improved their concentration, and therefore their balance.
"There were no strength changes," says leading researcher Steven L. Wolf. "The basis was far more behavioral than physical, which raises a very interesting idea, that [the tai chi] makes people far more aware of how they move because of the slow rhythmic nature of the training and the repetition of the movements."
But in a similar 2001 study, researchers at the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) did find an increase in leg strength after introducing tai chi exercises to sedentary men and women ages 65-96. The subjects reported that their physical functioning improved, and it did so in only three months—surprising, since previous research had suggested that longer periods were required to see significant benefits. And only 18 percent of the participants dropped out of the six-month program, which included classes two times a week. (Studies have shown that when sedentary people start an exercise program, it's typical for about half to dropout before the program ends.)
John Fisher, the ORI study's co-investigator, says there was nothing magical or mystical about the tai chi—it simply strengthened the participants' lower bodies, improved their balance and posture, and increased their "self-efficacy," as he puts it, or self-assurance in their physical abilities. "Their confidence accelerates after they see themselves improve," he explains. And though people may be reluctant to try something that seems so foreign, mastering the moves just takes practice: "You might dismiss it, ‘Oh, what are these Chinese martial arts?’ Well, give it a try. Do what you can."
Christina Ianzito is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. Reported by Matt Brockwell.
