Orange Zumba

08/06/2026

See you on the dancefloor! 5.45pm Ngullaway Ngurang (Orange Seniors Village Hub) 77 Kite St. Entry ramp in Woolworths carpark. Everyone is welcome to join us! Cost $12.

08/06/2026

Music is one of the most powerful experiences available to a human being. And brain science is finally revealing why.

When you listen to music you love, it does not activate just one small region of your brain. Research using brain imaging has shown that music engages a remarkably broad network: areas for hearing, movement, emotion, memory, reward, and even the regions that release dopamine, the same chemical involved in other deep pleasures.

This is part of why music can move us to tears, transport us to a memory from decades ago, or make us want to dance without deciding to. It reaches the most ancient and emotional parts of the brain.

Studies have found that music can reduce anxiety before surgery, lower cortisol, ease pain perception, and even help people with neurological conditions recover movement and speech. Music therapy is now a recognized clinical tool.

As a physician, I find it beautiful that something so freely available, so woven into every human culture across history, has such measurable healing power.

You do not need a prescription for this one. You just need to press play on something that stirs your soul.

Music is not just entertainment. It is one of the most accessible ways to shift your entire nervous system.

What is one song that reliably lifts your spirit, and could you listen to it today?

01/06/2026

We have a change of venue for tonight’s Zumba class: we’re at the Cultural Centre, 22 Sale St. Everyone is welcome! See you on the dancefloor!

28/05/2026

Gotta love La Bicicleta!

26/05/2026

It may be wet out but the energy on the dancefloor tonight
was electric!
Thanks for coming out and dancing with me!

25/05/2026

Join us tonight 5.45 Ngullaway Ngurang (Orange Seniors Village Hub) 77 Kite St. Entry ramp in the Woolworths carpark. Everyone is welcome! Cost $12

18/05/2026

What song calls you to the dancefloor? See you there 5.45pm Ngullaway Ngurang (Orange Seniors Village Hub) 77 Kite St. Entry ramp in the Woolworths carpark.
Everyone is welcome! Cost $12.

11/05/2026

Come and join the fun tonight 5.45pm, Ngullaway Ngurang (Orange Seniors Village Hub) 77 Kite St. $12 Casual, everyone is welcome.

09/05/2026

Dancing could be just what the doctor ordered…

This study quietly made me change how I talk about exercise.

In 2003, researchers led by Dr. Joe Verghese at Albert Einstein College of Medicine published a now classic paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.

They followed a group of older adults for an average of 5 years, looking at which leisure activities were associated with reduced risk of developing dementia.

Reading was protective. Crossword puzzles were protective. Playing a musical instrument was protective.

But the only physical activity in this cohort that showed a substantially lower dementia risk was dancing. Frequent dancing was associated with a directionally striking reduction in dementia risk compared to no dancing.

Not jogging. Not gym workouts. Dancing.

Researchers think dance is unique because it asks the brain to do many demanding things at once. Coordinate the body. Anticipate a partner. Stay in rhythm. Adapt to changing music. Remember sequences. Read social cues.

Crossword puzzles work one or two cognitive systems. Dance works most of them simultaneously, while moving the body, while connecting with another human.

I encourage my older patients to consider dance, not just walking, as part of brain health.

It does not need to be ballroom. Line dancing. Salsa. A kitchen dance with your grandchild.

When was the last time you let your body move to music?

04/05/2026

Join the party with us! Tuesday 5.45pm, Ngullaway Ngurang (Orange Seniors Village Hub) 77 Kite St. everyone is welcome! Cost $12.