Having a love of singing may seem like a simple, effortless act but believe it or not, it can actually improve your health by a significant amount.  You probably sing while you are in the shower, driving in your car or cooking in the kitchen because it just feels like the natural thing to do.  After reading about how your love of singing is helping you to become a healthier person, you may just want to sing a little louder and a little more often.

Reduces Pain and Stress

Interestingly, singing is linked with having decreased blood pressure, a lower heart rate and it substantially reduces your stress level.  It is reported that music therapists use singing to help patients who are suffering from a large variety of physiological and psychological conditions.  Voice is used to help patients to become grounded in their bodies and some of the neural pathways are blocked where pain travel generally travels through.  A program such as “Easy Singing Lessons” can help individuals with their singing between doctor visits to help keep their pain level low and their spirits high.

Asthma

Numerous studies have suggested that a love of singing can also improve asthma and it is highly recommended for children who have been diagnosed as well as adults.

Your vocal folds swell because of asthma which makes them feel heavier, requiring additional pressure to sing.  This results in elevated throat tension.  Rest does nothing to relax your breathing compared to what singing can.  The worse your asthma symptoms get, the more you  have to vocalize.

Singing stimulates circulation and exercises the intercostal and abdominal muscles.  The deep breathing exercises performed in a warm up are wonderful for your lungs and learning to sing correctly requires you to focus on your posture which ultimately helps your breathing as well.

Alzheimer’s Disease

It has recently been proven that a love of singing is quite helpful for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other memory problems.  It is believed that the memory that is needed for singing helps to preserve the brain.  Different portions of the brain process music and speech so people who are unable to carry on a logical conversation are still able to enjoy music and relate to it.  There is research being done to understand how those that have no ability to speak any longer can still access random words from music.

Singing for Seniors

Elderly patients with a love of singing are seeing great benefits from either participating in a local choir or by using a program such as “Singorama” from the comfort of their own home.  Studies have been performed on seniors over 55 years old and the results show significant improvement in their health.

Compared to individuals who did not participate in a daily singing regimen, those who had their daily dose over a 3 year period of time had 30 less doctor visits, less visible depression, fewer eyesight problems, less falls and a decreased need for medication.  Singing also improved their voice quality, posture and breathing.

Immune System

A study was performed on an amateur choir who’s members all had an obvious love of singing.  The stress hormone levels and antibodies were measured both when the individuals were singing as well as simply listening.  It was found that the antibody level increased while the participants were singing and the stress hormones were elevated when they were only listening.

Therefore, it was determine that listening to the music is not enough to keep you healthy, you have to sing too.  Singing also improves lung capacity, posture and enhances feelings of confidence and relaxation.

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