Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Exercise Tips

Judith Easton suggests something you can do RIGHT NOW to improve your Health and Fitness and Mental Health:

Stand up straight and take a deep breath.  Now lower yourself slowly back into your chair.  Repeat five times.  Then reach your arms above your head, breathe, stretch and ask yourself how you feel.  Chances are that you’ll feel a little bit better.

She also recommends taking an honest assessment of how your physical and emotional health is right now.  For instance, if you are older and physically not feeling well, a doctor’s visit may be necessary.

Work yourself up to doing light stretches, walk around your house or better yet go outside and walk around the block.  Even a short jaunt can help you feel better about yourself in that you accomplished something, even if it may seem small.  A National Institutes of Health study found that senior citizens who engaged in light stretching increased their self-esteem.

Other tips:

  • There are many websites about exercising, stretching, etc.  The catch is you have to use this information after logging off!
         Health and Fitness Web Site Links:
         American Council on Exercise (ACE)
         FitnessLink – Reshape Your World
         Yahoo! Health: Fitness
  • Your local video store or library has videos and books on different exercise techniques that can be helpful if you need education about how and when to start or a little inspiration.
  • Buying an inexpensive piece of exercise equipment, such as a jump rope, can yield great cardiovascular benefits.  Start with a couple of minutes then gradually increase the time in following sessions.
  • Although it may seem like a cliché, just do it! Get up and start moving; even a 5 minute walk around your neighborhood may help you feel better and will definitely do you more good than vegging out.

Referring to this article:
“Mental Health Benefits of Exercise” was written by Jennifer C. Panning and published in the Find Counseling.com (formerly TherapistFinder.net) Mental Health Journal in November, 2000.

Use or reference to this article on the Internet must be accompanied by a link to the page you cite.

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