Many years of top level professional ballet experience gives me a very good understanding that ballet enhances body, mind and spirit, but science seems to finally be taking notice. A recent crop of articles reveal the myriad of benefits doing ballet holds for people of all ages and abilities.
Here’s a look at a variety of ballet-related findings and op-eds.
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Why feeling taller tricks your brain into making you feel more confident and why your smartphone addiction might be making you depressed?
The next time you’re feeling sad and depressed, pay close attention to your posture. According to cognitive scientists, you’ll likely be slumped over with your neck and shoulders curved forward and head looking down.
While it’s true that you’re sitting this way because you’re sad, it’s also true that you’re sad because you’re sitting this way. This philosophy, known as embodied cognition, is the idea that the relationship between our mind and body runs both ways, meaning our mind influences the way our body reacts, but the form of our body also triggers our mind.
This isn’t just about displaying confidence to others around; this is about actually changing your hormones–increased levels of testosterone and decreased levels of cortisol, or the stress hormone, in the brain.
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These delicious healthy smoothie recipes make it easy to eat healthy and get the nutrients and protein you need.
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The summer is all around us but it's never too late to get your body in to a lean and toned shape for the summer holiday season!
Summer is the season when everyone wants to look good. Here are seven tips to get a toned and lean body this summer, without too much of extreme effort.
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Nowadays anyone can see dancers perform thanks to television, where movies like Center Stage and shows like So You Think You Can Dance are accessible to the masses.
Nevertheless, ballet still remains off-limits for a large percentage of the population—particularly young people and, especially, young men.
If you or those around you are reluctant to go see a ballet, probably one of many misconceptions is skewing the perception of what is actually an exciting and dynamic art. So here we debunk the most common myths about ballet:
It’s a Girl Thing
Most men find it very emasculating to sit down to watch sparkly tutus and men in tights. However, ballet goes far deeper into the complexity of human beings than just the tutus they wear and the slippers they dance on.
Ballet dancers are incredibly athletic and you can see it in superhuman jumps to breakneck turns across the stage. The men and women train from a young age to perform physical feats that few athletes from other sports could even attempt. So if you like athletic sports like Basketball, you may also enjoy the mind-blowing amount of muscular strength and power ballet dancers display.
When it comes to fitness, it's important to consider the direction you would like to take that would bring you consistent as well as long term benefits. Something that would enhance your natural beauty, helping you to appear looking graceful, fit and elegant.
Ballet offers a sustainable mind-body fitness that delivers exquisite results while also accommodating a wide range of physical abilities. It’s a progressive technique that actually gets more intense as your form gets better. Whether you’re 9 or 99, ballet offers an elegant way to develop strength, awareness, flexibility, coordination, balance, and agility. Learning a beautiful art form also engenders feelings of accomplishment and enjoyment. And because it addresses the key elements of fitness in one beautifully designed technique, doing ballet keeps you looking youthful and feeling vibrant at any age!
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For most, taking a dance class may seem trivial, but in many cases becomes the life changing experience that so many are seeking. If you don’t believe it, just look at this list of the most notable benefits of dancing. It’s evident that dance positively impacts all aspects of your life: physical, emotional and mental health, social life and more. Additionally, people of all ages can reap these benefits: children, students, adults and seniors. Ready to start dancing today? Check out our classes HERE!
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Watching ballet is one of the most wonderful and captivating experiences. Everything is beautiful and perfect. But to reach this extraordinary perfection, you need a great deal of creative intelligence, effort and teamwork.
Ballet is a microcosm of successful approaches to work, which we can all learn and benefit from. So here they are:
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Fat makes you fat? Not true, of course. In fact, healthy fats can extend your life, studies show, and they actually give your skin—and even your brain—a boost.
But should you really add butter to your coffee? Are supplements the best way to get your fill of fatty acids? While fat is no longer demonized as a diet no-no, there are still a lot of misconceptions out there.
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In a recent study, ballet dancers and people with no dance experience were compared by measuring their emotional sensitivity when viewing others.
The participants were monitored by putting electrodes on the tips of their fingers and measuring the sweat response triggered by an emotional reaction.
The dancers were able to read emotions better and their body reacted in a stronger way than the ones in the control group.
Here is an explanation why ballet helps you develop more empathetical understanding of others.
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