Looking for Ways to Boost Your Mental Health? These 8 Exercises Will Help You
Mental health issues may arise for many reasons. It may be due to constant exposure to struggles and failure in life, comparisons with others, or how fast life is moving. Not being able to cope with things fast enough can overwhelm anyone, hiking up anxiety and depression.
However, you can boost your mental health simply with physical exercises, such as cycling, walking, and swimming. This article discusses the exercises that can promote your mental health.
And if you still feel down, visiting a therapist is a must.
Physical Activities
Why do you need to do physical exercises to boost your mental health? They’re meant to take care of your body only, right? Not really.
While physical exercises help to keep the body in shape, they also help release hormones that make you feel happy. Physical activities also reduce cortisol levels, which are responsible for stress and anxiety.
Here are some of the physical activities that you can do regularly in order to take care of your mental health. Remember to be punctual about them to see better results!
1. Cycling
Cycling isn’t just for commuting. It’s one of the most effective exercises to improve mental health. With your cycle out on the roads, you’re exercising your muscles, allowing your brain to receive more oxygen and increasing blood flow.
You also have the chance to take your bike to scenic places. Beautiful places boost serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins, which are three of the happy hormones your body produces. These will help you feel more content and motivated.
You can cycle into nature with electric bikes. But in order to do any of that, you need to get a bike first. If you don’t have one already but want to purchase a good quality e-bike, check these ones out from Specialized. They have a range of excellent e-bikes you can choose from.
2. Walking and Jogging
Although it may seem like a cliche, walking and jogging can boost your mental well-being. They can ease your anxiety and alleviate your stress and depression. An hour a day will keep your stress at bay! But of course, you don’t need to walk, jog, or constantly run for an hour. Take breaks at your convenience, and move as much as possible in an hour.
Just like any other exercise, walking and jogging release serotonin in your blood and stabilize your mood. With this simplest exercise, you’ll get the best results with if you do it early in the morning, as you’ll get sunlight and fresh air to let the serotonin flow.
3. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT shouldn’t be the first thing to adapt when you’re just getting used to exercising. High-intensity exercises increase adrenaline and cortisol, bringing a surge of stress into your body.
However, if your body is used to rigorous activities, it’ll soon get used to HIIT and manage stress. The best part is that your body will release endorphins, a hormone known to relieve pain, and dopamine, a hormone associated with feeling accomplished.
A boost of these hormones will bring a sense of fulfillment, thus aiding your mental health. You can also use a health gadget to track your improvements.
4. Resistance Training
Another form of exercise that has similar effects as HIIT is resistance training. While HIIT requires bursts of intense training with each type of exercise, resistance training requires you to push a weight away or pull something heavy toward you.
Gyms are full of resistance training equipment, so you can join one if you’re looking for a rush of endorphins. You’ll also improve your memory, physical strength, sleep, and cognitive abilities, bringing you a sense of accomplishment. This will lower your stress and make you feel better.
5. Dancing
One of the best and most creative forms of exercise is dancing. Dancing and other creative activities bring a surge of serotonin and oxytocin, stabilizing the mood and relieving stress.
Dancing moves every body part, allowing your blood to get more oxygen and activity. This will improve your memory and appetite and reduce stress, bringing an overall sense of well-being.
Nothing feels better than dancing wildly to the rhythms of your favorite groovy song when you’re feeling low!
6. Yoga
Yoga, a slow and gentle way of stretching, warming, and shedding your body, is a great way to elevate your mood and improve your mental health. It’s better to pair yoga with walking, running, and cycling, as yoga warms up the body gently and prepares it for rigorous muscle activities.
Regular yoga is very therapeutic, as it can release endorphins and relieve pain. It’ll also reduce stress by lowering cortisol levels in your blood. You’ll focus more on breathing, feel every muscle gently, and connect better to your body. These, in turn, will help you boost your confidence and mental health.
7. Swimming
Another low-impact yet intensive exercise for your body is swimming, where you need to use your strength to push through the water and practice your breathing and focus. For some people, swimming is meditative, while others claim that the attempt to drive through water gives them a purpose to move forward.
Swimming is known to release serotonin, the mood-stabilizing hormone. It increases your appetite, improves your sleep, and expands your lungs, allowing you a sense of well-being. The dopamine released from swimming helps improve your concentration and make you feel better about yourself.
8. Train in Defensive Arts
Training in defensive arts, such as boxing and martial arts, can bring a great boost to your mental health. But these are highly strenuous, so aren’t these supposed to hike your anxiety levels?
Well, you’ll see a spike in your anxiety initially. However, once you get used to the fast defensive movements and the hits, you’ll start gaining confidence. With more training, you can deal with your anxiety better and feel more accomplished.
Besides, defensive arts will give you a different perspective on life, as it’s also about improving your lifestyle. These need discipline, which will help you stay focused and release dopamine. The entire experience will be rewarding for you, thus improving your mental health.
Seek Professional Help
When all your attempts fail to make you feel better, you should seek professional help. Visit a therapist and talk to them. They’ll help you figure out why you’re feeling a certain way and how you can deal with it.
Conclusion
Physical exercises help release dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, and oxytocin, the happiness hormones responsible for overall mental health. These bring down cortisol levels and manage adrenaline, thus keeping your stress and depression under control.
In conjunction with regular psychiatric therapy, these eight exercises will boost your mental health. Try them out, see what works best for you, and live a happier life!
