Dancing Is the Best Medicine

Viral dance videos consistently trend on TikTok: with hundreds of millions of views globally and coverage in media outlets like The Cut, CBC, BBC, and Buzzfeed.  Online dance fitness classes exploded in 2020: many instructors shifted in-person classes to virtual and thousands of new instructors cropped up during the pandemic. Dance is a therapeutic activity for disabled people.  Dance is a possible treatment for disease: dancing has been shown to improve chronic pain, Diabetes, Parkinsons, arthritis, back pain, obesity, inflammation, IBS, heart disease. Written by neuroscientists: Unlike other dance fitness books, this one is authored by two neuroscientists who explore the science of dance including why it benefits the brain (boosting creativity, reducing stress, and more psychological benefits). Authors are also dancers: bringing their personal experience of dance to the book. Dance and mental health: Addresses how dance can aid in recovery from psychological disorders such as eating disorders, PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Dance and the immune system: Shows how dance boosts the immune system, timely during the Covid-19 pandemic. A section on dance for weight loss: explains how to dance your way to fitness. Writing is accessible and light-hearted: an easy and fast read. Authors are award-winning researchers: Julie F Christiansen’s research into dance has been published in The Washington Post and The New York Times. Both authors have received acclaim and awards for their research.