Fight Depression with Exercise

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By Adenike

So, by now, you have made your new year’s resolution and are full swing into making it come to fruition. Maybe you’ve used my sister’s suggestion of creating a vision board to create the life you want and now it’s time to put some plan to action to realize those dreams. But where do you get the motivation to put the plan into action? One surefire way of fighting depression is with exercise. Exercise is great for depression. Exercise for mental health has been tested time and again, so it’s not trial and error. Exercising daily boosts endorphins and emotional wellness.

Don’t Wait for Motivation

You’d love to get up and get going, except you can’t find the motivation. You hate the gym and you hate walking outside and exercise just isn’t your thing. Guess what? Don’t wait for motivation, just get up and do it! Start small by walking in your home, whether it’s up and down the hallway, around your bed, up and down the stairs – just put on some music and start moving.

If you truly are new to exercising, start with 5 minutes of exercise daily. You can do jumping jacks, run in place, squats, arm circles or sit-ups, but do it for at least 5 minutes, increasing by two minutes daily. I’m talking baby steps here. My goal is to get you to implement daily exercise for mental health, not to be in the Olympics. If you are used to exercising, then implement it daily. Thirty minutes of exercise a day can literally save your life.

Benefits of Exercise for Mental Health

One of the significant benefits of exercise for mental health is that it reduces stress. That’s not all, exercise also improves energy levels. Improved energy levels can lead to you feeling more motivated. Exercise also improves concentration and alertness. I don’t know about you, but when I’m at the height of my depression I have zero energy and zero motivation to get started. It’s a fact that when you are stressed it affects you physically as well as emotionally.

If you begin to implement just five minutes a day of exercise, scientists have shown, you can improve your self-esteem, get better sleep, and guess what else? Just five minutes of exercise a day can start anti-anxiety effects, and that’s a winning situation. So give yourself five minutes each day until you can give yourself thirty minutes a day. As the rap group Outkast says, “You gotta get up and do something, how can you make it if you never even try?”

If you don’t know your depression triggers, click here to download our Trigger Tracker worksheet, created by my sister. I will not beat a dead horse, but knowing is half the battle. If you don’t know what a mental health trigger is, then check out this post from my sister for more information.

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, not a therapist. I am simply providing methods I have used to overcome my depression to live my best life. Please seek professional support to help you work through some issues. Depression is real. Depression is physical and emotional. It can hurt so bad that it immobilizes you, so when you’re ready to start implementing exercise for mental health, #nojudgement