Sunday, July 15, 2007

Mind, Body & Soul Sessions (#39)

Boost your Mood

Are you unhappy, depressed, down or just in a bad mood? Don’t worry this too shall pass, it’s not like you are doomed to feel like this the rest of your life. Believe it or not, but the way you perceive things is a learned skill. Everyone can learn how to look at the world through more optimistic eyes. Over the next few weeks I will give you some tips which will hopefully improve your mood and make you feel more optimistic and upbeat.

Exercise - get sweaty.
You've probably heard it before, but here it is again: aerobic exercise like walking, biking or jogging will cheer you up no matter how bad your mood is or how miserable you may feel.

Just thirty minutes (or an hour, if you feel like it) of exercise, at least three times a week, releases feel-good chemicals such as beta-endorphins and dopamine. Workouts like these also influence the activity of serotonin (a molecule of happiness) and norepinephrine, which can mimic the effect of antidepressants like Prozac.

Have a sweaty and lovely Sunday!

Next week in MBSS: Tip five!

6 comments:

Phil said...

Yes, I reluctantly attend about 3 circuit training classes a week and then some cycling or walking popped on top of that too!

I'm sure there's better ways of getting sweaty!!! ;)

Lord Hutton said...

OOh we had exercise today (OK there was fog/low cloud) 90 metres from car to geocache 1. 2 metres from car to geocache 2. And I watched Mellie swim with her nephew.

Dakota said...

Oh great, NOW you tell me, DoGGa!! ;)

Well done on the exercise though.

You tried or at least you made an effort to do some exercise, Lord Hutton ;)

b o o said...

ran for an hour yesterday (sunday). still pooped (monday). heh.

i'm no spring chicken thats fer sure. hope your sunday was nice :)

Andre Veloux said...

Had a quiet weekend, only 45km Saturday and 70km yesterday, but I had ridden 145km last Wednesday.

Exercise is really great!

Is that you galloping along the beach in the lime green jumpsuit Dakota;)

Dakota said...

OMG, you ran for an hour, Boo? Now wonder you are pooped! But I bet you feel wonderful too :)

I had a fun Sunday. It was my brother’s b-day so we had a little family get-together :)

Yeah, that’s me, Andre. I’d always wanted to gallop on the beach like a horse in a lime green jumpsuit!
Of course that isn’t me…….a) I don’t live near a real beach and b) we’ve been having back to back thunderstorms so it’s kind of hard to pick a right and safe time to run right now.
I do agree with you though…..exercise is great!