Every year, the holiday season brings festive ballads and spontaneous sing-alongs for all ages 🎄🕎🎤.
It’s a spirited form of celebration, but it’s something most of us treat as optional…‘Fun to do,’ but best left to professionals 🎼.
That mindset could be limiting your capacity to age well. Singing fundamentally influences many factors of longevity, whether it’s reducing stress, preventing falls, slowing brain aging, or improving social connections.🤝 You don’t need to be good — just willing.
👀 Quick check-in
Be honest: what stops you from singing more? 😏🎤
Singing rivals a morning walk 🚶♀️🎶
Singing can activate the body just like physical exercise, engaging your heart, diaphragm, lungs, and posture, while releasing muscle tension to support long-term physical health.
The cardiometabolic benefits (and calorie burn) can even rival light exercise, too. Some suggest it’s as metabolically healthy as a brisk walk ❤️🔥, a longevity staple that has been shown to cut mortality risk by 20% and dementia risk by up to 40%.
To put it into perspective, a 150-pound adult may expect to burn 100 calories after one hour of singing, Livestrong reports. Other research links singing with lower body mass index (BMI) and smaller waist circumference.
In 2024, a viral TikTok trend in China overestimated the benefits when users claimed one to three hours of karaoke can burn 400–700 calories 🎤📲! We wish.
Beyond metabolics, it could be a surprising way to improve movement.
For instance, in people with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease, early studies hint that group singing can improve walking gait, posture, and stability.
Elinor Harrison, an artist who studies human movement at Washington University in St. Louis, believes that better movement would reduce falls in Parkinson’s 🦶🤸.
With more research, the voice may become a mobility prescription.
The brain benefits 🧠✨
Hum a familiar tune and notice the shift: do you feel lighter? Sharper? Singing doesn’t just move us emotionally. It may keep our brains younger.
Borna Bonakdarpour of Northwestern University tells National Geographic that brain aging can accelerate as a result of inactivity, decreased mental stimulation, and isolation. Group singing engages all three.
In other words, singing can support brain mechanisms that prevent cognitive decline.
More specifically:
It lights up the brain: Singing activates multiple brain regions in both brain hemispheres. This may be tied to enhanced neuroplasticity, mood, verbal fluency, memory, and motor skills, according to National Geographic.
Neurochemicals: Singing triggers endorphins, dopamine, and other neurochemicals involved in memory, decision-making, pain suppression, and may be involved with brain repair🧪, writes the BBC.
The benefits are not exclusively preventative.
Nearly two-thirds of stroke survivors report better communication after singing, based on a 2025 Stroke Association survey. At the same time, people with Parkinson’s disease report clearer and louder speech 🗣️.
Group singing is even linked to slower memory loss in people with cognitive decline or dementia, whether it’s participating in memory choirs or structured singing programs 🧠🐢.
As Jonathan Siegel Miller, co-founder of the Sounds Good memory choir, told National Geographic, one participant felt she had “rehabilitated herself cognitively” after a year of singing 🌱.
Sing more, feel less lonely 💞
Loneliness is now one of the most significant predictors of accelerated aging, linked to cognitive decline, inflammation, and shorter lifespan. By contrast, strong relationships can increase life expectancy and lower dementia risk ⏰❤️.
The challenge is that loneliness increases with age. Group singing has emerged as a potential antidote 🎶🤝.
Whether it's a church choir, Rockchoir, community program, or even holiday caroling (it is that time of year after all!) 🎄, singing together creates closeness, even among strangers, and encourages meaningful relationships 🌍.
The social bonds are so real that a choir’s heartbeats may synchronize when they sing.
This unified heartbeat is called ‘cardiovascular coherence,’ and preliminary evidence suggests it can support cardiovascular health and resilience to stress ❤️🩹. The connection is literal, and the benefits are measurable 📊.
Maybe it’s why Harrison refers to it as the ‘world’s most accessible stress reliever’ 🌎 😌.
Where chronic stress accelerates aging through inflammation, hormonal disruption, and nervous system dysfunction, singing can counter all three 🔄.
Lower cortisol: Studies show enjoyable, leisurely activities like singing lower cortisol, the stress hormone 📉.
Right brain: Like meditation or time in nature, singing also activates the right side of the brain 🧘🌲, associated with emotions, creativity, and feeling, according to Tania de Jong 🎨.
Endorphin rush: Singing can boost oxytocin by 50%, linked to reduced anxiety, depression, and loneliness, and indirectly lead to cellular healing ✨.
It’s biological evidence of happiness through connection 😊🤝.
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A simple, science-backed singing plan 🎵📋
Sing for 10 minutes a day (brain + stress).
Hum, sing in the shower, or sing along in the car 🚿. Daily singing keeps the brain active and lowers cortisol.Sing while moving (body + balance).
Walk while singing or do light chores with music 🧹. This reinforces coordination between movement and cognition, the same mechanism that improves balance in Parkinson’s studies.Sing with others once a week (connection + heart health).
Join a choir, attend karaoke night, or sing with friends 🎤.Choose familiar songs (memory support).
Familiar melodies activate memory networks, and it could be especially beneficial for cognitive resilience 🧠.Drop performance pressure entirely (consistency).
The health benefits come from participation, not skill 🙌. The nervous system responds to any singing.
Special announcement!
We’re looking for women with purpose, energy, and a voice that lifts others higher to become an ambassador for the Livelong Women’s Health Summit. Reach out to [email protected] and let’s get the conversation started.
Key takeaway
“What would it look like if doctors [were to] prescribe singing… What if they were prescribed choir?” posits psychologist Arla Good, on the Greater Good podcast 🎙️.
In a world that feels increasingly isolating and stressful, and as age-related conditions rise, singing offers legitimate aging benefits:
Connection 🤝
Expression 🎭
Movement 🏃♀️
Brain stimulation ⚡
Joy 😄
Mark Hyman is coming to the Livelong Women’s Health Summit!
We’re thrilled to have Mark Hyman join us at the Livelong Women's Health Summit. We have a lot planned for this event, including headlining sessions with Jane Fonda, Dr. Stacy Sims, and Dr. Vonda Wright, and 40+ interviews, roundtables, and networking opportunities. We’re so excited for this event—can’t wait to see you there.
What longevity tools are snake oil?
This week’s episode is exclusively available on the Livelong podcast.
Poll response
We asked, you answered:
When does your memory feel sharpest?
🌅 Sun’s out, brains on. Your memory feels sharpest first thing in the morning (hopefully after a good night of sleep). Energy is a factor here, too, though. Many readers said they’re able to think best if they dedicate to focus and get ‘in the zone.’
Thanks for reading!
The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.
