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We were cruising the website for this month’s post and we came across several articles about how dancing is beneficial for older individuals as well. Dancing may be able to keep feeling young and possibly staving off early onset dementia. If the New England Journal of Medicine believes it then maybe we should get an early start and learn how to dance. This quote from the Senior Advocate News website confirms it: “Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City studied 469 people over age 75 and found that ballroom dancing was associated with a lowered risk of dementia. The mentally challenging aspects of dancing — following complex dance steps, moving in time and staying with the rhythm of music — is believed to be responsible. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.”

Granted some of us are not up to the more intricate steps involved in most of the ballroom dances but starting today and trying something new each week is a great way to start. You don’t need a partner right away. I mean Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly danced with chairs, broomsticks, coats and whatever else that came in handy. So, GET OUT THERE AND DANCE TO THE MUSIC!

You know I have often wondered if dancing was part of our being or souls. We all like to dance in one way or another. Since caveman times we have produced music and moved our bodies to that music. We as individuals and as a group have always come up with ways to “Dance to the Music”. Whether that dancing had a purpose such as to bring on the rain or to celebrate as in thanking whatever gods were worshiped at the time for a bountiful harvest. We have even come up with dances to inspire mating. That is the main reason I believe that dancing is built into our very bodies. Mother nature requires us to propagate or ensure that the human race continues so we must have the dancing gene built into us to further that end.

Granted some of us are better at dancing than others just as some of us are better at attracting a mate than others are. So, even if you think you cannot dance you just need to believe that the ability is hard-wired into your system. All you have to do to bring it out is to TRY. Learn new steps, practice them by yourself if you are not real good yet! With all the books and videos out there about dancing you are bound to find one that you can comprehend. As we said in an earlier post dancing is great exercise and can be fun if you don’t worry about what other people think and just do it. Remember if cavemen can do it you can too!

Each year we make New Year’s Resolutions and most of us want to get fit, lose a little weight, or maybe have more fun. When I do clean I like to turn up my favorite tunes and rock out. Some of my favorites I put on a CD or put it in a playlist on my computer. This way I can get some much needed exercise, my house gets cleaned and I have a good time doing it. When I say “Dancing without a Partner” is a euphemism for cleaning. My kids think I am a little nuts but hey, what teenager doesn’t think their parents are a little strange.

So make a list of your favorite tunes, put them on a cd and play them on your stereo or boombox and get to cleaning. Shaking your booty while vacuuming makes the chore do by pretty fast. Cleaning the tub can be a little bit fun with Bruce Springsteen or The Pointer Sister’s blasting out Pink Cadillac or Neutron Dance. Just remember to put a few slow ones on there to slow down your heart rate or maybe just to slugged down some water to rehydrate. Even cleaning your house you need to stay hydrated. Water doesn’t have any calories!
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