Exercise and Benefits to Emotional Well Being

We all know that exercise is good for us, but many lack the spark to start or maintain a consistent practice of regular exercise. The reasons we come up with for not exercising are almost endless, some valid and others not so valid. Research confirms that physical exercise can have a profound impact on our emotional, physical, and mental well-being as you will see in this article. So how do you get the spark to do what you know is good for you and is confirmed by numerous studies?

It begins with knowing how you were created and living in accordance with this design. Our bodies were meant for motion and to be worked! God in His infinite wisdom created us with a need for physical activity so that when this need is met we move towards optimal physical and emotional well-being. Let me attempt to support my claim with some research regarding the link between exercise and our mental health.

From the SMILE (Standard Medical Intervention and Long-Term Exercise) study at Duke U.

IMPACT ON DEPRESSION

Depressed people who exercised [supervised group exercise or at-home exercise] were just as likely to recover from major depression as people on Zoloft, but the exercisers were more likely to still not be depressed 2 years later than people on Zoloft or who took Zoloft in addition to exercising. Another study found that people who participated in moderately intense aerobics, such as exercising on a treadmill or stationary bicycle - whether it was for three or five days per week - experienced a decline in depressive symptoms by an average of 47% after 12 weeks. Those in the low-intensity exercise groups showed a 30% reduction in symptoms. Exercise also helped people who were unresponsive to medications.

Most recently, Hassmen et al (6) examined exercise habits, and mental wellbeing, of 3,403 Finnish adults. Many of the Finnish population suffer from a depressive disorder known as SAD or Seasonal Affect Disorder brought about by the low number of sunlight hours over winter months. Hassmen found that individuals who exercised 2-3 times per week reported significantly less depression, stress, anger and cynical distrust than non-exercisers.

IMPACT ON ANXIETY
According to a rigorous scientific study conducted by Andreas Ströhle in 2005, 30 minutes of treadmill running significantly reduces panic attacks as compared with quiet rest (by a ratio of two to one), and can do so in immediate fashion. In the first randomized, placebo-controlled study to compare exercise to drugs in treating clinically diagnosed panic disorder was undertaken in 1997. The results established regular exercise on par with a daily dose of clomipramine in relieving anxiety symptoms. In a six-month follow-up, participants who were the most fit had the lowest anxiety scores. Overall, the exercise group held to the same outcomes as did the group treated with medication. Whether you are dealing with an anxiety disorder or not, anyone can benefit from the all too common anxiety we experience from time to time.

I will sometimes tell my clients that if I could make them exercise I would because of its amazing benefits to their emotional well being.  Not only client who do homework get better faster, so do clients who exercise on a regular basis.  

How to Bid and Build Emotional Connection

What if the most important element to a happy marriage occurred in the mundane, day to day, not so obvious interactions of your marriage? According to marriage research expert Dr. John Gottman, this may be the secret sauce to building a great marriage.

While studying hundreds of couples in a life simulated “apartment lab” with the cameras rolling (sounds interesting and little bit like reality tv), Gottman and his team discovered that couples are constantly making “bids” to one another, and in fact, happy couples (self-reported) were found to bid up to 100 times in ten minutes. Wow! This might sound like a lot of work, but in fact, this process is quite simple and easy to implement.

What is a bid for connection? As Dr. Gottman explains in his book, The Relationship Cure, bids can be verbal or non-verbal, sexual or non-sexual, significant and insignificant. The key is that a bid for connection is an attempt to create connection between two people. Gottman breaks bid responses into three categories. The first is turning toward, which is reflected in showing some level of interest (does not need to be an over the top response). For example, the following day to day chat with turning toward might sound like this.

Bob: “Did you see that the neighbors bought a new car?”
Judy: “Yes, I sure would like a new car to replace our clunker.”

The opposite of turning toward is turning against which might look like the following interaction.

Judy: “Yes, when are you going to ever get a decent paying job so we can buy a new car? "

Another bid response, less insidious than the former, is turning away. Again, Judy’s response under this category (turning away) might look like the following.

Judy: “Yes, what do you want for dinner?”

Her response, might also have been silence and am immediate change of subject. For simplicity sake, you can break bid responses into turning away and turning towards. Obviously, couples who respond with a high ratio of turning towards build more emotional connection in their relationship and the amazing thing is it applies to what may seem like insignificant interactions. Pat Love, author of Hot Monogamy, describes relationship failure as a result of withdrawing interest and energy in the relationship.

Improving your bid responses beings with raising awareness as to when someone is bidding and how you tend to respond. Next, be becoming more intentional with how you want to respond, more of this starts to show up in your day to day interactions.

Try to become more aware of how bids are an attempt for connection and how they are present in every relationship. You have the choice of response to turn towards or away, either which might seal the fate of your marriage!

Dedicate Yourself to Thankfulness (Colossians 3:17)

According to well established research, cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” clearly demonstrates a boost in happiness, more energy, hopefulness, and an increase in more frequent positive emotions. Regular, mindful practice of this exercise is important in deriving the full benefits of the practice. This exercise goes beyond just “counting” your blessings to examine what you might have done that contributed to this blessing and to then connect this blessing to the giver of all that is good, God himself.

Complete this exercise every night, either in written form or as a mental exercise. Ask yourself what three things (or more) happened in your day for which you feel blessed to receive/experience. Next, think about what you might have done that contributed to this blessing. Identifying your role, does not overlook the reality of God’s grace and involvement that is present in the smallest of details in our lives. Some people like to use a gratitude journal for this type of exercise. Use your creativity in adapting this exercise to your personality, circumstances, and needs.

By doing this faithfully, you should notice a shift in your thinking and mood. Consider setting a goal of doing this for one month, designed as an experiment, and upon its completion you will take account of its benefits and decide on whether to continue or not.


Journal Entry: MY BLESSING
What contributed to this…



For those scientifically minded folks, check out this great research supporting the benefits of dedicating yourself to thankfulness.

• Expressing gratitude has a short-term positive effect (several weeks) on happiness levels (up to a 25% increase). Those who are typically or habitually grateful are happier than those who aren't habitually grateful. Park, N. Peterson, C. and Seligman, M. (2004). "Strengths of character and well-being among youth," Unpublished manuscript, U. of Rhode Island.
• People who noted weekly the things they were grateful for increased their happiness levels 25% over people who noted their complaints or were just asked to note any events that had occurred during the week. Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389
• A study was done by Martin Seligman and Jeff Levy with people who scored as severely depressed in a depression inventory. Participants were instructed to recall and write down three good things that happened each day for 15 days. 94% of them went from severely depressed to mildly to moderately depressed during that time. Cited in Authentic Happiness, Seligman, Martin E. P., 2002, NY: Free Press.