Plugging your body into a state of positivity
Exercise is one of the best practices of rebalancing the mind. When you get into the zone you are plugging your body into a state of positive energy. Getting physical releases a lot of body boosting chemicals that send you into a euphoric state. London is buzzing with new health initiatives and movements that are helping us get our bodies and minds into shape like Befit and Goodroots Festival. New fitness trends like Barrecore, a combination of Ballet and core workouts like Yoga and Pilates, are reconnecting us with our bodies. Boutique studios are popping up everywhere as wellbeing influencers are trying to find convenient solutions to fit around our work centric lives. Work It London has done exactly that by opening up studios within the workplace.
Advice from Dr Anna & Elena
Discovering a focus and respite from the stressors in your life
The research into the impact of exercise shows clear links as to why it will boost your mood and leave you feeling positive. Exercise increases the output of the body’s natural high endorphins. These chemicals, when released give you a natural high feeling – the rush of good energy after you have been exercising. They are also the reason that we want to continue exercising – it feels good. Taking advantage of this natural ability to boost your mood through physical exercise has more than one benefit. It is also good for our physical health, it provides activation (see previous blog post) to give you the opportunity to feel that you have achieved something and can provide a focus and respite from the stressors that may be occurring in your life.
Using energy gives you energy!
Engaging in regular exercise can also improve your memory and thinking – the endorphins that improve your mood also improve your thinking, concentration and slow age-related decline and even can stimulate the growth of new brain cells! Engaging in regular exercise has also been found to improve sleep in people – which has a further impact on your ability to regulate your emotions. Expending energy through exercise has been found to increase the experience of energy that people have – so using energy gives you energy. Lastly, it has been found that engaging in exercise increases your resilience when managing challenges in your life rather than using damaging habits to manage challenges such as drugs and alcohol.
No space is too small as variety is the spice of life after all
To further increase the benefits you can try out a new type of exercise to engage your mind as well as your body or engage with a number of different types of exercise – something different on different days to keep you interested, or select an exercise that is specifically designed to focus on the mind-body connection – for example Yoga or Pilates.
Finding the space or time to exercise can be difficult – however with technology and more research this can no longer be an excuse not to fit exercise into your daily routine. The High Intensity workouts, which last just over seven minutes, can provide an enormous benefit and require little time or space so you can do it in the comforts of your own home.
Reliable resources
The Royal College of Psychiatrists support this view www.rcpsych.ac.uk
The help guide has some useful troubleshooting tips if you are trying to get started exercising. www.helpguide.org
According to Balance magazine regular exercise will help you build the basis of a happier life.
Try using a seven minutes workout challenge app, or a couch to five k app if you fancy some running.
