Why Does Goofy Singing and Dancing Make Your Body Feel Recharged?

You hum a nonsense tune like "Sanbabba, sanbabba" and do a silly dance.

Published: October 5, 2026

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Sorting Out the Oxytocin Theory, and Sweating and a Racing Pulse After a Hot Shower

You hum a nonsense tune like "Sanbabba, sanbabba" and do a silly dance.

And somehow, your body feels like it's bouncing back.

Is that just your imagination? Or is some kind of "recovery hormone" kicking in, like oxytocin, endorphins or dopamine?

Short answer: it's entirely plausible that your body feels lighter afterward. But there's little evidence to pin it all on "oxytocin."

The most reasonable explanation right now is a combination:

Light exercise + using your voice + rhythm + play + laughter + a shift of attention changed your endogenous opioid system, your endocannabinoid system, your stress response and your sense of fatigue, all at once.

So Sanbabba is not a mysterious healing spell. But it can work as an "active brake" that moves a brain and body stuck in overstimulation or rumination into a different mode for a short while.

Bottom line: oxytocin is one candidate, but not the likeliest
Five pathways that could produce that "recharged" feeling
How far can we trust the oxytocin theory?
It's not only hormones: the autonomic nervous system and attention shifts matter
Did you really recover, or does fatigue just feel lighter?
Why you sweat and feel your heart pounding after a hot shower
49 beats in 30 seconds, or 98 per minute: how to read it
A safe "Sanbabba protocol"
When to see a doctor or call for emergency help
FAQ
Quick Summary
References
Related articles and internal link ideas

Bottom line: oxytocin is one candidate, but not the likeliest

Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide that researchers study in connection with close physical contact, social interaction, parenting and group activities.

Singing and dancing involve social bonding too, so guessing that "it must be oxytocin" isn't unreasonable.

However, singing alone doesn't necessarily raise oxytocin.

A study comparing choir and solo singing found that both raised happiness and lowered worry, sadness and salivary cortisol. But salivary oxytocin went down after choir singing and showed no significant change after solo singing.[1]

Another singing study also reported that oxytocin fell while mood improved.[2]

So from things like

singing made me feel better
my body felt lighter
I felt reassured
I felt happier

you can't immediately conclude that "oxytocin went up."

On top of that, measuring natural oxytocin in humans is technically difficult, and values from saliva or blood don't necessarily reflect what's happening in the brain.[3]

The oxytocin theory isn't zero, but there isn't enough evidence to call it the main cause of a solo Sanbabba. That's the fair way to put it.

Five pathways that could produce that "recharged" feeling

1. The endocannabinoid system and light exercise

A systematic review and meta-analysis of acute exercise studies found that in most of the studies measured, endocannabinoids such as anandamide rose after exercise.[4]

The endocannabinoid system is thought to be involved in mood changes after exercise, lower anxiety and how we perceive pain.

The "runner's high" used to be explained away as endorphins. These days the endocannabinoid system is considered an important candidate too.

Even a silly dance can raise your heart rate and breathing if you move your whole body a little, so some exercise-driven change may happen, even if it's small.

How much a few dozen seconds of light movement changes depends on intensity, duration and how you feel that day. And of course, there's no clinical trial of Sanbabba.

2. Active singing and dancing, and the endogenous opioid system

There are studies where active music-making, like singing, dancing and drumming, raised pain tolerance and increased positive emotion afterward.[5]

Pain tolerance was used as an indirect indicator of endogenous opioid activity.

In a study of synchronized dancing, physical exertion and synchronized movement each raised pain thresholds and social bonding.[6]

If you do a weird dance alone, the social effect of "syncing with other people" is weak. Still, you keep

moving your muscles
using your voice
riding a rhythm
matching your movement to your sound

and that active engagement remains.

That's why the endogenous opioid system and the pleasure response from movement are an easier explanation to accept than oxytocin.

3. Laughter, play and changes in the stress response

A silly dance is a little funny while you're doing it.

Once the "what on earth am I doing?" feeling creeps in, it stops being mere exercise and becomes play.

One PET imaging study showed that social laughter increased the release of endogenous opioids in the brain.[7]

We can't say that laughing alone has the same effect, but the combination of "funny," "play" and "physical activity" at least makes it harder to keep holding on to tension.

4. Lower cortisol and other stress responses

In the solo and choir singing study, salivary cortisol dropped after singing and mood improved.[1]

That doesn't mean singing always shifts you toward the calming parasympathetic state, or always lowers cortisol. The response varies with the song, the setting, your nerves and how hard you sing.

Even so, it suggests that singing out loud can be one behavior that switches you out of a stressed state.

5. Forcibly cutting off attention and rumination

This isn't about hormones, but it matters a lot for explaining what you feel.

It's hard to run all of these at high speed in your head

work
changing jobs
development projects
social media
games
what to do next
conversations from the past

while also singing a nonsense song and keeping up a weird dance accurately.

Once you start Sanbabba, your attention moves to your body, your voice, the rhythm and the silliness.

As a result, it's possible that

it's not that the fatigue itself vanished, but that the loop of thoughts that was amplifying it paused for a moment.

This matters for people who are bad at spacing out quietly.

Resting while sitting still easily creates the unpleasant feeling of "I have nothing to do." A nonsense song with movement, on the other hand, gives you something to do while asking for no results, decisions or optimization.

In other words, Sanbabba is not zero stimulation. It's active rest with low responsibility.

How far can we trust the oxytocin theory?

Conditions where oxytocin seems more likely to be involved

When elements like these are present, it becomes more likely that mechanisms of social bonding, including oxytocin, play a part.

singing with someone you trust
dancing to the same rhythm
exchanging eye contact and smiles
hugging or gentle touch
a sense of belonging to a group
spending relaxed time with someone close

Even in those situations, though, you can't simply say "feeling better equals more oxytocin."

What about a solo dance like this one?

When you dance alone, singing a meaningless phrase, the strong elements are these:

physical movement
using your voice
rhythm
syncing your own voice and movement
novelty
play
stopping rumination
a bit of laughing at yourself

Since social contact is weak, it's more natural to think the main players are a combination of

the endogenous opioid system
the endocannabinoid system
the stress response
the autonomic nervous system
attention control
the perception of fatigue

rather than oxytocin.

It's not only hormones: the autonomic nervous system and attention shifts matter

"Which hormone was released?" is a fun question, but trying to explain every bodily reaction with a single substance tends to miss the mark.

In reality, several things move at once.

Candidate	Category	Likelihood of involvement here	Caveats
Oxytocin	Hormone / neuropeptide	Low to unknown	Studies found no increase after solo singing
Beta-endorphin etc.	Endogenous opioids	Medium	Most studies use pain threshold as a stand-in measure
Anandamide etc.	Endocannabinoids	Medium	Depends on exercise intensity and duration
Cortisol	Stress-related hormone	May change	Fell after singing in some studies, but not consistently
Adrenaline / noradrenaline	Stress and activation system	May rise briefly	Dancing and heat also push heart rate up
Dopamine	Neurotransmitter	Plausible but no direct evidence	Don't casually assume "fun means dopamine"
Autonomic nervous system	Nervous system	High	Regulates heart rate, sweating, blood vessels and breathing
Attention control	Cognitive function	High	Can interrupt rumination and heavy thinking

The important point is that a better mood and a faster heart rate can happen at the same time.

You can dance happily, feel great, and still have a fast pulse right after exercise. After a hot shower, sweating and circulatory responses pile on top of that.

"It feels good, so only the parasympathetic system is working" isn't necessarily true.

Did you really recover, or does fatigue just feel lighter?

It's worth separating these two.

Things that can improve quickly

mood
tension
boredom
rumination
body stiffness
the perception of pain and fatigue
the feeling of being unable to move
switching to the next task

Things a short dance can't replace

lack of sleep
repair of muscle damage
dehydration
infections
anemia
thyroid disease
heart arrhythmias
long-term nervous fatigue
the effects of too much caffeine or medication

So "I feel recovered" isn't necessarily fake.

More precisely, it's closer to say that

your body's repair wasn't completed; rather, the subjective heaviness of fatigue and the stuck state of your nervous system loosened for a while.

That is valuable in itself. It just isn't a substitute for sleep, hydration or quiet time.

Why you sweat and feel your heart pounding after a hot shower

When you take a hot shower, your body reacts to shed heat.

The main changes are:

Blood vessels in the skin widen.
More blood is sent to the skin.
You start to sweat.
To maintain blood pressure and blood flow, your heart rate can go up.
Even after you turn off the water, the heat left in your body and skin keeps you sweating for a while.

A review of circulatory responses to passive heat stress also describes increased skin blood flow and adjustments in cardiac output.[8]

In a bathing study, heart rate and blood pressure did not change significantly at 38°C, but heart rate rose early in the bath at 41°C.[9]

Another study comparing washing at a basin, tub baths and showers found that in both healthy people and patients, heart rate and blood pressure were highest during the shower.[10]

In other words,

sweating after a hot shower and feeling your heartbeat fast and strong

can be explained as a physiological response to heat.

That said, you shouldn't assume "it's just the hot shower" and ignore warning symptoms such as chest pain or fainting.

49 beats in 30 seconds, or 98 per minute: how to read it

If you count 49 beats in 30 seconds,

49 × 2 = 98 beats per minute

The American Heart Association gives 60 to 100 beats per minute as the usual resting heart rate for healthy adults who are sitting or lying down calmly.[11]

98 beats per minute is near the upper end of that typical range.

However, if you measured right after a hot shower, it isn't a resting heart rate in the strict sense.

your body is still hot
you're sweating
you were moving right before
you're tense because you're paying attention to the palpitations
you may be a little short on fluids

All of these affect heart rate.

So you can't call 98 a dangerous fast heartbeat or an arrhythmia from that number alone.

Conversely, being under 100 doesn't mean you're absolutely safe either.

"Palpitations" can mean not only a fast heartbeat, but also

a strong pounding
skipped beats
an irregular rhythm
being unusually aware of a normal pulse

all count as palpitations.[12]

Rather than a single number, look at this combination:

Does it come down after resting 10 to 15 minutes?
Is the rhythm regular?
Is there chest pain?
Is there shortness of breath?
Any dizziness or feeling faint?
Does it keep happening?
Does it last a long time?

A safe "Sanbabba protocol"

Normal times: use it as an active micro-rest

1. Keep it to 30 to 90 seconds

Don't turn it into a long workout. The goal isn't training, it's switching modes.

2. Keep the intensity at "you can still sing"

Avoid anything that leaves you badly out of breath, makes your chest feel tight, or makes you dizzy.

3. The movements can be meaningless

sway your shoulders
swing your arms
shift your weight left and right
step lightly in place
repeat a meaningless phrase

You don't need polish, correctness or improvement.

The moment you add a way to score yourself, rest turns into a new job.

4. Slow down for 1 to 3 minutes afterward

sit down
drink a little water
dim the lights
stay off screens
wait for your breathing to return to normal

For people who find it hard to go straight from high stimulation to no stimulation, the three steps

high stimulation → Sanbabba → low stimulation

are easy to use.

5. Track the effect by feel

Rate each of these from 0 to 10 before and after.

fatigue
racing mind
heaviness in the body
mood
palpitations

After trying it three to five times, you'll see which conditions work for you, and which ones actually rev you up.

Right after a hot shower: don't add Sanbabba

If you're already sweating and have palpitations, don't pile a dance on top.

Move somewhere cool.
Sit or lie down.
Loosen your clothes.
Drink water a little at a time.
Rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Measure again, for 30 or 60 seconds.
Check not only the speed but also the rhythm and any symptoms.

There's no need to add exercise when heat is already straining your circulation.

Sanbabba can be a recovery trick, but it's not a spell that fixes a heart rate of 130.

When to see a doctor or call for emergency help

This article does not provide a diagnosis.

Symptoms that call for emergency help right away

If palpitations come with any of the following, consider calling 119 in Japan (the emergency number for ambulances).

chest pain, pressure or tightness
severe shortness of breath
fainting or feeling like you're about to pass out
severe dizziness, or being unable to stand
a markedly pale face
sudden paralysis, slurred speech or confusion
symptoms that don't settle and are getting worse

The NHS (the UK's public health service) also advises urgent help if palpitations don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or a feeling of faintness.[13]

Situations to see a doctor even if it isn't an emergency

palpitations keep coming back
they're becoming more frequent than before
they often last several minutes or longer
your heart stays fast even at rest
your pulse feels irregular
they start suddenly, unrelated to exercise
you also have a fever, signs of anemia, weight loss or shaking hands
they continue even after you cut back on caffeine or medication
they worry you or affect your daily life or sleep

Palpitations can come from heat, dehydration, stress, lack of sleep or caffeine, but arrhythmia, anemia and an overactive thyroid can also be involved.[12]

If it keeps happening, talk to an internal medicine or cardiology clinic about an ECG and, if needed, a Holter ECG (a portable recorder worn for a day or so).

FAQ

Q1. Does a silly dance really release endorphins?

There are studies in which pain tolerance rose after active music-making such as singing, dancing and drumming.[5]

But most of those studies didn't measure endorphins in blood or the brain directly. They used pain threshold as a stand-in.

So we can't say "endorphins definitely rise by X percent," but the endogenous opioid system is a strong candidate.

Q2. Isn't it oxytocin?

We can't rule out its involvement completely.

But there's a study where salivary oxytocin didn't rise after solo singing, and another where it fell after singing.[1][2]

Especially when you dance alone, it's more reasonable to think of a combination of exercise, endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids, play and a shift of attention, rather than oxytocin.

Q3. Isn't dopamine involved?

The reward system may well be involved in enjoyable activities and music.

But for a short individual behavior like this, you can't claim a dopamine increase from the sensation alone.

Lumping everything together as "feels good equals dopamine" is too crude an explanation.

Q4. Is a heart rate of 98 per minute dangerous?

It falls within the typical adult resting range of 60 to 100 beats per minute, but near the upper end.[11]

And right after a hot shower, it isn't a true resting measurement.

Rest in a cool place for 10 to 15 minutes, then check whether it comes down, whether the rhythm is regular, and whether there's any chest pain, shortness of breath or dizziness.

Q5. Is the sweating because of oxytocin?

In this situation, the hot shower's effect on body temperature regulation is the likelier cause.

Sweat is the body's way of shedding heat, and heart rate can rise at the same time.[8][9][10]

Q6. Is it fine to do it every day as a rest?

If you have no chest symptoms or dizziness, keep the intensity light, and feel calmer afterward, it's worth trying as a short micro-break.

Just don't turn it into a routine where the more tired you are, the harder you dance.

The aim isn't to add excitement, but to cut the thought loop and slow down.

Wrap-up

The feeling that "my body is recovering" after singing nonsense and dancing silly has several reasonable explanations.

the endocannabinoid system and light exercise
active singing and movement, and the endogenous opioid system
play and laughter
changes in the stress response, such as cortisol
a shift of attention
an interruption of rumination
loosening of body stiffness

Oxytocin can't be ruled out completely either, but when you sing and dance alone, the research results are inconsistent and it can't be named the main cause.

Sweating and palpitations after a hot shower can be explained by widened skin blood vessels, sweating and circulatory adjustment.

Counting 49 beats in 30 seconds, or 98 per minute, is near the upper end of the typical resting range. But since it was right after a hot shower, look at the change after resting, the rhythm and any accompanying symptoms rather than the number alone.

For people who are bad at resting by sitting still, Sanbabba can be a short, low-responsibility, no-judgment form of active rest.

It does not, however, fix lack of sleep, dehydration or illness.

Sanbabba can work as a brake. But it's not a spell for switching off a warning light.

Quick Summary

Why can silly singing and dancing feel physically restorative?

A short burst of improvised dancing while repeating a meaningless phrase may genuinely reduce perceived fatigue, tension, or mental overload. However, the effect should not be attributed to oxytocin alone.

The most plausible explanation is a combination of:

light physical activity;
endogenous opioid signaling;
exercise-related endocannabinoid signaling;
active vocalization and rhythm;
playfulness and laughter;
reduced stress response;
interruption of rumination;
a shift of attention from abstract thought to bodily movement.

Oxytocin may play a role in socially bonded activities such as synchronized group singing, dancing, affectionate contact, and interaction with trusted people. Evidence from solo singing is inconsistent: one study found no significant oxytocin increase after solo singing, while another reported decreased oxytocin despite improved mood. Peripheral or salivary oxytocin measurements also do not directly reveal what is happening in the brain.

Therefore, in a solo "silly dance" situation, opioid, endocannabinoid, autonomic, attentional, and perceptual mechanisms are more plausible primary explanations than an oxytocin surge.

Hot shower, sweating, and palpitations

Hot showers can increase skin blood flow, sweating, and cardiovascular demand. Heart rate may rise as the body redistributes blood and attempts to dissipate heat. Sweating can continue after leaving the shower because stored body heat remains.

A pulse count of 49 beats in 30 seconds equals approximately 98 beats per minute. This falls near the upper end of the commonly cited adult resting range of 60-100 bpm, but a measurement taken immediately after a hot shower is not a true resting measurement.

The useful next steps are:

Move to a cooler place.
Sit or lie down.
Loosen clothing.
Sip water.
Rest for 10-15 minutes.
Recheck the pulse and note whether it is regular.
Pay attention to chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness, or persistent worsening symptoms.

Emergency care is warranted for persistent palpitations accompanied by chest pain, severe breathlessness, fainting, marked dizziness, neurological symptoms, or rapidly worsening illness.

"Silly dancing" can be a useful active microbreak. It is not a substitute for sleep, hydration, medical assessment, or treatment of an underlying condition.

References

Schladt TM, et al. Choir versus Solo Singing: Effects on Mood, and Salivary Oxytocin and Cortisol Concentrations. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28959197/
Fancourt D, et al. Singing modulates mood, stress, cortisol, cytokine and neuropeptide activity in cancer patients and carers. Ecancermedicalscience. 2016.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27170831/
Tabak BA, et al. Advances in human oxytocin measurement: challenges and proposed solutions. Mol Psychiatry. 2023.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9812775/
Desai S, et al. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Exercise on the Endocannabinoid System. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2022.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34870469/
Dunbar RIM, et al. Performance of music elevates pain threshold and positive affect: implications for the evolutionary function of music. Evol Psychol. 2012.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23089077/
Tarr B, et al. Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding. Biol Lett. 2015.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26510676/
Manninen S, et al. Social Laughter Triggers Endogenous Opioid Release in Humans. J Neurosci. 2017.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28536272/
Crandall CG, Wilson TE. Human cardiovascular responses to passive heat stress. Comprehensive Physiology. 2015.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4950975/
Kataoka Y, et al. The change of hemodynamics and heart rate variability on bathing by the gap of water temperature. Biomed Pharmacother. 2005.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16275514/
Winslow EH, Smith J. Effects of basin baths, tub baths, and showers on cardiovascular responses in 51 healthy men and women. Cardiovascular Nursing. 1991.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1873820/
American Heart Association. All About Heart Rate (Pulse).
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/all-about-heart-rate-pulse
Saiseikai (a Japanese charitable medical foundation). "Palpitations" (in Japanese).
https://www.saiseikai.or.jp/medical/symptom/palpitation/
NHS. Heart palpitations.
https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/heart-palpitations/

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