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Healthy body, healthy mind

• It might seem like a bind at times, but exercise of any kind can actually help improve your mood and emotional wellbeing. If you find yourself getting a bit low or depressed now and then, there’s nothing like a quick burst of energy and exercise to pick you up again. In fact, doctors often prescribe exercise as a natural antidote to ‘the blues’ and mild-moderate depression.

• And did you know, you can do exercise without even realising it? For example, by taking the stairs instead of using the lift, or doing the gardening or housework. Just five minutes of exercise here and there accumulated throughout the day can be just as beneficial as doing 30 minutes in one go (experts recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least five days a week).

Here’s why…

Walking, running, cycling, skipping or organised sport can help stimulate certain brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) or hormones, which mediate our moods and emotions. Increased levels of these natural antidepressant chemicals can make us feel less stressed and more relaxed, happier and more satisfied with life and generally better all round. Physical activity can also lead to increased energy, self-esteem, a sense of achievement and motivation, feelings of wholeness, security and unity.

During exercise, hormones are produced and secreted directly into the bloodstream. These hormones include:

• Serotonin

Serotonin is an important brain chemical that contributes to a range of functions, including sleep and wake cycles, libido, appetite and mood. Regular exercise, and the subsequent increase in physical fitness that results, alters serotonin levels in the brain, leading to an improvement of mood and heightened feelings of wellbeing.

• Endorphins

Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers and ‘feel-good’ chemicals. They are released into the bloodstream during times of pain or stress (which for many people means during exercise). Endorphins enter neurons that carry pain impulses to the brain. The result is that ‘no pain signals’ are sent and received: this has an analgesic effect on the body, reducing pain and stress, leading to a state of euphoria – sometimes referred to as ‘the runners’ high.

• Enkephalins

Enkephalins are similar to endorphins, only smaller. They are also released into the bloodstream during exercise and act as natural powerful painkillers.

• Other natural antidepressant chemicals, whose levels are boosted by exercise, include dopamine and norepinephrine.

Physical activity can also help reduce the difficulties with sleep associated with emotional and mental health problems. People who are physically active (especially during the daytime) fall asleep faster and sleep deeper and for longer than people who are inactive, which can in turn help increase energy levels.

Becoming more active can help to break down the negative mood-cycle associated with depression – as we become increasingly low or depressed, so our physical activity reduces. We become slowed down physically and mentally and become easily tired. Often we begin to blame ourselves for doing nothing, our self esteem gradually seeps away and we begin to believe that there is no way out. This feeling of helplessness means we reduce our activity even further and so our low mood or depression intensifies. Becoming more active can help to break down this negative mood-cycle, as it will help reduce physical symptoms such as tiredness and low energy, which in turn will have knock on effects on our moods and/or thoughts.

So, not only does exercise help you get fit and put a smile on your face, it also has other benefits for your physical health:

• Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
• Reduced risk of stroke
• Reduction in overall risk of cancer (particularly breast cancer in post menopausal women and of colon cancer)
• Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
• Protection against osteoporosis
• Beneficial effects for people with osteoarthritis
• Easing of low back pain (if the activity does not stress the lower back)

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