Throughout our articles about stress and anxiety we point out how important an exercise program is to our well-being. Exercise relieves stress, even if you only do it fifteen minutes a day, or just take the dog out for a walk and hopefully a jog around the block.
Daily exercise returns our body to its normal equalibrium by releasing natural chemicals that build up during a stress response. Exercise can improve our resilience in many ways:
- Exercise releases endorphins into our bloodstream, creating a sense of well-being. This is sometimes called a “natural high.”
- It releases muscle tension caused by emotional stress.
- It helps us relax our mind as well as our body.
- It rids our body of toxins.
- Exercise improves our overall flexbility, decreasing spinal stiffness or pain caused by stress.
- It relieves indigestion and chronic constipation.
- It improves our overall energy level.
- Exercise helps give us a more restful night’s sleep.
- It gives us a little added help to better cope with the stress of daily life.
- Exercise strengthens our heart, lungs and overall physical fitness. But take your age and overall health into consideration, (too much of a good thng can also be harmful).
- Exercise helps you realize that you can change your attitude and behavior toward exercise. It also shows that you can change your ability to manage stress in your life.
- It improves blood flow to the brain to provide it with needed oxygen, and helps eliminate waste products.
- And most importantly of all… exercise reduces risk for those with stress-related medical conditions. “People of all ages who are generally inactive can improve their health and well-being by becoming active at a moderate intensity on a regular basis.” (Thygerson-Larson, 2005)
This last statement alone should be enough to motivate you to choose exercise as a primary way to reduce the stress in your life. Read more about it in the links below.
This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.
Review our Knowledge Base or the links displayed on this page for similar and related topics.