Dancing through life is actually a lot more responsible than it sounds. Dancing is a great way to keep your body and mind healthy; and it’s not just for the young. Studies show that dancing helps sharpen your mind, reduce stress, maintain your figure, stay limber and get out of your comfort zone.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that shows a connection between dancing and memory retention in the hippocampus (the place where short and long-term memory is stored). Dancing slows the natural shrinking of memory that comes with age. The mind constantly needs to be challenged in order for it not to shrink. Learning dance steps is a perfect way to do just that.

Dancing also helps reduce stress. The Journal of Applied Gerontology reports that grabbing a partner and cutting a rug can cut out some stress. Dancing releases endorphins (pain-relieving neurotransmitters) into the bloodstream, which produce a good feeling in the body. Dancing can be quite rigorous at times which makes it a great exercise. While your body is releasing endorphins, you’re also burning quite a few calories. Dance is therapeutic and healthy, in part, for those reasons.

In addition to trimming your figure, dancing can also help you stay on your feet. As you dance you improve your balance. As the years go by, your sense of balance begins to regress. If you maintain a challenging regimen of exercise (dancing being a part of that), the natural decay of balance slows.

Lastly, dancing helps you get off the couch and get to know some new people. Forming new relationships is a healthy and extraverted way to add spice to life. If you’re married, it’s a perfect activity to bring you and your spouse closer together. If not, ladies always like a guy who knows how to dance.

With the increasing popularity of shows like “Dancing With the Stars,” dancing is starting to come into the limelight. Thus, making it a little less obscure for those who only dancing in nightclubs. So whatever the reason, your heart or your shoes, dancing is a good choice to give you the control, stability and quality of life that you want. It can also be a lot of fun.

Andrew Snow is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them understand which online courses and online schools they can choose from to reach their goals.

When someone decides to get in shape and lose weight they typically join a gym, purchase a home fitness program involving a lot of DVDs and some special equipment or take up a walking routine. There are other ways to stay in shape that are a bit more off the beaten path; few would openly admit to using these techniques but they work and they’re different from the run-of-the-mill methods usually used.

1. Stair Running

Sometimes individuals just don’t have the space to have a treadmill or the inclination to follow along with an exercise DVD workout. It’s hard to say who came up with this idea first but somewhere down the line, someone started running up their stairs as fast as they could and then walking back down carefully so they could sprint back up again. It burns ton of calories and for a long time, no one knew why. New research shows that using intervals during training actually burns way more calories than just running or walking at a steady pace.

How to implement this technique: * You will need stairs, preferably in your house. It’s hard to exercise on stairs in more public areas that other people use but if you don’t mind crazy looks, go for it. Just keep an eye out for other people. * Close fitting pants or shorts are highly recommended; tripping on the stairs isn’t fun.

Never, ever run down the stairs. It can be surprisingly tempting to do so once the momentum is going but resist the urge; running down the stairs risks your neck and is also counterproductive. One of the benefits of interval training on stairs is the fact that no momentum can be harnessed to carry you forward, thus increasing the intensity of the workout.

2. Barefoot Running

Running is a classic habit of fit people everywhere but some people have found a new way to do something so basic; they run without running shoes. They run in what is essentially bare feet. Turns out that running shoes are the source of a lot of the injuries associated with running because the shoes mess with the natural structure of our feet. If you put a pillar under an arch, the integrity of the arch would degrade and it wouldn’t be able to hold weight. The theory is that the arches on human feet are the same.

How to implement: * Since arch support is the enemy here, any shoe that isn’t specifically made for running should be fine. Alternatively, one could construct the running sandals the barefoot running community has embraced called huaraches.

If the feet are used to high tech running shoes make the switch carefully; suddenly placing the burden of your body weight on other parts of the foot can lead to injuries if it’s done before the area has a chance to strengthen up.

3. Breathing

Womens magazines revive this trend every few years. The school of thought is that by doing really intense breathing, one can avoid actually exercising. It’s easy to scoff at this until the statistics are pulled out; the results are hard to argue with. Though not even in the same league as actual exercise, mindful breathing techniques really do yield some positive results.

There are a variety of breathing techniques available but one popular method is to sit, back straight, and inhale through the nose for about 4 seconds; then exhale slowly through pursed lips for 8 seconds. Envision the air inflating your lungs right down to the bottom, which rarely sees use in shallow day-to-day breathing.

4. Dancing With Your Dog

It can be hard to get up the motivation to workout, especially if you’d rather make it a more social event. Many people hate the solitary aspect of fitness but find that coordinating schedules with fitness buddies overcomplicates the process. The solution for many is to take man’s best friend out on a walk or run, but why stop there? Dogs are agile, graceful animals that are quite trainable. Why not add some mental stimulation to the mix and try canine dancing? If you’re imagining dancing cheek to cheek with your Lab during a waltz, think again. It’s not that kind of dance. It’s more of a synchronized set of movements between the human and dog. There are DVDs that can be purchased and it is easily done indoors provided that there is a space inside big enough.

How to implement: * DVDs are recommended since it can be hard to know where to start without a guide * A dog * A love for both the dog and creative movement

This is a great, fun way to get both you and your canine friend active and it’s definitely off the beaten path when it comes to fitness.

5. Jumping

If an individual doesn’t like running or walking, jumping can be a more enjoyable alternative that burns tons of calories and leads to great body tone. For those without access to a full sized trampoline a small indoor rebounder is a worthy substitute. Jumping has been a fad a few times over now but the benefits of the exercise are undeniable. Rebound jumping is great for the lymphatic system and the G-force strengthens the body. At the lowest point during a jump, gravity is 2-3 times heavier than normal, which essentially breaks down to rebound jumping being the most effective and efficient body weight exercise ever concocted by mankind.

How to implement: * Rebound trampoline

The most important factor here is moderation; there is no benefit to jumping on the rebounder for excessive periods of time. A little goes a long way and watch for pain in the joints.

Jenea is a freelance write and expert in the area of weight training and fitness exercises. Although most people would say she is extraordinarly fit woman, she tries not to spend every hour of her day thinking about fitness. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her family and read up on her newest list of books.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by mikebaird

It can take a lot of time, energy, funds, and mental anguish to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Sure, those exercise DVDs can get old and walking or running can only go so far toward accommodating your fun-loving personality. Going to the gym or repeating the same neighborhood routes can cause mental fatigue that works against your motivation to lose weight and stay healthy. Weight loss doesn’t have to be boring, so try some of the following ways to have fun with your active lifestyle.

Borrow a Page from the Playground

Play tag at the park or even in your own front yard if there’s enough space. If you have kids, they’ll enjoy chasing you and being chased, so it’s a great way to spend some quality family time while keeping your weight in check. You can even call your friends and schedule some time to play tag with other adults, too. Another option is to grab a friend (or a bunch of friends) and play basketball, soccer, or tennis. Competition is always fun, and you can raise the stakes by making the loser pay for or make a healthy lunch like Greek salad or grilled chicken stir fry.

Get Out There

Pack a healthy picnic lunch, then take a bike ride, go hiking, or canoe/kayak for the rest of the morning. Being out in the sun and fresh air makes everything seem like more fun, and you’ll definitely enjoy seeing some beautiful scenery, especially if you choose to go somewhere you haven’t been yet. All of these activities can get your heart rate up while improving your mood and making you smile.

Just Dance

If you’re frustrated and stressed, turn on some of your favorite music and dance it out. If you’re not a dancer, you can find some inexpensive DVDs to help you learn exercise moves that mimic dancing. Once you learn some moves, you can improvise whenever you need to get rid of stress, so don’t even think about eating that cookie.

Check Out Power Yoga

Power yoga, also called Ashtanga, vinyasa, or flow yoga, gets your heart rate up and keeps it there to help you lose weight. This type of yoga emphasizes strength and flexibility, keeping chanting and meditation very minimized and making sure that you lose fat and build muscle. It’s easy to find a class near you because power yoga has become a popular way to get exercise and maintain a healthy weight, but be sure to read difficulty level descriptions carefully so you’ll know which level is best for you.

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Tango for greater physical and mental health!

Dancing is not only fun and a great way to socialize, but is a great way for people of all ages to stay in physically fit! Its been one of the main topics of major medical news stations and channels, that social dancing has become a great way to replace the twenty minutes of brisk that doctors have been recommending for years.

Exercise doesn’t have to be utter drudgery! The amount of calories burnt is directly related to what type of dance you are doing. Tango tends to have the largest range, as you can dance very slowly, but also dance in quite a quick movement. Here is a simple list of calories burnt an hour for most social dances:

• Ballroom/Tango: 180-480
• Belly dancing: 180-300
• Jive/swing dance: 250-400
• Line dancing: up to 300
• Salsa: 400

I can let you figure out the amount of calories you’ll burn in a week from dancing, and to the average person, they will be able to see the calories burnt are equivilant to time spent jogging or cycling. Some doctors suggest that this is actually better then those activities because these use both your mind and almost your entire body. Dancing will improve your posture, and enhance parts of the legs and feet that regularly don’t get worked (people often find muscles in their feet that they didn’t know existed before).

And naturally, dancing is great for your metabolism and mental well being. Your bones will strengthen, the side-to-side motions of Tango strengthen the tibia, fibula, and femur and also help in the prevention or slow loss of bone mass associated with osteoporosis. This is especially true for employees who spend the entire day at a desk- where they have a greater risk of a slipped disk.

Tango Dancing has been found to be a great stress reliever. It has also been seen as a contributer to high self-esteem and maintaining a positive outlook. This is why dancing is seen as theraputic- and Tango music especially is known to offer a superior form of relaxation, by maintaining beats with out traditional drums it creates a smoother sensation then that which can be gathered from more modern music.

Most major cities have a lot of activities involving dance occurring- I live in Portland Oregon and there is a Portland Tango event every single night. A simple google search will find you activities occurring in your own city. Tango being a social dance, it is seen as a way for people dealing with divorce and depression to connect to the outside world- helping them, get out of the rut there life was currently in. It does this by improving your social outlook by creating strong ties with the people you dance with and improving your feelings of self worth by fostering a community that desires you.

I figured that was a great idea to start this way listing most fun ways to keep fit because that’s the point of this resource: to show you how to enjoy your workouts and healthy life style.

So here we go: only those ways you will enjoy!

1. Dance! I simply love dancing and I believe that’s a best workout ever invented. It is fun to learn new dance styles weekly or monthly to never get bored and I guess I need to list some cool ways to find new dancing tutorials online (good plan!).
2. Go gardening! You get double benefit here: fresh air and exercise. And besides, you make this planet better by caring for its plants (OK, 3 benefits already);
3. Go hiking: workout, plenty of fresh (traffic-free) air and new beautiful places every day – can’t wait when I have my vacation already!
4. Try shell collecting: if you are with your significant one, this one is also romantic!
5. Simply walk more. A good way to turn this one into fun is to take your camera with you and find new places daily where you think you can get amazing photos: urban scenes, people, nature, etc.
6. Start traveling! Do you know that skiing, for example, is one of the greatest workouts you could ever dream of? Try  ski holidays for example and you are sure to see your general health and mood improve greatly after that experience.

There are many more of course but why not start with the simplest and most enjoyable ones? So no excuse for waiting any longer – just start your new fit life today!

Am I motivating? I hope I am

Post image by cmaccubbin