Getting Started

Regular exercise is an effective way to improve your mood and decrease feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. Most of us know that we should be exercising regularly to maintain a healthy physique and support a healthy heart, but the benefits of exercise are more than just physical. When looking for ways to improve a low mood, and even more importantly build resiliency and promote feelings of happiness, incorporating exercise into your daily routine is an great place to start!

There are many benefits that exercise offers for improving your mental health. Regular exercise can improve your mood and decrease feelings of anxiety. Getting moving not only helps you to overcome negative feelings or get out of a funk, but it can boost feelings of happiness over time even when beginning from an already positive state. There is ongoing research in this area that continues to identify the many benefits of regular physical activity on supporting good mental health.

How exercise can impact your psychological wellbeing occurs in several ways. During exercise the neurochemicals in your brain change and you experience an increase in the release of feel good hormones. The increase in blood flow through your brain during exercise is believed to play a large role in the improvement in feelings of anxiety and depression. The benefits of exercise on our mental health are not limited to the structures in the brain. Exercise helps to improve our quality of sleep which plays an important part in our mental wellbeing, reducing feelings of tiredness and stress, and improving mental alertness. Being involved in a regular exercise routine also acts as a healthy coping skill to manage anxiety. It provides an outlet for distraction and offers the opportunity to improve self-esteem by building confidence. Among other benefits increasing your physical activity can increase social interaction by connecting you with other people in the gym, during a workout class, or outside running in the park.

It can be challenging to make regular exercise a part of your lifestyle. Most of us are busy and it can seem impossible to find the time to workout. It is important to recognize the value of regular physical activity and make it a priority in your life. Setting aside the time to focus on your health for a few minutes every day will transfer to all other areas of your life. Recommendations about the amount of exercise you need to experience the benefits can vary, but it seems like getting thirty minutes of moderate exercise five days a week is a good place to start. Of course, there are many factors that influence these numbers and speaking with a health professional can help you identify the optimal amount for you. What is important is to find activities that you enjoy and make exercise something that you look forward to. There are many different strategies to incorporate regular exercise into your life and we can explore that topic further in the future. Challenge yourself to get moving at least three days a week this month and pay attention to how your mood changes over the next few weeks.

Exercise offers so many different benefits, the best thing you can do is get started today. Make the time in your day and just get moving. The more you keep at it and challenge yourself the more you’ll see your mental health is improving and the many benefits will begin reaching into every area of your life.