The Best Physical Activity to Enhance Mood
Mood is a State and therefore is not long lasting like some traits may be.
THE BASICS: Feeling irritable, tired, sad, angry, anxious, or even numb? We have all been there before. You’ve heard it a million times, exercise is good for both your mental and physical health. However, it seems impossible to get yourself up and going when you’re emotionally drained. All you want to do is lay under your covers in your dark bed and binge watch Netflix. Yes I do this too sometimes. While it is always nice to have a personal “care” day and do absolutely nothing, this is likely only going to worsen your mood.
15 MINUTE BRISK WALK: This is the answer you have all been waiting for! No seriously though. I’m actually not telling you the best thing to do is go hard at the gym for 2 hours or go kickboxing. It’s important to take it slow when you don’t feel like doing anything at all otherwise you may feel even worse than before, leading you to view exercise or physical activity negatively in the future.
So heres how it works:
HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE: Think about it. The Hunter-Gatherers didn’t do tons of vigorous activity at a high intensity. Instead the did lots and lots of low to moderate activity. This remains similar in other places in the World that are less developed than America. For example, Children and adults in rural Africa spend less time in moderate to vigorous physical activity but far more time in light physical activity (Assahet al., 2009; Craig et al., 2013). We are meant to be moving around, so no wonder sitting stationary all day makes us feel gross.
ENDOCONABINOIDS: This drug-like chemical is released from the brain when someone participates in Physical Activity. Endoconabinoids are responsible for the reward part of your brain. They may create an overall sense of “feeling good” because you did something that wasn’t exactly easy to do. This drugs may be responsible for “runners high” in vigorous cardio-athletes. You can see how it would play a similar role in a less active individual or someone with less energy.
DOPAMINE: This neurotransmitter is released by the VTA (Also gives pleasure during eating or sex) in the nucleues, hippocampus and frontal lobes. Once it is released, it increases feelings of reward which can produce or increase positive mood!
INCREASE IN CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW: You may need to get a little more of a jog going in order to get the benefit of this one. Vasodilation increases blood flow which increases delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the brain, allowing neurons to regulate mood. The same is for Endorphins, they usually aren’t released unless a more moderate to intense activity is being done.
BEING OUTSIDE: If you can walk outside rather than inside, you should. Getting fresh air and vitamin D is so important. If you are sitting in a dark room all day it’s no wonder you brain may be tired, it’s overproducing melatonin because the darkness is signaling it to. Light stops this production and can be a great too to increase energy and wakefulness.
Final thoughts..
While exercise is healthy and necessary for many to live a happy and healthy life, physical activity alone may be the best bet when experiencing a low mood. Notice that mode is differnt than a persistant emotion. Trait-depression or Trait-anxiety (long lasting) may not be as effected or even at all by a brisk 15 minute walk in the same way a sad mood is. However, those who are simply having a rough day may notice a euphoric or calm feeling directly after low intensity exercise. When in doubt, walk it out.
Thank you for following! Much more where this came from coming soon.
