How Exercise Can Positively Effect Your Mental Health

Posted by Sierra Powell on June 7th, 2021

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is more important than ever. Numerous surveys and statistics reveal this. They also reveal the unfortunate facts about our lives. Various surveys have revealed that less than 3% of those questioned said they maintained a healthy lifestyle.

Here\\\'s the truth: living a life with the right diet and exercise helps increase your lifespan. Furthermore, it changes your outlook on life for the better. As an example, here\\\'s how exercise can positively affect your mental health.

It Helps Minimize The Effects Of Depression

Two critical brain chemicals help in the fight against depression. Too much dopamine results in low motivation. A lack of serotonin prevents you from properly handling your emotions.

Exercise helps to regulate both of these brain chemicals. Thus, you have more energy while your emotions get elevated. This is for mild to moderate depression. Those with major clinical depression might require certain medications and various energy supplements. For the latter, they might want to turn to an energy supplement company for their needs. Local stores and online outlets like You Live It have representatives available to determine your needs.

It Increases Clarity And Memory Recall

You\\\'ve probably encountered moments where your head felt like it was in a fog. Additionally, there have been times when you couldn\\\'t recall a name or date. When you spend more time watching television or surfing the internet, the prehistoric part of your brain moves in. It slows down your thought processes and makes things seem muddled.

Exercise clears this up. The right amount of aerobic and strenuous activities helps to clear the haze from your mind. Not only does it sharpen your cognitive skills but it also enhances your memory.  Set aside 15 minutes to walk, run, do yoga, play tennis or other activity that gets your blood pumping and see how you feel after. If an ailment or injury hampers your ability for physical activity, mental exercises like reading, doing a puzzle, or filling out a crossword puzzle can maintain your sharpness.

It Forces You To Concentrate On Something Else

When you aimlessly change channels or click through a website it\\\'s done with a part of your brain. The rest of it is in a constant loop of worry, stress, or anxiety. Exercise helps redirect those thoughts.

For instance, when you jog or perform another strenuous activity, concentration moves toward your breathing and maintaining your pace. When stretching or doing yoga, keeping your poses to maximize the advantages is what you concentrate on. By the time you\\\'re done, you can\\\'t remember what you were worried about in the first place.

It Maintains Focus

The main issue for those with Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD/ADHD, is the inability to focus. They might be able to do this for a few minutes. Eventually, their brain screams an alert to turn toward something else.

Exercise helps to increase the amount of focus. Similar to those with depression, activity releases the proper amounts of dopamine and serotonin to level the mental playing field. It also releases norepinephrine, a stress hormone that\\\'s activated to maintain resilience.

It Makes You Feel Like You\\\'re Doing Something

When you experience stress, anxiety, or depression something changes in your mind. What hope you once had slowly disappeared. Soon enough, the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel seems smaller or completely vanishes. It leaves you with a sense of dread.

Exercise helps to counteract this. No matter if it\\\'s running to prepare for a marathon or taking a walk around the block, the activity releases the right chemicals to make you feel like you\\\'re doing something. Yes, dread and sadness might return once you enter your home. However, it might not be as much of a weight on your shoulders.

These examples of how exercise can positively affect your mental health aren\\\'t cures for various ailments. While they might aid in recovery or maintenance, other treatments need to be considered as well. Therapy and medicine are two such examples.

Exercise combined with these other items does wonders for mental health as long as you believe it. The moment you decide it\\\'s not worth it is the time that your brain has won. Don\\\'t let it take over your body and soul.

On top of the right meds and appropriate therapy, create an exercise regimen that fits into your skill and energy levels. When you do, you\\\'ll be amazed at the changes.