How Movement and Music Can Boost Physical and Mental Wellbeing
Aged Care Christchurch
Everyone knows that getting in more physical movement is a great way to icrease your wellbeing. However, many people struggle with actually completing this task, because it's a bit boring and frustrating to go for a walk or do assisted squats with a chair alone in your room.
Physical health isn't the only part of wellbeing; mental health is a huge aspect that is often overlooked when it comes to exercise. Combining movement with music is a great way to inspire seniors to get moving without being a drain on their mental health. This can help people to feel much more comfortable and confident with their movements, and helps to increase not only the likelihood of people turning up to exercise, but also the energy and range of exercises they can perform during classes.
Benefits of Movement and Music
The combination of movement and music offers numerous benefits. Music is something that instinctively makes us want to move, and it can really help to increase the rhythm of people who haven't moved in a while or who don't naturally have a great sense of movement within space.
This can help people to feel much more comfortable and confident with their movements, and helps to increase not only the likelihood of people turning up to exercise, but also the energy and range of exercises they can perform during classes.
This helps to increase the physical health benefits they get from attending classes, especially those which are dance or rhythm based. It also helps to increase cognitive function, as coordinating movement with music develops timing and requires cognitive skills.
More than anything, it's just a bit of fun. Having fun is really important for mental health, which is why going to a dance class can be even more beneficial than going for a walk by yourself, for example.
Holly Lea Village's Offerings
Holly Lea Village has been designed with personal care at the forefront of every choice. Special care is always taken when considering your personal interests and choices, whether that be about how your home looks, or about your care and treatment plans.
When it comes to movement and music, Holly Lea Village is equally as personalisable - here, you can be as active as you want to be. You can choose to take part in dance classes, or you can choose to dance alone in your residence.
One of the special options available at Holly Lea is music therapy. This involves using the Tovertafel magic table, which pairs music with lights and animations to stimulate the senses of users to improve cognitive function and engagement.
The care centre also offers a Nordic Relaxation Chair, which offers a relaxing rocking sensation accompanied by music and some gentle tactile stimulation to ease the user into a relaxed state.
Starting Points
Regardless of whether you are often dancing around your apartment, or if you haven't been moving as much in the last few years, it's never too late to start. Motivating yourself to get moving can be challenging, but music is a great way to get the initiative going enough to start exercising.
One of the best starting points is to just say that you'll exercise for only five minutes. Five minutes is something that most people can do, especially if you do a modified exercise that is at a suitable level for your current fitness.
Once you've hit that five-minute mark, you can either keep going if you feel like it, or you can stop. Regardless, you've done at least five minutes of exercise that day. More often than not you might find you keep going and do more exercise than you expected.
Conclusion
Increasing your physical movement is important for health at any age, but particularly for seniors. However, you should make sure to get your physical health up in a way that also supports your mental health and makes it fun so that you're more likely to keep going on your fitness journey.
For more information on how music and movement are integrated, see our friendly Holly Lea staff today.
Share this article via:
Facebook
Twitter
