Becoming Mentally Healthy With Exercise

There's a well known quote by C.S Lewis that, ever since it was sent to me by my friend Emily years ago, has always put the distinction of the body and mind into perspective:

"You don't have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

When we get in our cars, we fasten our seat belts. When we feel a cold coming on, we wrap up warm and make ourselves some soup. We spend much of our time taking precaution to prevent physical illness; but we seldom see our mental health this way. 

In this article I hope to highlight some of the ways exercise can improve our mental well being - just as it can with physical illness!

If you're anything like me - even the word 'exercise' will make you shudder with laziness and denial. I was never one for exercise until about a year and half ago when I started getting pretty fed up with my low mood. Both doctor and counsellor advised me to take walks, but of course, depression made it difficult to even get out of bed let alone venture outside! When I started taking medication, my thoughts became a little more ordered and eventually I found it in me to take a walk. I was amazed by how great I would feel afterwards.

So why walk and run? It's costs nothing - which is perfect for us students. No matter where you live in the world, there's bound to be lots of scenic and peaceful public footpaths. When I go for walks, I love to take my camera to capture all the lovely things I see. Disclaimer - if you do take a camera, make sure you check where the trees are situated on your route so you don't end up with a black eye and a broken camera! Running gets your heart beating - using up all of those stress hormones built up over the course of a busy day at uni or work, in turn making you totally chilled out and ready for a relaxer in the eve! Going outside stimulates your mind, which is of course better than wallowing in self hate or self pity in your room all day. You are better than that!

If you aren't a very active person, and prefer something a bit slower, but still want the excellent mental benefits as well as physical; yoga is for you! Yoga is an age old practice (5th century BC!), which focuses on breathing and building strength. It is all about overcoming difficulty, both within yoga practice (some moves will have you wondering how the body even bends that way) and throughout life. As an ever growing practice, there are plenty of opportunities to join in on yoga classes, and the beauty of it is you don't even have to leave the house (check out Yoga with Adrien on Youtube). 

I myself prefer to practice yoga in my PJ's (why isn't this socially acceptable yet? Is anybody working on this?!) 

If you aren't into vids, here's a link to my Pinterest yoga board with a fair few good photo diagrams for beginners - https://www.pinterest.com/alicemariejames/yogaexercisemeditation/

So to conclude - exercise is a great benefit for your mind as well as body. I hope you find the advice useful, and as always, please comment with any suggestions or general comments about my post!