It might be hard for some of us to get to the gym or exercise at home on a regular basis. That being said, the rewards we get personally when we exercise can be very, very good. In addition to the healthy benefits for our bodies, our minds and moods fare well with exercise.
We live in a fast-paced world and we are busy almost every minute of the day. When we do get a break, we might want to collapse on the couch, or we are just too ‘tired’ to think about more activity. Exercise gives us energy and can improve our mood and mindset so it is to our benefit to make time in the day to exercise.
The mind body connection of exercise and mood can be helpful to people who are sad, depressed, stressed or feel down. There seems to be more stressful people these days, probably due to the economy but also due to many varied factors. There are millions of people who are depressed and exercise may help. Ongoing research shows that when people get active, it can dramatically change their mood.
“A 2007 study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine found that exercising helped people recover from depression better than medication. The connection between exercise and being happy is due, largely in part, to chemical reactions and nerve growth in the brain.
“Research has shown that exercise increases the amounts of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, two important chemicals that can elevate mood. In fact, many of the prescription anti-depressant medications try to increase these chemicals as a way to improve mood,” says Dr. Amarish Dave, certified neurologist. “Research has shown that a nerve growth factor, VGF, increases in exercising brains, this nerve growth factor is believed to be important in elevating mood.” (taken from https://www.qualityhealth.com/quizzes/exercise-mood-1508?poll=1508&rf=31819&emailPID=main_article mc=MTU4NDE3Mjg.)
Personally, for non-life threatening health issues, I would rather try natural supplements or natural activities such as exercise, relaxation, sleep, and healthy diet choices, to see how they will impact how we feel and how we can improve our health without medications that many times have other side effects.
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