9 Benefits of Singing for Your Health

Singing has been a part of many cultures for centuries. Whether it’s standing in the choir singing in the group or standing behind a part of a birthday cake singing “happy birthday” for your friends or family, we don’t realize how big a part music and singing are in our daily life.

There is, no doubt, that singing brings most people joy – when we are in our element, singing at the top of our lungs, we don’t even care what we sound like; we are just having fun.

But sometimes, people who have a passion for singing are often left disappointed by their lack of recognition and end up putting off singing forever. But what if we told you this hobby or passion of yours is actually beneficial for you? You do always have to sing to make it big – even if you don’t become a successful singer, with your passion for your singing, you can at least become healthy!

Yes, that’s right – singing is actually good for your health. Unlike popular belief, singing is a hobby that everyone should adopt and take part in. So if you love singing, don’t let anyone discourage you; in fact, let them know about these amazing benefits of singing to your health.

So without further ado, here are 9 amazing health benefits of singing!

9 Health Benefits of Singing

1. Singing Helps Improve Learning Abilities

Who knew singing could make you a better learner? Studies by doctors prove that listening to music engages and stimulates your brain. But this isn’t only limited to listening to music – when you engage further in music and actually sing, it’s going to have a similar, and in some cases even better, effect on your brain.

By listening to and humming your favorite songs, you are actually exercising your brain, allowing it to consume more of your surroundings, making you a better learner.

2. Singing Can be a Workout

Other than being a brain exercise, singing can actually be a workout for some people as well. Well not a workout to help you lose weight, but it is an excellent form of exercise for injured, disabled, and elderly people. With singing, they get to exercise their lungs – proper singing techniques and vocal projections allow them to stimulate the respiratory and circulatory system, which, in turn, helps them achieve an increased aerobic capacity, a stronger diaphragm, and also build more stamina.

3. Singing Improves Lung Functioning

It only makes sense that singing helps improve functioning because it has everything to do with your lungs and respiratory system. As we said above, singing is a workout for your lungs; it involves controlled use of respiratory system muscles and deep breathing. And this is great for the lungs as it keeps them working with stability.

Moreover, singing helps increase the amount of oxygen in the blood, which has many pulmonary benefits. And this is how we found that singing can actually be beneficial for people with conditions like:

• asthma
• multiple sclerosis
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
• cystic fibrosis
• cancer

We are no in a way implying that singing is a cure for these problems, but it can benefit people by gaining strength in their respiratory muscles, which can significantly improve their condition.

4. Singing Improves Sleep and Helps with Snoring

People have all sorts of troubles that mess up their sleep cycle and also make them snore. But snoring is not just annoying. It is a serious ailment that can be made better with singing. As we discussed above, sleeping stimulates the respiratory system and helps strengthen your lungs.

This is how singing really changes how you breathe – because it also strengthens your throat and palate muscles, and this is how it helps you avoid snoring when you sleep. In fact, this can also help people with sleep apnea. Many studies have been conducted to prove this claim, and it was found that very few choir members actually snore, so that singing can be a potential treatment for snoring.

5. Singing Helps Relieve Stress

Another great thing about singing is that it is an activity that helps relieve stress. The simple biology here is that singing makes you active and even happy. People who love music enjoy singing their favorite songs. And what happens when you are happy? Your brain releases happy hormones, such as serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine, which are the hormones that fight off stress. And this is how singing helps improve your mental health as well.

6. Improves Mood and Mental Health Conditions

Singing has always been connected to improved mood and mental health. As we said above, it helps relieve happy hormones that can put people in a good mood and fight off mental health conditions. Music and singing specifically have a positive impact on anxiety and depression symptoms.

Music calms you down, suppresses anxiousness, and also helps you get rid of depressive thoughts – and when you sing your favorite songs, you are likely to experience this. This was proved in a study conducted in 2018 when in “The Sing Your Heart Out Project,” participants showed improvements in their mental health, sense of well-being, and mood as a result of singing workshops.

7. Singing Helps Improve Brain Function and Memory

As we said, singing helps increase oxygen in your blood, and when this extra-oxygenated blood is pumped around the body, it benefits various parts of the body – one important body part that takes advantage of this is your brain. When more oxygen is sent to your brain, it helps improve its functions, such as concentration, lateness, and even memory.

Singing is a great activity for memory – people who love singing automatically make memories, lyrics, and melodies without outing their brains through a serious mind jog. In fact, it was observed in various studies that people with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, who even experience a gradual loss of memory, are able to recall song lyrics much better than other words – and some even associate their memories to those songs which help bring back many other life memories.

8. Singing Helps Improve Speaking Abilities

Singing can help people with speech difficulties and difficulty communicating due to a certain neurological condition. Speaking gives a person confidence and coherence, which can help them become a better singer. Researchers claim that singing can improve speaking ability in people with:

• stuttering
• autism
• Parkinsons disease

9. Singing Improves and Strengthens the Immune System

Your immune system is basically your body’s defense mechanism against external harm. It helps build antibodies that fight harmful parasites that enter your body. But the question here is how can signing help strengthen your immune system and fight illnesses? Well, what may not seem right is actually supported by various researches.

In fact, a study conducted in 2004 compared choir members’ blood before and after their rehearsal session and concluded their blood showed an increase in the amount of immunoglobulin – a protein that builds the immune system – after an hour-long rehearsal of singing and listening to music.

Sing Your Heart Out!!

Now that you know how beneficial singing can be – you must not let anyone convince you to give up on your passion. In fact, if you want to pursue music and become a professional singer, you should get in touch with The Young Musician Music Institute, a music school, located at Al Raha Mall and Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi. The TYMMI has various courses for singing or learning instruments and can help you become a performer!