For many, it is one of the most enjoyable activities, regardless of whether they sing well or badly. What matters is raising your voice, feeling the song and letting go. These are its main benefits.
When we sing our body releases endorphins, serotonin and dopamine, the “happiness” chemicals that improve our mood and make us feel good. It also involves expressing our emotions, which is good for mental health.
Singing makes us feel more positive, lively and motivated, but its effects are not only concentrated emotionally, it also contributes to physical health because it is an aerobic activity that improves our circulation, the nervous system and the respiratory system.
It is scientifically proven that singing requires focused concentration, which blocks out worries and distracts from problems, and requires deep, controlled breathing, which counteracts anxiety.
10 benefits it brings to health
1. Promotes brain function
Singing can be a useful exercise to improve the connection between the different areas of the brain. In addition, it helps in the treatment of certain speech problems, such as stuttering and aphasia, among other neurological problems such as non-congenital brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease or autism spectrum disorders.
The learning and training of singing is considered as a “mental gymnastics” that promotes new synapses, therefore, neurogenesis and brain plasticity, something that is key, especially in older adults, to prevent or delay cognitive decline.
2. Improves lung function
We take little account of the health of our lungs, as most rarely use them to their fullest capacity. Singing requires increasing lung capacity and exercising the muscles around the rib cage.
That is why singing has been used to help rehabilitate people recovering from lung conditions and, more recently, to benefit those left with the aftermath of Covid-19.
3. Fight stress and help you relax
Breathing correctly and with more awareness is good for releasing anxiety and helping us move into a state of rest and relaxation. So if you’ve had a bad day, try singing. We promise its anti-stress properties will help you forget your worries and just be in the moment.
4. Strengthens memory
Singing can help improve mental alertness and memory, as it involves concentrating on several things at once, engaging many areas of the brain in the process. Music is also increasingly becoming a feature of dementia care, as it has been shown to be a powerful tool for awakening memories, often long after other forms of communication have subsided.
5. Strengthen affective ties
Singing with other people can help build connections and feelings of togetherness. Recent research has also found that relationships between oneself and another are better synchronized and accelerate social bonding.
6. Express emotions and feelings
Singing is the perfect way to let go and express how we feel. Promotes well-being and brings a healthy dose of joy, singing can be beneficial for people living with persistent pain or depression.
7. Increase confidence
Many people are nervous about performing in public, but singing can help boost self-confidence and boost self-esteem. The more we do it, the safer we will feel.
8. Improves body posture
Singing professionally corrects the position of the cervical vertebrae and hypolordosis, which is the increased curvature of the spine. The person who sings tends by itself to adopt more correct postures, because there is a relationship between the appropriate way to position the body and the tone of the voice.
9. It favors verbal communication
Another positive fact about singing is that it often teaches you to articulate sounds better and, consequently, to pronounce words better, even more so if it is in other languages. Because of this, singing songs is a recurring exercise in language courses.
Participating in a choir could also have positive effects on blood pressure, since such activity stimulates a synchronization of heart and breathing patterns.
10. Singing is for everyone
The good news is that it doesn’t matter if we sing in tune or not, the health benefits will remain the same. The really important thing is to enjoy the melodies, let yourself go, have fun and experience for yourself the well-being that singing provides.
