Singing in a choir has become a media focus lately as people try to find a way to relax, to find themselves and to escape. As Drew Shannon wrote in the November 12, 2017 issue of the Globe & Mail Newspaper:
“I found that singing was having a transformative effect on me. After every practice, I felt happy, almost light-as-air. I was singing with others and it made me feel very, very good. I could feel the depression lifting. And the music? It spoke to me: "Well it's all right now – in fact, it's a gas!" or "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone."
That should not have come as a surprise. Recent studies have shown that singing, especially singing in harmony with others, is remarkably effective at combatting depression. Indeed, those studies suggest that singing in harmony combats a number of conditions, including Parkinson's and high blood pressure. The body's rewards for screwing up the courage to sing include an outpouring of endorphins (pain relief), dopamine (pleasure, alertness) and serotonin (euphoria, contentment), as well as a reduction in cortisol (signals level of stress).
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