Corporate Health and Well-Being Benefits

Lots of us enjoy singing and perhaps this means a quick tune in the bath or warble when doing the housework. Or maybe you just love to belt out a song at the local Karaoke night. It might surprise you to know that you’re not just having fun, you’re also helping yourself to keep fit, youthful and healthy. And singing with other people has even more benefits.

Healthy Lungs
Singing can have a dramatic impact on your lungs and breathing. The physical effort required to sing can improve lung capacity. Learning to use deep breathing and build up strong muscles in the torso and abdomen. The various benefits of good breathing include better posture and improved mental alertness. It can also help you relax and sleep better. The breathing techniques learned through singing can help you stay calm too. The increased oxygen in the body helps in many ways.

Good Exercise
It’s been said that classical singing produces the same effect as doing pilates. The effort required to project the voice works the core muscles of the body and this intense physical effort can often result in weight loss as well. When you sing, you’re having a light aerobic workout and losing calories!

Singing Bonds us Together
Studies have found that the population of Newhaven, Connecticut, had increased their life expectancy through choral singing. The researchers believed this was because singing promoted a healthy heart and an improved mental state. There is much scientific research outlining the benefits of singing, whether a workplace choir or similar community singing activity. Read The Choral Cure for more information.

Sing Away The Blues
We often sing when we’re happy, but singing when we feel down, may be an even better idea. Singing causes the brain to produce hormones called endorphins which rush around body. It has the same effect as when you eat a bar of chocolate. Of course, the good news is that when you sing, you don’t gain weight. In fact, you may lose some.

Next time you sing along to the radio, remember you’re not just having fun, you’re doing yourself a whole lot of good too. Next time you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps just sing!