In a world of escalating worries and safety concerns, we find ourselves fastened to our chairs more than ever before. Unfortunately, our collective dive into the world of digital pleasures and remote work has robbed our bodies of their physical outlets. As living beings, we were never designed to be confined to a seat day after day with little relief and variety. Our bodies and minds need regular movement to blossom into health and happiness.
The remedy to our progressively inactive world is simple: exercise. A word many of us are tired of hearing. Indeed, we’ve often heard how exercise can bolster our tendons and muscles with added strength and athletic prowess. What we often neglect is the mental effect of exercise. To push us forward into action, we must first understand what exercise truly and fully is: a powerfully potent and freely accessible mood regulator.
Here are three ways exercise can help remedy your brain from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression:
- Increase Joy Sensitivity: As you exercise, your brain’s neurochemistry and reward centers will become renewed with an increased circulation of dopamine and a higher presence of dopamine receptors. Over time, this remodeling of our reward center will diminish the effects of depression and increase our receptivity to positive emotions such as hope and joy.
- Sharpen Your Memory: It has been shown in research that exercise can directly bolster and maintain areas of thought associated with memory, reaction, and reasoning as we age. Moreover, the risk of memory-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s can be diminished with a healthy regimen of physical activity.
- Cultivate Courage: Exercise is a powerful tool to heal our brains from the effects of pervasive anxiety. As routine physical stressors work to bolster connections in the brain that help calm and regulate our fight and flight responses. Over time, our nervous systems will become recalibrated to perceive once anxiety-provoking triggers with added clarity and peace.
If you’re looking to join an active community centered around mental and physical wellness, check out our Core Fitness Sessions as well as our other exercise options at Avid Sports Medicine. You’ll feel welcomed, supported, and challenged in our live and on-demand classes.
Is your virtual work team feeling disconnected? Use the group classes and experiences in our Corporate Wellness Program for a variety of team-building and morale-boosting activities. If you’re interested in incorporating overall wellness into your team culture, set up a meeting with me directly here.