Strong Body-Strong Mind
May 4, 2019
Towards the end of 2018, you decided to set a realistic, New Year’s resolution in which you would achieve; for real this time. Your goal was to go to the gym Monday through Friday and exercise for at least an hour. Initially, it was not easy for you to find the motivation to get to the gym and get a solid workout in, so you stuck with basic calisthenics for the first week. By week two, you looked forward to getting those 60 minutes of power in for the day, so you have begun challenging yourself with more egregious workouts and targeting a different group of major muscles each day. You have been working hard consistently for a few months, and you have seen leaps and bounds of progress concerning your physique. At this, you noticed that you have built muscles that you did not have prior to your goal and that you have also lost ten pounds! These months of drive and dedication have greatly transformed you in a physical sense, but did you know that they also have led to great benefits for your mental and emotional wellness? As a matter of fact, exercise is a surefire way to release feel-good chemicals in the brain while establishing a healthy, positive mentality.
Exercise can completely transform one’s emotional well being as it will greatly improve one’s self-esteem. While exercising, the body releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins act as analgesics as they interact with the receptors in the brain to reduce one’s perception of pain. At the same token, endorphins release euphoric feelings within the body similar to those of morphine. However, morphine is an addictive drug that causes people to become completely dependent on the dangerous substance whereas the release of endorphins is natural and completely beneficial to the body. Exercise is also known to lead to a major decrease in stress levels because the body and mind become resilient and strong as a result of physical activity. With this, those who exercise have an ample amount of energy because it increases blood flow within the body; Blood flow carries oxygen and nutrients to the muscles; thus stimulating alertness and energy. Perhaps most of all, exercise serves as a great means of increasing cognitive function. Regular exercise positively stimulates the hippocampus, or the part of the brain that is primarily associated with memory, which generates a stronger ability to retain information. All in all, exercise reshapes the mind on many levels.
Overall, exercise is a key way to establish total well-being. No feeling can surpass that of achieving a goal in a healthy, challenging way. There is no need for any harmful substance to create positive feelings in the mind when exercise does that and more for the mind and body. Furthermore, exercise builds a strong body and an even stronger mind.
