Two Left Feet

Massage therapists from Advanced Healthcare Associates will be here on September 23rd from 5:30 to 7:30 pm to give neck and shoulder massage to our students.  There is no charge to you — this is a special promotion to introduce us to their health and wellness clinic, which is located just four blocks from Two Left Feet.

The answer to staying healthy and happy as you age may be as close as the nearest dance floor, according to a chorus of studies.

Dancing offers mental, physical, and social benefits, while perhaps reducing the risk of illness and even counteracting the ravages of aging, a study at Queen’s University Belfast found.

“It alleviates social isolation and quite literally helps take away the aches and pains associated with older age,” said researcher Dr. Jonathan Skinner.

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that ballroom dancing helps prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Another study found that …  [read the rest of the article here][and here is the original Einstein College of Medicine report]

Friend of the studio Peggy R. sent us this report on one of the health benefits of dancing:

Medicine & Health

A Mexican study finds ballroom dancing can give as good an aerobic workout as more conventional forms of exercise. Dr. Hermes Ilarraza of the National Institute of Cardiology reported on his findings to the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain, the Daily Mail said.

“The benefits of physical training in patients with heart disease is well established,” he said. “However, exercise compliance is often inadequate because patients find exercise boring. People like to dance so we thought it would be an attractive option.” Ilarraza tracked a group of 40 heart disease patients. All the patients committed to doing half an hour of exercise a day five days a week for five weeks, the Daily Mail said.

Half got their exercise from a dance routine choreographed by a professional dancer who also had heart disease, while the others exercised on stationary bicycles.

Ilarraza found that the dance group’s exercise capacity increased by 28 percent, almost as much as the 31 percent increase for the cycling group.