How Exercise Helps Your Mental Health

You’ve likely read how exercise is good for your mental health. You might even have experienced it. I commonly have clients share that one way they care for themselves is to hit the gym. Walking, yoga and other forms of exercise are typically talked about, too. The assumption is often that more exercise is better and while having goals within your exercise routine can push you, more doesn’t always mean better. Exercise helps your mental health by releasing anger, decreasing depression, easing your anxiety.

Exercise doesn’t have to mean sweating it out and raise your heart rate exhaustively.

Though this will definitely help! If feeling more confident because you feel stronger is a goal, then working out harder is likely going to be important for you. This is in part due to simply achieving exercise goals. Anytime you hit a goal, you’re going to feel a little boost. These moments remind you that you are strong, capable, resilient and persistent.

Hitting even the smallest goal is good for your mental health.

It is far better to create small goals you can achieve (such as going for a 10 min walk twice a week) than a big goal that you don’t (like running 45 min four times each week). I suggest to clients that you start small and build. If you can build a ten minute walk around the block into your schedule a couple times a week and achieve that, then you’ll likely find it possible to add five minutes to that. Once you succeed at that, then add another five minutes. Some of this is a mind game and some of it is about actual time you have to put into walking (for example).

Sometimes the simple task of changing your environment can help with your mental health. Walking gets you out of the house into your neighbourhood. The gym gets you to place where any workout machine you want is probably at your fingertips. Swimming a few laps at the pool might mean a hot tub or sauna reward afterward.

It’s not so much the exercise you choose, so much as choosing something!

Exercise can help decrease your anxiety for several reasons. It can distract you! Plain and simple. Again, changing your environment shifts your focus. This can feel like a relief in and of itself. When you move your body, you decrease the tension you hold in your muscles. This releases your anxiety. If you’re exercising vigorously, you’ll be breathing more regularly which is also very helpful, because it shifts your brain chemistry. That’s huge! …and the incredible thing here is that you can do this on your own.

Depression convinces you that moving your body is the hardest thing.

This is common! Often with depression exercising feels harder to start. You have no energy. Your body feels heavy. You want to curl up in a dark room. This is so valid.  The important thing here is that the endorphins released through exercise are significant when it comes to depression. You can improve a sense of well-being on your own! In counselling, I will often encourage clients to reflect on what it was like to complete their exercise goal. This reflective piece is very important! It feels good and releases those endorphins to notice an accomplishment – big or small! This “feeling good” can take a little time to achieve but if you can stick with it, you’ll start to notice a change.

If you’re finding the shorter, darker days are affecting your mental health, then I invite you to be curious about where you have some agency. You can’t change the climate (unless you’re planning a trip down south for a few weeks!) but you can change your routine. Noticing where you have choice and influence can increase where you put your energy. The rain is going to fall. The sun will set early (if you can see it!). Unfortunately, these are inherently part of winter. You can still go outside (and get wet). Or, hit the gym early. Swim in the pool while your kiddo is at their activity. Turn on a Youtube video and start some pilates. It will feel hard, but you do have some choice and your choices can influence your well-being.

You can always reach out for counselling. Many people find that not only talking through their struggles with a counsellor to be helpful, you can also brainstorm ways to support yourself better. I offer in-person counselling in Langley, or online anywhere in BC and would love to connect with you to start your healing journey. I have limited availability for the remainder of the year and would love to meet with you.