It’s important to look after your mind as well as your body. Mind-body exercise is a form of workout that allows you to exercise both at the same time. While most exercise is good for our brain, some are better than others and can help us when overcoming mental health problems. Below are just a few tips on how to exercise the body and the mind at the same time.
Get outdoors
Getting out into the great outdoors can benefit our mental health in many ways. Firstly, the sunlight gives us vitamin D, which is believed to be important for regulating our mood. The fresh air also gives us a boost of oxygen to all our organs including our brain, allowing us to think more clearly. Finally, many studies have found that we are more at peace when surrounded by nature such as trees, lakes, mountains and other natural sights.
There are so many outdoor exercises you can try to reap these benefits including walking, jogging, cycling, outdoor yoga, kayaking, skiing and surfing.
Meditate as you exercise
Meditation can help you to free your mind of negative thoughts and de-stress. Too much stress can be harmful to the mind and body, and exercise combined with meditation is one of the best ways to reduce it, giving us a boost of serotonin while flushing away the cortisol from our body.
Exercises such as Tai Chi actively encourage meditation as you exercise. You can find classes via sites like TCHI. Other exercises like yoga are good for this, as are many solo repetitive sports like running.
Try some team sports
Team sports can benefit the mind in many ways. They engage the brain in ways that solo sports don’t through communication and co-ordination. There is also a social reward to these types of sports. This post at ThriveWorks explains more.
It’s important to find a team sport that you enjoy and to play with people who you respect. There are so many different team sports that you can try including football, hockey, soccer, basketball and baseball.
Learn choreographed dances/martial arts
Exercises that require us to remember a certain pattern of moves are fantastic for exercising our brain and keeping our memory sharp. At the same time, they give our body a workout.
Choreographed dances are a great example of this, requiring us to learn and remember a sequence. Many martial arts meanwhile have ‘forms’ of ‘patterns’ which also involve performing certain moves in a specific order.
Avoid extreme exercise
Studies show that too much exercise may dull the brain. Endurance exercises may be an effective way of testing the body to its limits, but they are not a good way of exercising the brain.
Certain exercises may also cause our stress response to kick in after a certain amount of time. Most exercises help us to actively fight stress, but too much may have the opposite effect – and is not recommended if you’re seeking out exercise to de-stress.
