"It's powerful to see people dancing and to witness the benefits that dancing brings to the lives of people of all ages." That's according to James McGrath of the popular JivinGym dance classes. James who is originally from Armagh but now lives in Monaghan with his wife and daughter shared his thoughts on a recent study which showed that dancing for 20 minutes a day could be enough to help keep you healthy. Speaking on today's Joe Finnegan Show, James who also has a background in psychology tells his dance students that the opposite of depression is expression. He added that the ability to express yourself in the right way to the beat of Irish country music is of huge benefit to people's emotional well-being and mental health; "When you break everything down, everything is energy. The good news is for people's emotional well-being and mental health they're giving energy to their bodies through dancing. People are getting fitter and healthier physically but also emotionally they are connecting with people on a physical level. We would do a lot of group work in our dance classes and group work is team work and I always say to people that team means together and everyone achieves more together in a community group."
Meanwhile, Rose Tierney from Monaghan joined JivinGym dance classes a year ago and has never looked back since. Rose who has lost three stone within a year and went off her medication for high-blood pressure said she feels fitter and healthier now than she did 20 years ago. Rose also completed a dance competition since starting lessons and came second in Ireland's fittest dance weekend after doing almost 83,000 steps; "I'm fitter and healthier now than I was 15-20 years ago. I think as you get older people just accept that doctors will put them on medication and maybe not question it but I have been taken off medication that I was on for high blood pressure because I'm much more fit than I was before."
