Move for Your Mental Health

When you’ve got anxiety or struggling with your mental health, it is hard to find the motivation to exercise. However, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, anxious or stressed, working out is one of the best things you can do for your mental wellbeing.

It is totally ok to feel overwhelmed from time to time. We have just come out of a global pandemic and work, life and social commitments have increased. It is normal to feel anxious or stressed if there’s a lot going on in your life or if you feel low. A tip is to go back to basics and try to keep life super simple, whilst incorporating feel-good exercise into your day.

When you exercise, you feel better. We’ve all experienced that. This is because exercise causes the release of endorphins, serotonin and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain, which has been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Low levels of BDNF have been associated with depression, anxiety, poor memory and brain degeneration as seen in conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.

Exercise also helps improve and prevent many health problems like arthritis, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

How Exercise Helps with Anxiety

• Taking your mind off your thoughts – Helps you get out of the negative thoughts cycle that feeds anxiety.

• Releasing feel-good endorphins – Endorphins are natural brain chemicals that help you feel good and enhance your sense of wellbeing.

Exercising regularly also offers emotional and psychological benefits, such as:

• Gaining confidence – When you meet exercise challenges or goals, even if they’re small, you boost your self-confidence. Many times, getting fit makes you happier with your appearance.

• Coping skills – Doing positive things to manage anxiety is a healthy coping mechanism. When you drink alcohol to try and feel better, or dwell on your feelings, your symptoms could worsen

• More social interaction – Exercise gives you a chance to socialise with and meet others. Exchanging friendly smiles and greetings while walking around the neighbourhood or at the gym helps your mood.

What type of exercise should I do?

Research suggests that physical activity of any kind improves your mood from walking to a Zumba class. If you choose activities you enjoy, you will boost your fitness, strengthen your body, improve your health and it helps you feel better.

Lifting weights, running, dancing and playing basketball all get the heart pumping. However, gardening, walking around the neighbourhood and washing the car are less-intensive but still beneficial. Anything you can do to get moving and stay off the couch improves your mood, health and mental wellbeing.

Set yourself a challenge and see if you can do a brisk walk for 30-45 minutes twice a day! It’s very therapeutic, you’ll improve your brain health immensely and it feels so good.

How Much Exercise to Get

Most experts recommend getting about 150 minutes of activity each week. This is about 20 to 30 minutes of exercise every day.

If you’ve got anxiety, you may want to think about exercising more often to manage it and improve your general wellbeing. This, paired with other coping mechanisms such as optimal nutrition and social support, can help you feel better and have more confidence in yourself.