Mental health is health!
The notion that mind and body are separate and have somehow been put into different categories has always mystified me.
Your nervous system is the master control system of your body. It’s made up of your brain, sense organs, spinal cord and the nerves that branch out through your entire body. Your nervous system controls everything, from the way you move to the thoughts you have and the feelings you experience. It also directs bodily functions you may be less aware of, like your heart rate, breathing, hormones, digestion, and the general running of all your body’s cells and organs.
Your nervous system is extremely complex, intricate and delicate, and trying to understand it strictly one way will never work.
During the pandemic people have been reminded just how important their mental health is.
When your body gets a workout, your brain gets a workout. It’s been proven that the fittest people tend to have the best brain vasculature.
Exercise also has the potential to improve stress levels, motor control, executive function, attention, learning, memory and coordination.
Mitochondria increase in volume and efficiency, not just in skeletal muscle, but in smooth/involuntary muscle too, including the brain and heart!
Movement is the natural physiological response to stress and anxiety, making you feel better about yourself.
Move better, think better, feel better!
Exercise should be thought of as a tool to enhance who you are, not just strictly the way you look.
This is of particular importance for teenage mental health to help build confidence.
This is why including psychology as part of a multidisciplinary approach is so important when it comes to improving your health as a whole.
Here we can also utilise mindfulness-based practises, and if you find this beneficial, this can be used in conjunction with your exercise program to further improve your health and wellbeing.
Depending on the way you exercise, beneficial psychological effects can be seen after only a single session!
Levels of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin released by the pituitary gland provide an improved sense of mood and wellbeing, which can lower tension and depression. – IHRSA promoting brain benefits