The Benefits of Physical Movement for Students

By Shamoni Sarkar on November 15, 2012

 

 

Dance Display by leedybot/ flickr.com/Creative Commons

As students in academically vigorous colleges, our minds are always moving. When we aren’t using them, most of us want to be sedentary and put our brains and bodies to sleep. But attending the Fall Faculty Dance Concert here at Mount Holyoke College showed me why bodily movement is so important, especially as a student. Student health liaisons constantly remind us to take care of our bodies even as we devote most of our energy to our minds. They do so with good reason, because the benefits go beyond just a mere boost of serotonin.

The pieces in the dance show drew from senses, moods and gestures to create choreographies with form and structure. An alumna combined her studies in science with her training in dance to evoke something new. More experimental choreographies used background narration. One of the most astounding ones was set to a Hebrew religious chant. By the end, my mind was reeling (in a good way) and my muscles felt more relaxed. This was a result of watching physical movement become something else.

But what does this have to do with getting on a treadmill? Well, everything! When doing any kind of movement, the chemical reactions in the brain bring on good moods and improve concentration and focus. But bringing the body in tune with the mind on a regular basis does more. It potentially changes the way we act, move and think. The dancers proved this at the concert, by demonstrating that they had incorporated dance into everything they do, and similarly everything they do plays into dance.

Unfortunately, lifting weights regularly does not necessarily put you on a stage! But dedicating regular blocks of time to bodily movement could make you feel more comfortable in the world in general. Everything you do would come more naturally to you, and your mind would feel open and flexible. These seemingly basic things change the way you live, think and feel in the long term. So my advice to students would be to find time to move, however busy they may be.

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