"Exercise not only changes your body, it changes your mind, your attitude and your mood." -John F. Kennedy
What is the Secret?
Have you ever wondered if there was a magic trick that might make you feel and look beautiful, lower blood pressure, avoid sadness and stress, lessen the risk of heart problems, and lessen the effects of aging-related brain fog? Exercise is undoubtedly one such activity that includes everything.
Where are the facts?
The Lancet published their groundbreaking research commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care in 2017, which showed that 35% of dementia risk variables are related to alterable lifestyle factors. Exercise is a crucial component. When compared to individuals who did not exercise, those who did it for at least 150 minutes a week had higher cognitive outcomes (Livingston, 2017).
The Journey begins TODAY!
I know exercise can be scary. It is important you find an exercise that you enjoy! Here are a few exercises the Harvard Medical School recommends:
Running: Regular aerobic exercise helps lower anxiety by calming down the "fight or flight" response in your brain. Through frequent aerobic activity, anxious persons might become accustomed to physiological changes they fear, including a quick heartbeat. Over time, they may even grow tolerable to these symptoms (Pillay, MD, 2016).
Yoga: Yoga is thought to improve body awareness, reduce stress, and loosen up tight muscles. Yoga can also be a peaceful practice that enables you to focus solely on your body and yourself. (Pillay, MD, 2016).
Strength Training: Resistance training is a great approach to increase confidence and self-esteem, which are strongly linked to both good physical and mental wellbeing. Benefits that have been demonstrated include increased cognition, reduced anxiety, better sleep, and the ability to combat depression and chronic fatigue (Pillay, MD, 2016).
Check out more Benefits of Physical Activity here!
With This In MIND
Your body and mind are closely related. While your brain is the primary movement-controlling organ of your body, how you move can also have an impact on how you think and feel. When cognitive effort, psychotherapy, or medicine are insufficient to cure depression and anxiety, movement therapies are frequently employed as supplementary treatments (Livingston, 2017). You can acquire access to the desired mental changes without having to "psych yourself" into feeling better by exercising, going for a meditative stroll by yourself, or taking a synchronized walk with someone else (Livingston, 2017).
References
Pillay, S., MD. (2016, March 28). How simply moving benefits your mental health. Harvard Health.
Livingston, G., et al. (2017). Prevention of dementia by targeting risk factors . The Lancet, 391(10130), 1575–1576. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30570-1