The Effect of Exercise on our Mind & Brain?

Dr. Purushothaman
June 12, 2019

What will happen to your body if you stop doing anything for weeks? What will happen if you don’t move from your bed and only eat, sleep and repeat? Of course, you will start gaining weight, become weak and ultimately transform into a lethargic being. Spoon feeding has a huge effect to your brain. Whereas exercise helps in healthy functioning of your organs. Just like food is a cure to your empty stomach, exercises are like medicines to your brain. Your brain is like a central processing unit of your body. Without it, your body will not operate properly. Therefore, it is very important to provide brain the essential nutrients not only in the form of protein, fiber, vitamins but also in the form of physical workout.

Exercise affects the brain in multiple ways. It increases the heart rate, which has directly lead to an increase in oxygen supply to the brain. It also helps in the stimulation and growth of new cells. It also prevents various disorders like anxiety, diabetes, depression and many more. Here are a few ways how exercise affects our mind and helps to keep it healthy.

Boosts Memory

The hippocampus is a small organ located within the brain’s medial temporal lobe, which is mainly associated with memory. Cardiovascular exercise improves the functioning of this organ and ultimately helps in boosting memory. Not only this, but physical workouts also reduces insulin level, reduces inflammation and releases the growth factor. The functioning of the brain becomes better, when you exercise more and more frequently. In 2007, a study by some German researchers found that people who exercise daily learned vocabulary words 20% faster than people who don’t exercise at all.

Increases Concentration Power

It is very important to have good focusing skills. In a study, it was found that nowadays youth get distracted easily. Exercise is one true remedy for this minor issue. It not only helps to focus on a task for a longer period of time but also helps in handling multitasking. Meditation is one such type of mental exercise that helps in improving concentration power. Daily practicing meditation leads to achieving future goals effectively and efficiently.

Reduces Stress And Anxiety Levels

It is quite surprising that how physical exercises can reduce psychological illness. But it is scientifically proven that regular exercise reduces stress and anxiety problem. Jogging and running is the best way to cope up with stress. Walking and running help in the production of feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins. Running means spending time alone with yourself, it helps to figure out our thought process and helps to be positive about our perspective. Usually, people who walk and run daily lead a happier and stress-free life.

Leads To Emotional Stability

It is proven in a study that people who are physically fit tend to have a more positive attitude in challenging situations in comparison to the people who are physically unfit. Performing physical exercise daily releases a neurotransmitter in the brain, which helps to cope up with different situations easily and reduces excitability. Thus, the exercise proves to give emotional resilience to an individual.

Improves or Freshen Up Bad Mood

When you play games like football, cricket, badminton, basically you forget everything for time being. You entirely forget about the problems you are facing currently. The only thing you focus on is your game and your body movements. Thus, it relaxes your mind and boosts up your mood.

Revamps Self-esteem

Unfortunately, in today’s era, people lack self-confidence and self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as our perspective towards ourselves. It means the way we look at our abilities and our qualities. Getting involved in exercise helps us to feel better for ourselves. Exercise makes us look good and physically fit. In short, exercise provides us with a sense of accomplishment that boosts our confidence.

Better Sleep

A good sleep is necessary for the healthy functioning of the body. An adult must sleep for at least 6 to 8 hours a day. Exercise helps an individual to sleep in a much better way. Exercise increases the functioning of our mind and body by which our brain gets tired easily and we fall asleep quickly. Generally, people can’t sleep because of the fear and stress they have. Exercise removes the negative thoughts from your mind which leads to a stress-free mind.

Fasten Up Your Thinking Skills

Everybody wants to be smarter and faster. It could only be possible when an individual changes the way they think. When people start to believe in themselves, they can solve every problem faster. Exercise makes you think productive. It eliminates all the negative aspects of your life and makes you think in a positive way which leads to faster results.

Fight Migraine And Headache

Lack of sleep and excessive stress is followed by a headache. Migraine is one such brain disease which causes very severe and painful headache. In the busy schedule of life, people don’t have time to think for themselves. Exercise reduces the stress and improves sleeping power in individuals. Therefore, it reduces the frequency and intensity of a headache and other mental problems.

Uplifts Creative Skills

When you think faster you also start to think different and unique. Exercise makes you look at things in a different way. It is found that a person who exercises daily has their own perspective toward a particular thing or task. They complete a particular task in their own creative way. Thus, it not only makes you think better, but in a different way.

Enhances Academic Performance

Who doesn’t want to fly high with colors? Every student wants to score well and perform better in their exams. Better learning, good concentration and faster thinking all together make good understanding and improves memorizing power. Hence, the academic performance of children and youth enhance automatic.

Reduces Fatigue

Dopamine and serotonin are the chemicals released by the neurons in the brain, which plays a major role in motivating behavior. Exercise increases the release of these neurotransmitters and fight the fatigue and makes you energetic. More than 90% of the studies showed that exercise is the best way to reduce fatigue and laziness.

Protection Against The Sedentary Lifestyle

A desk job is definitely tough and exhausting. It involves 0% movement of our body. Think of a person who sits 12 hours a day and does office work. It is very normal that he or she will gain weight quickly if they won’t perform any physical activity. Thus, exercise gives protection against this lifestyle. It helps you to keep your body in good shape and does not let your stomach sneak out of your shirt.

Makes You Live A Happier Life

Happiness is what every human runs for. Money, love, and other things are secondary in life. Happiness is the utmost emotion, every human wants in their life. A person who is involved in physical fitness and wellness tends to be happier than the person who does not. Happiness comes within when a person is confident about oneself. They don’t have the reasons to look at things negatively. People who are inactive gives themselves an invitation to over thinking and to catch negative vibes quickly. Exercise prevents you from giving space to sorrow in your life.

For living a healthy and beautiful life, one should definitely incorporate physical exercises into their life. At Living in Wellbeing, we promote all sorts of mental and physical exercises to fight issues like anxiety, depression, stress, etc.

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