With my 5 in 5 marathon challenge, I’m encouraging all of you to get out and exercise as a way of improving your mental wellbeing. We all know about the benefits of exercise to our physical health, but less is known, or understood about how exercise helps our mood, and how it can aid with managing anxiety and depression.
It’s not as straight forward as saying ‘exercise and you’ll feel better’, because sometimes it feels just the opposite. Exercise takes effort, motivation and dedication; you can be easily motivated at the start, but as it gets harder, or winter arrives, the gloss can soon loose it’s shine.
You don’t have to struggle with a mental health disability to understand that it can be hard to motivate yourself to exercise. Most people lead such busy lives that they don’t feel they have time to exercise, and often feel too tired when they do have time.
It can also contribute more stress, especially if you are not confident about your ability and how you look physically. Just one glimpse inside a gym or a quick search of social media can make you feel inferior and self-conscious.
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