Mindful living: exercising for good mental health

I wrote a post a couple of week’s ago about self-care. I briefly mentioned how it’s taken me awhile to realise that I have to exercise to feel well. So, I wanted to talk a little more about how I always seem to underestimate how much exercise impacts my mental wellbeing – surely I can’t be the only one?

I had a few weeks of feeling a bit low, nothing major, just blue, I’m currently working on lifting myself out of those feelings into a more positive head space. I can’t help but wonder if there was a correlation to my low mood and the fact that I hadn’t been able to exercise for a few weeks due to having a horrendous cough?! Don’t get me wrong, there were some other factors contributing but maybe if I could have exercised I wouldn’t have got into that negative place. This isn’t the first time I’ve wondered this, and it now seems blindingly obvious that it’s going to have some sort of impact.

I think we often put pressure on ourselves to exercise for our physical wellbeing, punishing ourselves for eating that slice of cake, examining each roll on our belly, but we don’t really focus much on the positive aspects it has on our mental wellbeing.

How exercise helps me mentally:

Relieves stress – putting on my running clothes, dusting off my trainers, and making myself go outside for a run really helps to forget the stresses of the day. Raising my heart beat, getting the blood flowing around my body is definitely a positive action to relieve any stress that may have built up over the week.
Physically tires me out and helps me sleep better – we can often live sedentary lifestyles – sitting at desks, sitting on our sofas, sitting in the car or on the train. Yes, exercise can at times feel exhausting, but I really like the feeling of being physically tired from something rather than mentally tired, it also will probably mean I’ll get a really good nights sleep.
Stops me thinking – I’ve been really getting into yoga lately, and love how it’s teaching me to switch off my whirring brain and focus the mind on my breathing.

Let’s not think of exercise as punishment, as something we must do to lose weight or look good. Let’s exercise to celebrate what our bodies can do and to help us be our best selves inside our heads.