Simple changes in lifestyle may go a long way toward boosting your mental wellness. Exercise is especially beneficial because it offers pleasing side effects such as weight loss and an adrenaline rush. If you’re experiencing periods of feeling blue, try starting a daily or weekly exercise regimen to improve both your mood and your overall health. The advantages of exercise and mental health are plentiful. Reach out to Atlantic Recovery Center to learn more about mental health.
Anyone Can Exercise
Regardless of whether you’re young or old, thin or heavy, active or disabled, there are exercises out there that you can do. From simply moving your arms, legs, or feet several times a day to running in the local 5K, exercise gets your blood pumping faster and helps strengthen your heart.
Even for those facing physical disabilities, exercise is vital. Many exercises are suitable for those with mobility issues. They include:
- Wheeling yourself in a wheelchair
- Playing sports such as basketball or football in a wheelchair
- Hand-crank bicycling
- Aquatic therapy
- Walking
- Horseback riding
Even if you struggle with mobility issues, there’s likely an exercise out there that you can do to help you reap the benefits of movement, and it’s your mood that may improve the most overall.
The Link Between Exercise and Mental Health
When you exercise, you stimulate the release of feel-good chemicals in your brain. These include serotonin and endorphins. These neurotransmitters are the ones responsible for regulating emotions, so when you activate them regularly through exercise, it literally lightens your mood.
Exercise also helps you sleep better at night. And when you get the required amount of sleep each night, you feel better the next day. You’re energetic and alert, and it’s easier to remain focused on the tasks at hand. Good sleep also improves your reaction time and gives your body time to heal from injury and trauma.
Last, exercise helps you lose weight and tone up, which makes you feel better about how you look and feel. When you feel attractive and fit, insignificant problems are less likely to bring you down.
Simply adding 30 minutes of exercise to your daily routine can help move you past common pitfalls such as cabin fever or feeling as though you’re stuck in a rut. It may also help get you out of the house and into the sunshine, where Vitamin D can help ease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. This is a depressive condition that many people experience as the days of winter grow shorter and there are fewer hours of sunlight available. Getting more sunlight every day, boosts your levels of vitamin D and helps elevate your mood. Exercise is one of the best therapy options to complement mental health care.
Exercise and Mental Health Treatment
Most mental health treatment centers include regular exercise therapy options as a part of their recovery plans. Depending upon the facility, this may include:
- Equine therapy
- Hiking and nature walks
- Swimming
- Rope courses
- Rock climbing
- Canoeing
As part of a mental health treatment plan, exercise may focus on both group and individual activity. This helps build beneficial relationships and teaches clients how to trust and rely on other people.
Exercise and Mental Health at Atlantic Recovery Center
Atlantic Recovery Center in South Florida offers excellence of care in treatment for substance abuse and mental wellness. Clients who choose to recover at Atlantic Recovery Center enjoy exercise and fitness as a daily lifestyle. Our indoor swimming pool offers aquatic activity, and our table tennis area provides plenty of opportunities for rigorous workouts and team-building activities. Additionally, our campus is situated next to a picturesque lake with plenty of meandering trails to walk for daily relaxation and meditation. Exercise and mental health go hand-in-hand at Atlantic Recovery Center.
If you or a loved one requires treatment for substance use disorder or mental wellness, visit us online or call Atlantic Recovery Center today at 1-866-824-5193.