How Does Exercise Help Your Overall Wellbeing?
By now, we all know that exercise is good for our body. But what people often wonder is how does exercise help your overall wellbeing? Staying physically active not only helps our bodies stay trim and build muscle, but research has also shown that even a modest amount of exercise can have a major impact on our mental health too. Read on to learn more about how you can boost your mental health by staying active.
Helps Treat Mild to Moderate Depression
A significant amount of research has shown just how powerful exercise can be for alleviating symptoms of mild to moderate depression. In fact, it’s been proven to be very effective alongside anti-depressant medication. Exercise helps you feel calm and soothed after putting in some effort.
It Releases Endorphins that Help You Feel Good
Sure, exercise is important if you want to stay trim, lose weight, and build up those biceps. But it does much more than that – it also has a dramatic impact on the brain. When you’re active and working up a sweat, your brain is undergoing all sorts of changes. In particular, powerful endorphins like serotonin get released throughout the body, which places your mind and body into a rejuvenating state of well-being.
It Gives You a Healthy Outlet for Stress
If you’re suffering from severe anxiety or have a hard time combating your daily stress, exercising can help here as well. There’s a reason why stress is called the silent killer. It can wreak havoc on the body, causing a slew of adverse symptoms, like tense muscles, headaches, insomnia, tightness in your chest, and more severe conditions too. Without giving your body a healthy outlet to burn off that pent up tension and sense of unease, your body and mind can get trapped in an endless loop. But since our body and mind are intrinsically connected, getting active can help stop that endless loop by promoting more positive feelings instead.
Improves Your Quality of Sleep
Exercising can even help to improve your quality of sleep. Insomnia can be debilitating when you’re left feeling exhausted before each day even begins. But even short bursts of physical activity can help to kick your circadian rhythm back into gear and get you back into a healthy sleep pattern.
The idea of exercising can seem like a monumental task when you’re struggling to just get out of bed most mornings. But the truth is it could very well be the one major change that your body and mind really need to feel better. And this doesn’t mean that you have to join a gym or an overpriced class – start off small. Take the stairs, walk to work, and search for new activities you can enjoy.
If you need to speak with a counsellor, contact us at Ottawa Counselling to set up an appointment. We offer a safe, comfortable and holistic service where you can find the guidance you need to improve your overall wellbeing. Give us a call today.