How Active Musical Engagement Benefits Your Health

Dancing keeps us healthy and well-balanced

Source: Photo by Teresa Caputo / Used with permission

Music has an important role to play in keeping us healthy. Passively listening to music to modulate one’s mood is the most common way people interact with music. However, active engagement with music yields far greater health benefits for both our body and our brain.

Neuroscientist Isabelle Peretz wrote: “Above all, it is not enough to listen to music—it is important to make music…”¹ While Peretz’s quote was specifically aimed at the intellectual benefits of music, a similar argument holds for music’s benefits to our physical and mental health.

Let’s begin with breathing. Actively engaging with music—say, by singing or playing a wind instrument—improves the functioning of our lungs. That means more oxygen gets into our bloodstream, which translates to better oxygenation of our brains, whether we’re at sea level or up in the mountains.² Better oxygenation enables us to function better physically and mentally.

Another fundamental task our body carries out is transporting oxygen and nutrients by way of the blood vessels. Our heart provides the energy to accomplish this through the arteries. Aerobic musical engagement—such as dance—improves the performance of our heart and the flow through our blood vessels. This leads to improved cardiovascular health. Moreover, according to a study published in January 2025, dance programs may enhance continued participation in physical activity compared to other forms of exercise.³

Movement exercise improves our muscular system. Coordinating the movement with rhythm takes it to a higher level. For example, it also improves our balance. A study showed that practicing a simple dance routine reduced the risk of falling whereas listening to information about wellness did not.⁴ And by the way, body movement is what provides the energy to move blood through the veins back to the heart.

Active musical engagement has direct effects on the brain as well. It increases neurotransmitters (chemical signals in the nervous system) such as dopamine, associated with pleasure, and oxytocin, associated with well-being. At the same time, stress hormones, such as cortisol, are reduced.⁵ Participating with music thus yields an improved brain environment.

How do you like to engage actively with music? Here are a few simple ideas.

Some people sing without hesitation. Others would like to sing but feel reluctant to have friends or strangers hear them. It’s OK to acknowledge this since options to sing privately exist. The shower is a really great place to sing. The acoustics are favorable and the running water muffles your voice so no one else will hear you as long as you keep your volume at a moderate level.

Many people enjoy the feel of being in motion. Aerobic exercise routines accompanied by music are a form of dance in disguise. And they can be done in the privacy of where you live. Think about adding personal flourishes to your steps—you don’t have to do the routine precisely the way it’s being demonstrated.

Note: Check with your physician if you have any concerns about moving in this way. Also, don’t exercise or dance in the shower; that’s not safe.

Sometimes we like to make noise with objects in our environment. Our human ancestors were banging rocks together for countless thousands of years. Consider getting yourself a basic, inexpensive drum and learning to play some simple rhythms. Who knows where it will lead? You might make a friend who enjoys moving to your beat.

Sing, dance, play. Create your own musical story.