29 Jun How mindfulness and dance can stimulate a part of the brain that can improve mental health
When it comes to boosting mental health and happiness, the most common strategies tend to be therapy and/or coaching.
And quite rightly, because with a qualified professional these can be fantastically helpful.
But in addition to these, there are other tools including healthy eating, exercise, meditation and more … such as dance!
Check out this article by Professor Adrianna Mendrek via the Conversation …
Like a thick velvety headband, the somatosensory cortex arcs across the top of brain from just above one ear to the other.
I fell in love with the brain as an undergraduate student and pursued a career in neuroscience, but for years I had largely ignored this structure, since it appeared to be involved “only” in processing of bodily sensations. In my mind, that meant it was not as fascinating as areas implicated in emotion or higher cognitive function.
However, over the past decade, during my training in mindfulness-based interventions and dance movement therapy, I’ve come to realize that a well-functioning and developed somatosensory cortex may help us experience the world and ourselves more deeply and completely. It may enrich our emotional experience and improve our mental health.
For decades, the somatosensory cortex was considered to only be responsible for processing sensory information from various body parts. However, recently it became apparent that this structure is also involved in various stages of emotion processing, including recognizing, generating and regulating emotions. …
… keep reading the full & original article HERE