How hobbies can improve your well-being but under certain conditions
It can be simpler than you think to enhance your mental health and general well-being. All you need to do is begin to sing. as long as you avoid stepping into specific dangers.
Make people happy, combat depression, and less stressed and anxious... The act of singing itself has numerous advantages for mental health, morale, and general well-being.
This is supported by an English study on the topic that was conducted by University of East Anglia (UEA) researchers and published in the journal Medical Humanities in November 2017.
This is further supported by the advice provided in the Stylist columns by Kate Valentine, a licenced nurse who founded and serves as the director of Singing Mamas, an organisation that uses singing to help thousands of women worldwide enhance their quality of life.
"The scientifically proven health benefits of singing are incredible," she declared. From a physiological perspective, singing causes our heart rate and breathing to slow down and our nervous system to relax. The first expert says, "Our body releases oxytocin, sometimes known as the "love hormone," and levels of cortisol, often known as the stress hormone, fall.
Additionally, Kate Valentine talks about a study on group singing that was done by researcher Rosie Perkins. According to her, 73% of women who took part in a 10-week choir programme recovered from postpartum depression. The results were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, she adds, adding that the intervention "was quicker and more effective than standard National Health Service treatments."
Apart from the physiological advantages, the expert suggests that singing in a group fosters social relationships and teaches us new coping skills.
She says, "You should not be afraid to replicate them with your peers." "Singing for their child, for example, helps moms and their baby bond more."
However, if you want to start singing to enhance your mental health, there are a few things you should watch out for, according to the doctor. You have to be unwilling to perform first. It is not an issue whether you sing poorly, out of key, or roughly. Everything ought to stay a matter of taste.
"When we sing together for our health, the experience of singing as a group becomes more important than the individual voices' sound. "Give me an hour and I'll prove to you that you can sing," is my response to folks who tell me, "Oh, I can't sing." Kate Valentine chuckles.
After that, you must decide the choir you wish to join. "Let's be clear, not every choir can improve your wellbeing, particularly if you're already self-conscious about singing," the nurse says. She advises against joining "old school" choirs that are overly rigid or conventional, particularly if you are just starting out. She concludes, "This can clearly increase stress hormones instead of reducing them."