“It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigour.”- Marcus Tullius Cicero
What is wellbeing?
Wellbeing is defined as ‘a positive physical, social and mental state’.
In this article, we are focusing on mental wellbeing. Mental wellbeing does not have a single universal definition, but it does encompass several factors such as:
- The sense of feeling good about ourselves and being able to function well individually and/or even in relationships
- The ability to deal with the ups and downs of life, such as coping with various challenges and making the most of such opportunities
- The feeling of connection towards our community and surroundings
- Having control and freedom over our respective lives
- Having a sense of purpose and feeling valued for the same
Of course, mental wellbeing does not indicate being happy all the time, and it does not mean that you won’t experience negative or painful emotions, such as grief, loss, or failure, which are very much a part of normal life. However, whatever your age, being physically active can help you lead a mentally healthier life and can even improve your overall wellbeing.
What impact does physical activity have on wellbeing?
Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.
Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.
Exercise is a great way to improve your mood. People who exercise regularly have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who don’t.
To increase the benefits, try exercising outside. Both aerobic exercise (such as walking, cycling or running) and strength training (such as weight lifting) can help treat depression.
Exercise can have an enormous impact on your mood. In fact, it is thought that exercise can be just as effective as anti-depressants in treating mild-to-moderate depression.
Not only can exercise help in treating depression, it can also prevent people from becoming depressed again. So it’s important to keep up an exercise regimen after people get better.
We don’t yet understand exercise and mood enough to know exactly which type of exercise is best – or how much – but what we do know is that it definitely has a positive effect.
We don’t understand exactly why exercise is so good for improving mood conditions yet, but we do know that it works.
This may be due to a combination of reasons, including:
- Exercise helps chronic depression by increasing serotonin (which helps your brain regulate mood, sleep and appetite) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (which helps neurons to grow).
- Exercise reduces immune system chemicals that can make depression worse.
- Exercise increases your level of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters.
