Exercise, Brain & Quality of Life

Today's topic is...brace yourself, or better yet, embrace yourself...exercise. In other words, working out, biking, swimming, dancing, walking, playing ping pong...anything that gets you moving, using your muscles, and making your heart beat faster for a bit. Our bodies are made to move, and to a large degree it's a "use it or lose it" deal. One of the biggest reasons we age is loss of muscle mass. As a wise doctor once said while stressing the importance of movement If you can't walk, crawl.

I'm not going to list all the benefits of moving your body...it's a very long list, including mental and emotional effects, but here's a good TED Talk by a neuroscientist on how exercise benefits and protects our brain. 

Wendy Suzuki suggests 30 minutes, 3-5 times a week as a minimum to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and memory loss. Regular exercise help produce new brain cells in the left and right Hippocampus, brain parts linked to long-term memory. Exercise also has a protective effect on our prefrontal lobe, which influences our ability to focus and problem solve.

For most of us, it is a matter of priority, will power, and the discipline to carve out time and push ourselves to do physical activity. Personally, my biggest motivator is quality of life. I consider myself fortunate to have grown up in a Norwegian culture that stressed the important of getting fresh air every day, pretty much no matter the weather, not that I always do that. My parents at 93 and 87, continue to inspire me with their daily morning exercises and frequent walks. They are still living independently in the house where I grew up.

Reduce Anxiety, Depression, and Stress with Exercise
Check out this article

Agenda Session on Exercise
If you feel stuck, discouraged, and/or need some help getting started, or restarted, schedule an agenda BodyTalk session on exercise. Sometimes we need to release stressful memories related to Physical-Ed and sport activities from childhood, get help establishing functional habits, and release self-sabotaging patterns. Click here to schedule or call 701-258-9418.

• Here's an assortment of exercise videos to lighten your mood 
  
• JP on Functional Training
• How about some Jazzercise from the eighties.  The Outfits and pelvic movements!
  
• And my favorite, Nature Rx  Doctors in Scotland can now prescribing Nature. Here's a quote from the article:
  

If you spend 90 minutes of your day outside in a wooded area, there will be a decrease of activity in the part of your brain typically associated with depression. Spending time in nature not only reduces blood pressure, anxiety, and increases happiness, but it reduces aggression, ADHD symptoms, improves pain control, the immune system, and—per a summary of research regarding the health benefits of nature—there's much more we don't know and are figuring out every day.

If not now, when?

Remember, the best exercise is the one you will actually do...at least that's the only type that will change your life. 

Warmly,
Tone-Lise