Whether it’s singing Happy Birthday to a friend, singing over your favourite song on the car radio, or letting out your inner Beyoncé in the shower – the act of singing releases endorphins, also known as your brain’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals
Just like laughter, play and exercise, singing has a positive effect on our mental well-being and happiness. More specifically, singing in a choir has tremendous benefits to your mental health. Not only is it a creative outlet, but singing within a choir also provides opportunities to boost your social life, reduce stress and depression levels, improve your confidence, and create a feeling of togetherness.
In fact, the benefits were so apparent, that there was a petition which called for choir singing to be issued as a prescription. The petition came after research conducted by Oxford Brookes University in 2013 which studied the experiences felt by those who sang alone, sang in a choir, and were involved in team sports. Whilst all activities provided high levels of well-being, singing as part of a group stood out as having significantly higher benefits.
It’s not just psychological benefits – singing has also proven to have physical benefits, with everything from reducing blood pressure to improving symptoms of Parkinson’s and lung disease.
With the multiple benefits that group singing can offer, Wellington Place are pleased to offer an open to all, weekly workplace choir as part of our wellbeing initiative. Taking place every Friday between 12.30pm and 1.30pm at 3 Wellington Place, the session allows employees to escape their busy schedules and benefit from a boost in both physical and psychological wellbeing.
