Tips to Help Reduce Anxiety Levels Using Exercise
Posted: Tuesday, September 07, 2010
by Nick Whyte
http://www.selfhelpanxietycures.com
Nearly all of us have increased anxiety levels. It is now almost accepted as a part of modern living. Worry seems to lurk around most corners in our modern world. Worry about job security, worry about performance, money worries, anxiety about relationships.
Is it any wonder then, that record numbers of people are being diagnosed with anxiety disorders? So what can we do to reduce our anxiety levels and make ourselves feel calmer?
If you are repeatedly exposed to stress or suffer a severe trauma your body can start to over-react to even small levels of stress, reacting inappropriately to almost any stressful stimulation. It is when this happens that you are likely to have developed an anxiety disorder.
Exercise helps reduce anxiety levels in two ways, firstly by burning off the adrenaline that our body has produced so that everything can return to normal and secondly by teaching our subconscious that an increased heart rate and accelerated breathing is not a sign of impending danger which helps us to ignore the side effects of adrenaline and feel less anxious when in stressful situations.
So what kind of exercise should we be doing and how often? Aerobic exercise is the key. Aerobic exercise is the kind of exercise that uses the major muscle groups of the body, the large muscles of the thighs and arm muscles will, when exercised quickly increase the pulse rate and breathing. So exercises like, fast walking, jogging, running, rowing and swimming will all help. What you are trying to do is increase the heart rate and breathing level, ideally for between 20 and 30 minutes at a time.
But don't get obsessed about the type of exercise. If things in your life are causing anxiety, any level of exercise will help. Start with short walks, perhaps walking to the local shops instead of driving, use the stairs at work instead of the lifts, take the dog for a walk. Just do something to increase your normal levels of activity. Let yourself gradually build up the amount of exercise. Signing up to a gym membership when you haven't done any exercise for years is probably a good way to put yourself off the idea.
So try to find twenty minutes extra exercise every day to start off with. The great thing is that exercise is addictive, your body gets used to the feel good factor that comes with it and before you know it the gym membership is sounding attractive, not daunting.
Exercise is also a great way of taking your mind off your worries. It is amazing how little you think about when you are strutting your stuff and focusing on your breathing, so get moving and start to feel relaxed.
This Article has been viewed 160 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Exercise helps reduce stress, increased blood flow and helps maintain a healthy body. Thanks for the reminder.Grace
Exercise definitely works on so many levels for me, physical and psychological. It's amazing how my world view can change in the space of a few minutes of walking!
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.