What Seniors Taught Me About Music, Play, and Emotional Activation and Brain Health
- Angela Marie
- Apr 9
- 7 min read
How Music, Movement, and Play Support Brain Health, Body Awareness, and Emotional Connection
Recently I led a laughter yoga session for a group of seniors, and something fascinating happened. We didn’t actually spend that much time laughing. Well we did...
just not in the way people usually imagine when they hear the phrase laughter yoga. There wasn't any forced laughter, just some “ha-ha-ha” "he-he'he" exercises echoing through the room as part of the vocal warm up.
Music became the activator. Play became the medicine.
And somewhere along the way, I became activated too.
Entering With Intention
Before the session began, I grounded myself and set a simple intention.
I wasn’t there to force laughter or make anyone perform.
My goal was to entertain, interact, and create a safe space where people could feel comfortable having fun.
The session began with a simple icebreaker I call Gratitude.
Each participant shares their name and at least two things they are grateful for.
It’s a small moment, but it changes the energy in the room almost immediately.
People soften.They smile.They begin listening to each other.
Gratitude opens the emotional field and creates a sense of connection before we even begin moving. From there, we moved into gentle warm-ups — shoulder rolls, wrist circles, light movement, breathing exercises, and playful vocal sounds to wake up the brain, vocal chords and body all the while I have a nostalgic, classic hits playlist creating a pleasant mood.
Music-Based Neuro-Emotional Activation™
What unfolded felt like something deeper than a traditional class...
The best way I can describe it is something I’ve come to call:
Music-Based Neuro-Emotional Activation™
A dynamic, interactive experience that blends music, movement, and emotional engagement to elevate group energy, improve brain health creativity, and connection. This is something I rceate frequently through my experience dancing.
Music is a powerful neurological trigger.
It activates multiple areas of the brain simultaneously, including regions responsible for memory, emotion, and movement.
Rhythm stimulates the nervous system. Melody activates emotional memory and movement awakens the body; language activates the brain.
Together, they create a powerful state of presence and engagement.
Music bypasses the analytical mind and speaks directly to the body.
It is vibration. It is rhythm and frequency.
And those frequencies move through us.
Reading the Energy of the Room
I facilitated three different groups that morning, each on a different floor.
Each group had a completely different energy.
The first group was warm but gentle.
The second group started loosening up more.
But by the time I reached the third floor, something interesting had happened.
The energy had built with each session.
I felt more energized, more expressive, more playful.
By the third group, I felt like a conduit of positivity.
I wasn’t forcing the energy.
I was simply reading the room and raising the vibe.
People were clapping to the rhythm, tapping their feet, and interacting with me and one another.
We shook hands while laughing. We made silly sounds, played patty cakes, we sang the chorus. We moved together with the music.
Then came the dementia group...
The Most Unexpected Response
Before we started, one of the coordinators quietly mentioned that this group might not be very responsive. I told her not to worry, I can hold the energy and entertain them if need be.
But they ended up being the most engaged group of all.
One woman started making playful faces at me.
So naturally, I mirrored them back.
Soon we were exaggerating silly expressions like children playing a game.
Another woman grabbed my hands and we started dancing in a circle as I lead her around the room.
A man with a walker slowly stood up and joined us.
The room filled with laughter and lightness.
What I witnessed in that moment was something powerful:
play bypasses resistance.
When people feel safe to play, something inside them wakes up.
What Children Understand Instinctively
Watching the room come alive reminded me of something we often forget as adults.
Children understand play instinctively.
They dance when music starts.
They laugh easily.
They move their bodies without worrying how they look.
In early development, play is not considered frivolous — it’s essential.
Through play, children develop emotional intelligence, social bonding, creativity, and physical coordination.
It is how they explore the world.
But as adults, we often replace play with productivity.
We become more self-conscious.
We move less freely.
We laugh less easily.
Yet the human nervous system never loses its response to rhythm, music, and playful interaction.
Sometimes it simply needs permission to reawaken.
Music, Movement, and the Brain
There is growing scientific evidence that music and movement have powerful effects on cognitive health.
Music activates multiple brain networks simultaneously, including those associated with memory and emotional processing.
Even in individuals living with dementia, music can trigger engagement when other forms of communication cannot.
Rhythm stimulates motor coordination.
Movement activates neural pathways and supports neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to form new connections.
Dance, in particular, combines several powerful elements at once:
movement
rhythm
memory
emotional expression
social interaction
This combination creates a highly stimulating environment for the brain.
In other words, dancing is not just exercise.
It’s brain activation in motion.
Play as Preventative Medicine for Body and Brain Health
Watching these seniors laugh, dance, and interact made me reflect on something important. What if play is actually a form of preventative medicine?
Modern wellness often focuses on nutrition, supplements, and structured exercise.
But we sometimes overlook one of the most powerful wellness tools available to us:
Joyful movement.
Music.
Connection.
These experiences regulate the nervous system, reduce stress hormones, boost mood-enhancing neurotransmitters, improve digestion and strengthen social bonds.
Sometimes healing doesn’t look like discipline.
Sometimes it looks like dancing in a circle.
Sometimes it sounds like a room full of laughter.
The Energetic Perspective: Sacral & Heart Activation
From an energetic perspective, what I witnessed that day felt like a natural activation of two powerful energy centers in the body: the Sacral Chakra and the Heart Chakra.
The Sacral Chakra is often referred to as the “feeling chakra.” It governs pleasure, creativity, movement, and emotional expression. It is also deeply connected to our sensory experience of life and our awareness of the body.
When this chakra is activated, it heightens our ability to feel, not just emotionally but physically and energetically as well. It influences how we experience sensation, rhythm, touch, sound, and movement throughout the body. In many ways, the sacral chakra allows us to experience life through our senses and reconnect with body awareness.
Music, rhythm, and playful interaction stimulate this center because they trigger a multi-sensory response in the nervous system.
We hear the rhythm.
We feel the vibration.
We move our bodies.
We notice how our bodies respond.
This combination activates body awareness, emotional expression, and connection simultaneously.
Children naturally live in this state. They move freely, respond to music instinctively, and express emotions without hesitation. Their bodies and emotions are in constant communication.But as adults, many of us suppress this natural awareness. We become more controlled, more self-conscious, and less willing to move or express ourselves freely.
What I saw in that room was the Sacral Chakra reawakening through music, rhythm, movement, and sensory awareness.
And once that energy started flowing, something else opened too.
The Heart Chakra.
Gratitude, laughter, eye contact, and shared joy naturally activate the heart. When people sing together, clap together, or laugh together, their nervous systems begin to synchronize.
Barriers soften. Connection emerges.
This is why experiences like music, dance, and playful interaction can feel so uplifting. They stimulate not only the brain and nervous system, but also the energetic centers responsible for joy, creativity, body awareness, and emotional connection.
In that moment, the room wasn’t just responding to exercises.
It was responding to energy moving through the body and through the group.
And when energy moves, people come alive.
All the Feels.
Beyond the Five Senses...
Music and movement don’t just stimulate our traditional five senses.
In reality, human perception is far more complex.
Scientists now recognize that we experience the world through many sensory systems — some researchers describe as many as 17 different senses.
Beyond sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, we also have senses related to:
• balance
• body position
• internal bodily awareness
• temperature
• pain
• movement
• emotional sensing
This deeper sensory network is sometimes described as body intelligence.
It’s the reason our bodies can remember rhythms, movements, and emotions even when words or memories fade.
This may explain why music and movement can be so powerful, especially for seniors and individuals living with dementia. Even when cognitive memory becomes impaired, the body often remembers.
Rhythm can awaken movement.
Movement can awaken emotion.
Emotion can awaken connection.
In that room, it felt as though music was activating not just laughter, but a whole sensory orchestra within the body.
I explore this idea further in my recent video:
The 17 Human Senses: The Sixth Sense and Beyond
👉 Watch it here: https://youtube.com/shorts/yUm5oZV6Ko8?si=jgcgGppN1XgrW5Qn
In the video, I talk about how our sensory awareness extends far beyond the traditional five senses and how reconnecting with body awareness can help us access deeper states of presence, intuition, and connection.
The Real Lesson
What those seniors reminded me of is something simple but profound.
Joy doesn’t disappear with age.
It just waits for an invitation.
Sometimes that invitation is a song.
Sometimes it’s a smile.
Sometimes it’s the courage to make a silly face with someone you’ve just met.
And sometimes, the most powerful medicine we can offer each other is simply
permission to play.
I love this quote and little reminder:
We don't stop playing because we grow old,
we grow old because we stop playing.
So in case you needed, here's your permission slip.
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