Emalee
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Do you find yourself ever beating yourself up inside for neglecting the gym? When we lead such busy lives as students it can seem like mission impossible to squeeze in time to go to the gym. When we do make time for this however, it can have an enormous positive impact on our lives. When we take time to workout and focus on our physical fitness, it very positively impacts our overall wellbeing; most specifically with our mental health.
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Depression, anxiety, and stress are all things commonly experienced by students, and people in general at times in their life. When putting a focus on taking time for the gym or exercise in general, it can act as a treatment for betterment of your metal health.
Research shows that making time to go to the gym and exercise can treat mild to moderate depression to the same extent that an antidepressant medication does. Firstly, exercise promotes changes in the brain such as neural growth and new activity patters that promote feelings of calm and wellbeing. Exercise also releases powerful “feel-good” chemicals in the brain such as endorphins that boost your mood and energize you. Moreover, at the very least, exercise is a good distraction from the many negative thoughts that we may face in our busy lives. Saying this, exercise not only allows us to relieve symptoms of depression, it helps to prevent relapses back into depressive states.
Feelings
of anxiety are very common for students when were experiencing newly found
independence, and are trying to balance everything from life to school to work
at all times. Making sure to take time for exercise is an effective and natural
treatment for anxiety as well. Through exercise we can relieve feelings of
tension and stress while boosting our energy both physically and mentally.
This is also due to the release of endorphins, much like mentioned previously.
Also, exercise is particularly beneficial in the treatment of anxiety as it
serves as a good grounding technique. By grounding, I mean focusing on the
things we see, feel, and hear as a way to take our minds out of the panicked
state that can occur with anxiety. Through exercise you can focus on the
sensation of your feet hitting the ground and the rhythm of your breathing.
This exercise will not only help you physically, it will help you mentally
through giving you an outlet for which to release some of the tension that
anxiety causes.
It
is no secret, students are almost always under a state of stress; however, do
you notice the strain that stress has on both your body and your mind? When
stressed, our muscles tense up especially in the face, neck, and shoulders.
This can be exhausting and also can cause for headaches and difficulties
sleeping. In all, stress takes a tole on both hour physical and mental health,
and a particularly good way to relieve this stress is through exercise. Again,
through the release of endorphins, it helps our muscles to relax and the
tension to be released. When our bodies feel better from this release of
tension, our minds also feel better.
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When
life gets busy and the budget is tight, as students, it may not be 100%
realistic to always be able to go to the gym. For this reason, I will provide
you with some simple tips to incorporate exercise in to your day to day life.
Do an At-Home
Workout: Firstly, a good option would be to purchase a home-workout plan or
follow videos on platforms such as Instagram and Youtube. This allows you do do
many of the same exercises in the comfort of your own home also saving time
from not having to go to and from the gym. Click here for an
effective and affordable at home workout by Johanna Sophia (@growwithjo on
Instagram).
Go for a Walk:
Believe it or not, doing some exercise on even our busiest days can be achieved
through a short walk at lunch, or through walking to class.
Take the Stairs:
Especially on days where even a home workout or a short walk don’t fit into our
busy schedules, there are options as simple as taking the stairs instead of the
elevator.
Planning Ahead: Another
simple way that you can set yourself up to be more active throughout your day
is by parking your car far away and walking to your destination when running
errands. Moreover, for people taking public transportation, choose to ride
standing up, and if time permits, get off the bus a stop early and walk the
rest of the way.
For
more tips for incorporating exercise into your life, click here.
Moral
of the story is, as students and young adults, we are all very busy and it is
not always practical to spend 2 hours a day going to the gym. This however is
no excuse as incorporating exercise into our busy schedules has a number of
benefits for our physical and mental health. When we feel better, we do better,
so make time for your physical and mental health through exercise!
If
this was helpful, share with your friends!
References
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