Everyone has heard of the benefits of exercise on the body, but have you heard about the benefits of regular exercise on your brain and mental health?
Moving just 20 - 30 minutes 2 to 3 times a week can do wonders not only for your body but your mental wellbeing as well. Healthy bodies start with a healthy mind so it's a win win!
As you exercise your body is producing a number of "feel good chemicals" known as endorphins. They interact with your body to help you feel focused, reduce feelings of pain and boost your mood overall! Endorphins have such an effect they even have similar properties to antianxiety medication and antidepressants - exercise is therefore a great way to eliminate or at least reduce feelings of anxiety and depression naturally. With the release of endorphins having such a positive effect on the brain, exercise has become the most underused tool to fight anxiety and depression.
Through a little exercise and the subsequent release of these endorphins, along with serotonin and dopamine (both neurotransmitters that contribute to mood and react to reward and pleasure), a number of internal benefits are created. Sleep improves, stress is reduced, emotions become more stable, you begin to feel more energised, more motivated, more focused on tasks and have an overall sense of being in control.
All factors that are quite easily intertwined with one another and have a "knock on" effect but have huge impacts on mental health and amazingly can be improved with a little exercise. Hard to believe that just 20 - 30 minutes 2 to 3 times a week could have such a huge impact on all aspects of your life!
While endorphins have a huge impact on mental health exercising also has a number of other benefits on your brain… Whilst exercising your body also increase levels of a brain produced protein known as BDNF that assists with keeping your mind focused, sharpening memory and preventing cognitive decline as you get older.
Exercise goes far deeper than the physical changes of your body, it trains your mind and improves overall brain and mental health. The huge benefits of exercise, if for nothing else, is doing wonders for your mind, soul and overall wellbeing and should be utilised and more strongly recognised as an incredible tool to fight mental health issues and develop your brain in a whole other way.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
