Talk Therapy: The Coping Series - Exercise and Mental Health - a podcast by Rachael Gilbert

So far in our new mini-series on coping Skills to calm your nerves and retrain your brain we have discussed bilateral stimulation and verbal and written processing to calm your nervous system and reign in the runaway brain. Please go back and listen if you missed either of those episodes.

This week we are reclaiming territory on a coping skill that is a God-given way to cope with mental and emotional stress - exercise.

Benefits of Exercise

• Regular exercise can have a positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood.
• 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. 
• Exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety treatment. It relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being by releasing endorphins. 
• Since the body and mind are so closely linked, when your body feels better so will your mind.
• Evidence suggests that by really focusing on your body and how it feels as you exercise, you can actually help your nervous system become “unstuck” and begin to move out of the immobilization stress response that characterizes PTSD or trauma. 

Practical Tips to Add Exercise

• Diversity is key. 
• Go for a walk and talk to God, a friend, or your spouse
• Make it enjoyable. Be a kid again. Examples: trampoline, jump rope, dice games, ride bikes, collect shells on the beach, go for a hike
• Skip the elevator and take the stairs
• Park at the back of the parking lot
• Go to Costo with no list
• Walk during your lunch break or while your child is at soccer practice
• Call it your “get to,” not a “have to"
• Submit it to the Lord. Since our body is His temple, let’s ask Him to show us How to move in love.

Your body needs to move but LISTEN to it. Years of silencing our bodies cause us not to trust what it needs. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Resources:
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The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise download

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