Mental benefits of exercise.

Due to illness followed by a death in my family my exercise regime has gone down hill quite a bit in the last week, however I am still trying to do little bits when I feel up to it. As I am someone who has suffered from low moods for long periods of time I am no stranger to the fact that exercise does indeed help improve your mentality towards life even if it is slight.

The important thing about exercise when you’re feeling down is that you don’t pressure yourself to do too much, as that will just stress you out more. Simply try and do little things, for example I took my aunt’s dogs for a short walk as they were barking around the deceased family members house and just being a general nuisance. I didn’t go too far as it was with four dogs and the workout on my arms was pretty intense even with it being a short walk. If the dogs aren’t being an issue I’ve made a plan for myself to try and do just 10-20 minutes on the treadmill a day and some muscle workouts until I’m feeling better.

Even though I am not doing too much exercise the fact that I am doing some is helping me sleep a little better, giving me something to do to take my mind off things and I generally feel accomplished after I have done it. I am also hoping, that my short bursts of exercise will cause my appetite to resurface, which sounds logical that it would.

To anyone going through a tough time I would honestly advise doing a little bit of exercise, try to even make it fun (I’ve been loving playing on my Just Dance for the Wii recently, which is a great workout). But only if you are feeling up to it, and do not pressure yourself or make yourself feel bad if you don’t.

Thanks!