You have heard that exercise is good for you many times. You may have read articles about it, too. Can you name 7 mental, emotional or psychological reasons why exercise is good for you? Take a minute before you read any further and jot down your personal list of reasons.
Here is a list of my favorite reasons why exercise is good for you, which is a little different, since my emphasis is on the mental and psychological aspects of exercise.
1.) You train your brain to feel good. Exercise makes you feel good, when you exercise on a regular basis and don’t over do it. Exercise releases your own, personal feel-good drug in your brain. It lasts for several hours. Exercise regularly and your brain gets into that feel-good groove quicker and with less effort each time.
2.) Exercise evens out your mood, so you have fewer uncontrolled and unwanted mood swings. It counteracts both depression and anxiety by stabilizing various hormones in your body and neurotransmitters in your brain. You are calmer and mellower. You can keep the little irritants in better perspective, so you are less reactive.
3.) Exercise releases stress from your mind and body. Anticipating unpleasant or fearful events activates the fight/flight mechanism in your body. Exercise directs that energy out of your body in a positive release, so that the hormones return to normal levels. The stress doesn’t keep circulating around and around in your mind and body, generating more stress.
4.) Exercise fights a low-grade sense of helplessness, which no one like to have. Many aspects of modern day life leave people feeling that they are unable to do anything to make their life better or solve certain problems. Exercise mobilizes your creative thought processes and enhances your problem solving ability.
5.) Exercise counter acts feeling overwhelmed. When your life just feels like it is a little too much, exercise helps you focus on the power and strength you do have. This carries over into other activities, so you have the power and strength to accomplish other tasks.
6.) The quickest avenue to get more confidence is exercise. The combined effects of feeling better overall, releasing stress and general mood improvement leads many people to feel more confident about tackling the every day problems they face.
7.) The culmination of all of these reasons causes your self-esteem to perk up. You sense of self-worth improves. You think better of yourself and feel more secure about yourself because you are doing what is good for you physically and mentally.
© Adcidia™ 2010 (Article99.com)
