Well-being and exercise
Exercise and managing techniques
It has been proven that exercise can have as much as a positive effect when facing depression and low mood as anti-depressant medication. The added bonus of having no side effects will also boost mood.
Exercise is a powerful tool to combat the way you approach a situation and ties in extremely well with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. CBT teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems. It combines cognitive therapy (examining the way you think) and behaviour therapy (examining the things you do).
CBT is based on the idea that the way we think about situations can affect the way we feel and behave. For example, if you interpret a situation negatively then you might experience negative emotions as a result, and those bad feelings might then lead you to behave in a certain way.
Exercise is a powerful depression fighter for several reasons. Most importantly, it promotes all kinds of changes in the brain, including neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote feelings of calm and well-being. It also releases endorphins, powerful chemicals in your brain that energize your spirits and make you feel good. Finally, exercise can also serve as a distraction, allowing you to find some quiet time to break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression.
In addition to relieving depression symptoms, research also shows that maintaining an exercise schedule can prevent you from relapsing.
How to stop your mind working in overdrive
Solo sports like swimming, running and walking can help you find some breathing space, space where you can take the time to think things over away from the 100 mile an hour pace of life.
Joining a gym will set you challenges and give you targets that you can monitor the outcomes of, positive motivation and meeting new people will help share the weight.
Exercise, no matter how physical will help you sleep as long as it’s not done too late at night, when exercising notice your breathing techniques, try mimicking these when trying to get to sleep, in most cases this will help you relax.
Taking control of the issues that are causing you low mood and setting yourself targets will increase your mood.
Do something you enjoy
Think what you enjoyed doing before the low mood set in, find inspiration in things you used to enjoy and try to re-connect.
Painting, photography, dancing, walking the dog are things you can do on your own, give yourself an achievable challenge and work towards it, keep a diary and record your thoughts, progress and list your achievements.