Every year one in five Australians are affected by a mental health illness, yet the majority don't seek help due to stigma. Now more than ever putting time aside to care for our mental health as well as our physical health is so important.
Luckily simply the act of exercising has been proven to have significant benefits on our mental health. Exercise can mean something different to everyone. One person’s bootcamp is anothers stroll in the park, even mild to moderate exercise has exponential benefits. The key is just to get out there and get moving!
Here are just a few of the many benefits of exercise on our Mental Health:
- Studies have shown that in cases of mild to moderate depression, exercise can be as effective as therapy and medication (how amazing is that!?)
- Exercise promotes the release of Endorphins and Serotonin in the brain - the famous “happy chemicals”.
- Exercise helps you sleep better at night – Sleep is so critical for both mental and
physical health and helps increase your energy levels during the day.
- Exercise is often social! – Now with the rise of working from home, it’s really
important that we feel connected to others, exercising with other people as a shared activity is a fantastic way to keep up those social connections!
Sometimes it can feel daunting to start exercising especially when we’re feeling low and lacking motivation, but all you need to do is start and take it day by day. By doing this you’ll create a routine and a habit around exercise and once you start to feel the mental and physical benefits you won’t want to stop, trust me!
So when you’ve got yourself out of bed at 5:30am to get to your bootcamp session, you can pat yourself on the back for taking care of your whole self! It’s also good to remember that the person standing next to you could be there simply for some friendly familiar faces to talk to – take some time to be kind to others, you might make their day that much better :)