Stress is an inevitable part of life. It’s impossible to eliminate, but you can learn to manage stress, and healthy & successful people are stressed too, however they know how to manage the same.
There are various ways to deal with stress. Some people find listening to music a way to lessen the stress, some prefer sleeping to wipe it out, some find it useful to watch TV as well as eating during stress, some also find talking to friends & family an effective way to deal with it.
But according to Healthcare professionals exercise is the single most effective way to cope with stress. You know that exercise is good for your body, still, you’re too reluctant and stressed to fit it into your schedule. Hold on a second — there’s good news for you when it comes to exercise and stress.
Eventually any form of exercise, from Aerobics to Yoga, & Walking to Running, can act as a Stress Reliever.
A little exercise on daily basis can go a long way toward stress management.
Healing Your Body and Mind through Exercise
When stress affects the brain, with its many nerve connections, the rest of the body feels the impact as well. Similarly, if your body feels better, your mind will feel the same.
As you already know the physical benefits of exercise— it helps in improving physical condition and fighting diseases, but did you know that exercise also plays a vital role in maintaining mental fitness and reducing stress? Studies show that it is very effective at reducing fatigue, improving alertness and concentration. This can be very helpful especially when stress has depleted your energy or ability to concentrate.
Exercise has few direct stress-busting benefits, such as:
• It pumps up your endorphins: Physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.
• It’s meditation in motion: As you do exercise on a daily basis, the movement & physical activity sheds your daily tensions in a great deal. Not only that, you will find that the ability to focus on a single task increased, as you also remain calm and clear in everything you do with this resulting energy and optimism.
• It improves your mood: Regular exercise helps you increase your self-confidence, it will relax you, also lower the symptoms related with mild depression and anxiety. Exercise will also improve your sleep, which is usually disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety.
All of these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.
A Successful Exercise Program Begins with a Few Simple Steps:
• Consult with your family doctor: If you have health concerns and you have not been doing exercise for some time now or never done it in the past then, you should take the advice of your family doctor before getting started with a new exercise program.
• Walk before you run: Being excited about getting started with your exercise program is good but overdoing it can lead to physical injury. So, improve your fitness level step by step. Start with simple warm-ups & walking before getting on with heavy dose of exercise. Better consult with your trainer in gym. (Or refer to our Simple Warm up exercises)
• Do what you love: Eventually any form of exercise and movement will increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy. Examples include walking, stair climbing, jogging, bicycling, yoga, gardening, weightlifting and swimming.
Stick with it
Starting an exercise program is just the first step. You’ll agree that staying committed to it is a big challenge for most of us.
• Find a friend: When you knowing that someone is waiting for you to show up at the gym can be a powerful incentive. Working out with a friend, co-worker or family member usually brings a certain level of motivation and commitment to your workouts.
• Exercise in increments: Even small bouts of activity provides certain benefits. For example, if you can’t do a one 30-minute walk, try three 10-minute walks instead. What’s most important is make regular physical activity a part of your daily life.
Whatever you do, don’t think of exercise as just one more thing on your to-do list. Find an activity you enjoy. Any form of physical activity can help you unwind and become an important part of your efforts of easing stress.
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