131 Method
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials
  • Sign In
Start Now
  • Health
    gain weight and muscle

    Healthy Tips for Gaining Weight

    postpartum

    Is Cannabis Safe for Postpartum Depression?

    coffee DIY mask

    5 Ways to Use Coffee for Beauty

    colorful lunch

    Nutrition Rules that Improve Productivity & Health

    great-body

    Tips for a Great Body when You’re Busy

    yoga

    5 Reasons to Take Cannabis and Kratom After Yoga

  • Fitness
    gain weight and muscle

    Healthy Tips for Gaining Weight

    coffee-athletics

    Does Coffee Boost Athletic Performance?

    home-workout-during-coronavirus

    Coronavirus: At Home Exercise Tips

    home gym equipment

    7 Pieces of Equipment your Home Gym Needs Now!

    131 Method Deals

    131 Method Deals

    healing post injury

    Natural Healing Remedies After Injury

  • Weightloss
    weight loss

    Tips for Weekend Weight Loss

    gut intelligence and longevity

    How Our Food Is Destroying Our Gut Intelligence

    weight loss for women

    10 Reasons Women Struggle with Weight Loss

    why diets don't work

    Why Most Diets Don’t Work

    sliced-white-bread

    Which Foods Cause Inflammation?

    Hormones and weight loss

    Hormonal Balance and Weight Loss

  • Motivation
    phase it up

    Phase it Up 20-Pound Weight Loss in 12 Weeks

    131 success story

    No More Punishing Behaviors: 131 Method Success Story

    self-care-at-home

    Quarantine Self-Care Tips that Ease Stress

    131 success story

    How Becky Lost 41 Pounds with the 131 Method

    weight loss story

    Off the Weight Loss Rollercoaster

    healthy-and-happy

    How Getting Healthier Impacts your Life

    weight loss with 131 method

    Husband and Wife Weight Loss with the 131 Method

    weight loss with 131 method

    45-Pound Weight Loss in 12-Weeks with 131 Method

    weight loss with 131 method

    Dramatic 55-Pound Weight Loss with the 131 Method

  • Recipes
No Result
View All Result
  • Health
    gain weight and muscle

    Healthy Tips for Gaining Weight

    postpartum

    Is Cannabis Safe for Postpartum Depression?

    coffee DIY mask

    5 Ways to Use Coffee for Beauty

    colorful lunch

    Nutrition Rules that Improve Productivity & Health

    great-body

    Tips for a Great Body when You’re Busy

    yoga

    5 Reasons to Take Cannabis and Kratom After Yoga

  • Fitness
    gain weight and muscle

    Healthy Tips for Gaining Weight

    coffee-athletics

    Does Coffee Boost Athletic Performance?

    home-workout-during-coronavirus

    Coronavirus: At Home Exercise Tips

    home gym equipment

    7 Pieces of Equipment your Home Gym Needs Now!

    131 Method Deals

    131 Method Deals

    healing post injury

    Natural Healing Remedies After Injury

  • Weightloss
    weight loss

    Tips for Weekend Weight Loss

    gut intelligence and longevity

    How Our Food Is Destroying Our Gut Intelligence

    weight loss for women

    10 Reasons Women Struggle with Weight Loss

    why diets don't work

    Why Most Diets Don’t Work

    sliced-white-bread

    Which Foods Cause Inflammation?

    Hormones and weight loss

    Hormonal Balance and Weight Loss

  • Motivation
    phase it up

    Phase it Up 20-Pound Weight Loss in 12 Weeks

    131 success story

    No More Punishing Behaviors: 131 Method Success Story

    self-care-at-home

    Quarantine Self-Care Tips that Ease Stress

    131 success story

    How Becky Lost 41 Pounds with the 131 Method

    weight loss story

    Off the Weight Loss Rollercoaster

    healthy-and-happy

    How Getting Healthier Impacts your Life

    weight loss with 131 method

    Husband and Wife Weight Loss with the 131 Method

    weight loss with 131 method

    45-Pound Weight Loss in 12-Weeks with 131 Method

    weight loss with 131 method

    Dramatic 55-Pound Weight Loss with the 131 Method

  • Recipes
No Result
View All Result
131 Method
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

How Exercise Improves Mental Health

by Team 131 Method
May 13, 2020
0
0
mental health
327
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Life in lock-down isn’t easy. Not being able to see our loved ones, crowded homes and apartments, the inability to work, combined with the uncertainty of the crisis, means many of us are struggling with stress and anxiety. With doctors already overloaded with patients, it can feel like you’re alone in your suffering. But it is possible to control and reduce these symptoms while at home— through exercise. Read on to find out how exercise improves mental health, especially during the lock-down. 

running

Exercise produces feel-good chemicals in your body

Let’s start with the science. One of the primary reasons that exercise is so positive for mental health is because it releases mood-elevating hormones in the body. These “feel-good” hormones include:

  • Endorphins
  • Serotonin
  • Dopamine
  • Norepinephrine 

These hormones serve as neurotransmitters, sending messages to the nervous system to regulate mood and generally enhance your sense of well-being.

Studies suggest that when these neurotransmitters are released after exercise, an individual will feel happy, positive, and generally energized. Beyond that, these neurotransmitters can also help reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression, including increased heart rate, and negative and intrusive thoughts, and so on.

Creates a Mind-Body Connection

Mindfulness used to be seen as something for spiritual types, akin to meditation or reiki. But today, mindfulness is a recognized mental health treatment in its own right. Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on the present moment, excluding any worries or concerns about the past or future. It involves concentrating on your breathing, feeling it flow in and out of your lungs. This serves as the anchor upon which sufferers of mental health issues (especially anxiety) can quell their negative inner thoughts.

So how does exercise figure into this? Well, exercise places your body into a certain physical state. Your pulse quickens, your breathing becomes heavier, and your body moves in a repeated motion. Consequently, it provides the perfect space upon which you can focus only upon your breathing, the rise of your chest, and the movement of your arms and legs as you swim, cycle, or run.

Research suggests that exercise promotes mindfulness by relaxing the body in a physiological sense too. By lowering blood pressure through exercise, one can better achieve a mindful state.

Pro-Tip:

Mindfulness improves over time. Practice it frequently and regularly, and you will gradually find it easier to achieve a state of calm while exercising.

exercise

Exercise improves mental health by relieving the physical symptoms of mental health issues

Any sufferer of depression, anxiety, OCD, or other mental health issues will tell you that the symptoms of these conditions don’t just exist in your head — they manifest in physical ways too. Sufferers of anxiety, for instance, often experience a pounding heart, rapid breathing, or trembling upon certain triggers. In the same vein, people with depression may regularly feel fatigued, have headaches, or even stomach pain.

But studies show that exercise, as a physical activity, counteracts these physical symptoms. A vigorous cardiovascular activity increases the flow of blood to your muscles, oxygenating them, and relieving tension.

Exercise also helps reduce blood pressure too. Blood pressure increases during stressful or anxious situations, so a short jog or cycle helps to gradually lower your blood pressure to a healthy level.

Exercise brings routine and stability into your day

For many sufferers of mental health, a lack of routine can compound the symptoms of their condition. This is especially true during lock-down. Many of us find ourselves either working from home or furloughed with our usual routines thoroughly disrupted. But by setting strict times to exercise every day and sticking to them, you add a framework to the chaos of your day. Even outside of quarantine, introducing an exercise routine into your life gives shape to your day. It gives you structure and stability, something to hold onto even when you’re at your lowest ebb.

This is a strategy employed in the real world by prisoners too. Solitary confinement is often used to break people’s will, especially if they’ve been taken hostage. But by adding a routine to their time in confinement — exercise is often the only activity available to them — they create a sense of independence on their own terms.

Of course, this is an extreme example. But it highlights how a routine of exercise can empower you and give you a sense of confidence and control at a time when you need it most.

Exercise fosters positive self-esteem

Many individuals with anxiety also suffer from low self-esteem as a result of their condition. Anxiety might prevent someone from integrating socially or making new friends, and they might blame themselves as a result. Exercise helps combat this by helping nurture positive self-esteem in a physical way, and research confirms this.

Along with clean eating, healthy habits, embracing one’s self, and generally treating yourself well, exercise forms the foundation of self-love. Firstly, by releasing the aforementioned feel-good hormones, exercise creates an environment in the body that creates a positive self-image in a physical sense. Alongside this, tracking one’s exercise progress over time also gives the sufferer a sense of achievement. Seeing and feeling the physical improvements in your body has the same effect. Self-esteem improves as a result.

Final Thoughts

Exercise does more than keep your body fit and healthy. It’s also a powerful method of improving your mental health and helping you cope with stressful situations. Be inspired by the points above and introduce exercise in your day to keep your head above water during these stressful times.

ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Does Coffee Boost Athletic Performance?

Next Post

6 Benefits of Kratom Powder, a Natural Drug Alternative

Next Post
benefits-of-kratom-on-stress

6 Benefits of Kratom Powder, a Natural Drug Alternative

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

131 Method Topics

  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Weightloss
  • Motivation
  • Recipes

Popular

  • soup

    10 Reasons Gelatin Helps When You’re Sick

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Health Benefits of King Oyster Mushrooms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Poor Protein Digestion: Causes, Symptoms & Support

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Worst Advice About Candida

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dairy-Free Cloud Bread: Easy & Keto Friendly

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Agar Agar Health Benefits and Uses

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
131 Method

© 2020 131 Method

Research Categories

  • Home
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Weightloss
  • Motivation
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Weightloss
    • Motivation
    • Recipes
  • Join
  • Login

© 2020 131 Method

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In