Tag Archives: Mental Health

Practicing Mindfulness

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“Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.” ~ Buddha

Practicing mindfulness (being aware of the present moment without judgement) can allow you to harness the energy of your thoughts and shape the trajectory of your life’s journey.

Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.

Practicing mindfulness exercises can help you direct your attention away from negative thinking and engage with the world around you.

There are many ways to practice mindfulness. Mayo Clinic has outlined how you can be mindful in your daily life.

Start Small

Starting small means taking 5 minutes or so out of your day and dedicating it to yourself. These 5 minutes can bring a new perspective, positivity and calmness to whatever stress is weighing down on you. Take the time to focus on your senses, breathing, body and environment.

Accept Yourself and Be Open to Change

The Mayo Clinic suggests treating yourself as you would treat a friend. In avoiding self-criticism and negative self-talk, you’re demonstrating mindfulness by practicing to regulate damaging thought patterns.

It’s easy to be very critical and judgmental throughout the day, even unintentionally. Being open to trying new things and thinking a different way can open the door for a new way of life. Change can lead to progress, even some changes that are frightening at first.

Fit Mindfulness Into Your Lifestyle

It only takes a few minutes per day to decrease your stress levels through mindfulness. Find these moments in your day. They might be transitional periods, like right after work, between tasks or after meals. You can also dedicate a space in your home to mindfulness by setting up a quiet and comfortable area to practice connecting with yourself.

Mindfulness can be practiced wherever and whenever, but The Mayo Clinic notes engaging your senses outdoors is especially beneficial. You might go for a walk as an opportunity to increase your mindfulness, or even just take advantage of the moments in your day when you find yourself outdoors, like checking the mail or walking to your car.

References:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356
  2. https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/education/how-to-practice-mindfulness

Mindfulness Exercises

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The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. ~ Mindful.org

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.

Simple mindfulness exercises can be practiced anywhere and anytime, according to the Mayo Clinic. Research does indicate that engaging your senses while outdoors is especially beneficial.

You’ll need to set aside time when you can be in a quiet place without distractions or interruptions. You might choose to practice mindfulness early in the morning before you begin your daily routine.

Aim to practice mindfulness every day for about six months. Over time, you might find that mindfulness becomes effortless. Think of it as a commitment to reconnecting with and nurturing yourself.

There are many simple ways to practice mindfulness. Some examples include:

  • Pay attention. It’s hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world. Try to take the time to experience your environment with all of your senses — touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat a favorite food, take the time to smell, taste and truly enjoy it.
  • Live in the moment. Try to intentionally bring an open, accepting and discerning attention to everything you do. Find joy in simple pleasures.
  • Accept yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend.
  • Focus on your breathing. When you have negative thoughts, try to sit down, take a deep breath and close your eyes. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your body. Sitting and breathing for even just a minute can help.

References:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356
  2. https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/

May 2023 — Mental Health Awareness Month

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No matter what my depression tells me, I am worthy of love, I am worthy of acceptance, I am worthy of fulfillment. I Am #MoreThanEnough. 

We are not born feeling inadequate. Life experiences and emotions create that sense within us in a variety of ways. For example, when we were little, and we felt afraid or anxious, our mind told us something was wrong with us, not our environment. A child’s mind, not yet rational, concludes, “There must be something wrong with me if I feel so bad.” That’s why children who were abused or neglected grow up to be adults who carry so much shame. They likely spent years telling themselves: “I must be bad if I’m being treated badly.”

As adults, armed with education on emotions and how childhood adversity affects the brain, we can understand that feeling “not enough” is a byproduct of an environment that was insufficient. We are in fact enough! Yet to feel more solid, we must work to transform that “not enough” feeling.

More Than Enough Mental Health Awareness Month 2023

What Can We Do to Help the Parts of Us That Feel “Not Enough?”

  • We can remind ourselves again and again that our feelings of “not enough” were learned. It’s not an objective fact, even when it feels so instinctually true.
  • We can connect to the part of us that feels bad and offer it compassion, like we would for our child, partner, colleague, friend or pet.
  • We can practice deep belly breathing, five or six times in a row, to calm our nervous system.
  • We can exercise to get adrenaline flowing and create a sense of empowerment.
  • We can remember this very helpful phrase: “Compare and Despair!” When you catch yourself making comparisons to others, STOP! It only hurts, by fueling feelings and thoughts of “not enough.” 

In the long run, we heal the parts of us that feel inadequate by first becoming aware of them. Once aware, we can listen to them and try to fully understand the story of how they came to believe they were “not enough.” Over time, by naming, validating and processing the associated emotions both from the past and present, “not enough” can become enough.

Source: https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2018/Why-Do-We-Have-the-Feeling-that-We-Are-Not-Enough

One of the most beneficial things individuals can do to improve their mental health is to stay active and engage in frequent exercise. Exercise can increase the brain’s levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, which can lead to reduced stress levels, happier moods, increased cognitive function, and higher self-esteem.

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.

The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.

When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.

The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis.

How To Take Care Of Yourself

If you’re struggling, you can call or chat with the Lifeline, which is available 24/7 and confidential. There are crisis counselors available to listen and support you without judgment. Additionally, if you’re struggling, you can:

Make a safety plan: Have a step-by-step plan ready for if/when you feel depressed, suicidal, or in crisis, so you can start at step one and continue through the steps until you feel safe. Creating a safety plan can include listing your coping strategies, identifying the people in your life that may support you through a crisis, and more.

Limit your news consumption. The constant replay of news stories about traumatic events can increase stress and anxiety. Try to reduce the amount of news you watch, read or listen to, and engage in relaxing activities instead.

References:

  1. https://988lifeline.org
  2. https://988lifeline.org/help-yourself/black-mental-health/

National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health (An Unreported Crisis by Major Media Outlets)

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By 2018, suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24.

Health professionals, who are dedicated to the care of 73 million American children and adolescents, have witnessed soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) to join together to declare a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Nationally, adolescent depression and anxiety — already at crisis levels before the pandemic — have surged amid the isolation, disruption and hardship of COVID-19. Children and families across our country have experienced enormous adversity and disruption, writes the American Academy of Pediatrics.  The inequities that result from structural racism have contributed to disproportionate impacts on children from communities of color. 

In the declaration, the groups emphasize that young people in communities of color have been impacted by the pandemic more than others and how the ongoing struggle for racial justice is inextricably tied to the worsening mental health crisis.

And, this worsening crisis in child and adolescent mental health is inextricably tied to the stress brought on by COVID-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial justice and represents an acceleration of trends observed prior to 2020.

Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily between 2010 and 2020 and by 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24.

“Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients,” AAP President Lee Savio Beers, M.D., FAAP, said in a statement. “Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government — we must treat this mental health crisis like the emergency it is.”

The pandemic brought on physical isolation, ongoing uncertainty, fear and grief.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers quantified that toll in several reports. They found between March and October 2020, emergency department visits for mental health emergencies rose by 24% for children ages 5-11 years and 31% for children ages 12-17 years. In addition, emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts increased nearly 51% among girls ages 12-17 years in early 2021 compared to the same period in 2019.

In other research, the CDC found nearly 45 percent of high school students were so persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 they were unable to engage in regular activities. Almost 1 in 5 seriously considered suicide, and 9 percent of the teenagers surveyed by the CDC tried to take their lives during the previous 12 months.

In short, the pandemic has intensified this crisis: across the country mental health professionals have witnessed dramatic increases in Emergency Department visits for all mental health emergencies including suspected suicide attempts.

References:

  1. https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health
  2. https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/17718
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/05/crisis-student-mental-health-is-much-vaster-than-we-realize/

Mental Illness and Awareness

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“An overwhelming majority (90%) of people in the United States think the country is experiencing a mental health crisis,” according to a new survey from CNN in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

According to the CNN and Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll, about half of adults say they have had a severe mental health crisis in their family, including in-person treatment for family members who were a threat to themselves or others, or family members who engaged in self-harming behaviors.

More than 1 in 5 adults describe their own mental health as only “fair” or “poor,” including extra-large shares of adults under the age of 30, adults who identify as LGBT and those with an annual income of less than $40,000.

A third of all adults said they felt anxious always or often over the course of the past year, including more than half of LGBT adults and those under 30. About 1 in 5 adults said they were often or always depressed or lonely over the past year, too.

Major sources of stress for a third or more of adults include personal finances and current and political events. About 1 in 4 adults also identified personal relationships and work, respectively, as major sources of stress.

Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. And, each year it’s important to fight the stigma, provide support, educate the ourselves and the public, and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

It’s imperative to understand that mental health illness and conditions do not discriminate based on socioeconomic status, race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness regardless of their background.

However, socioeconomic status, background and identity can make access to mental health treatment much more difficult. Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition and not receiving adequate treatment or care.

Know The Warning Signs

Distinguishing “normal” behaviors from possible signs of a mental illness isn’t always easy. There’s no simple test to label one’s actions and thoughts as mental illness, typical behavior or the result of a physical ailment, according to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Each illness has its own symptoms according to NAMI, but common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:

  • Excessive worrying or fear
  • Feeling excessively sad or low
  • Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
  • Extreme mood changes,including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
  • Prolongedorstrongfeelingsofirritability or anger
  • Avoiding friends and social activities
  • Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
  • Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
  • Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
  • Changes in sex drive
  • Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
  • Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (“lack of insight” or anosognosia)
  • Over use of substances like alcohol or drugs
  • Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
  • Thinking about suicide
  • Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance

Mental health conditions can also begin to develop in young children, according to NAMI. Because they’re still learning how to identify and talk about thoughts and emotions, children’s most obvious symptoms are behavioral. Symptoms in children may include the following:

  • Changes in school performance
  • Excessive worry or anxiety; for instance, fighting to avoid bed or school
  • Hyperactive behavior
  • Frequent nightmares
  • Frequent disobedience or aggression
  • Frequent temper tantrums

It’s vitally important to promote awareness regarding the mental health challenges facing Americans. Here are a few facts (Source: NAMI):

  • 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
  • 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
  • 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
  • Annual prevalence of mental illness among U.S. adults, by demographic group:
    • Non-Hispanic Asian: 13.9%
    • Non-Hispanic white: 22.6%
    • Non-Hispanic Black or African American: 17.3%
    • Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native: 18.7%
    • Non-Hispanic mixed/multiracial: 35.8%
    • Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 16.6%
    • Hispanic or Latino: 18.4%
    • Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual: 47.4%
  • Annual prevalence among U.S. adults, by condition:
    • Major Depressive Episode: 8.4% (21 million people)
    • Schizophrenia: <1% (estimated 1.5 million people)
    • Bipolar Disorder: 2.8% (estimated 7 million people)
    • Anxiety Disorders: 19.1% (estimated 48 million people)
    • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: 3.6% (estimated 9 million people)
    • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: 1.2% (estimated 3 million people)
    • Borderline Personality Disorder: 1.4% (estimated 3.5 million people)
    • 46.2% of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2020
    • 64.5% of U.S. adults with serious mental illness received treatment in 2020

Getting Help

When mental illness is present, the potential for crisis is never far from mind. Crisis episodes related to mental illness can feel incredibly overwhelming. There’s the initial shock, followed by a flood of questions — the most prominent of which is: “What can we do?”

Like any other health crisis, it’s important to address a mental health emergency quickly and effectively. With mental health conditions, crises can be difficult to predict because, often, there are no warning signs. Crises can occur even when treatment plans have been followed and mental health professionals are involved. Unfortunately, unpredictability is the nature of mental illness.

There are a variety of treatment options available for people with mental illness and the best combination of treatment and other services will be different for each person. Recommendations are made by health care professionals based on the type of illness, the severity of symptoms and the availability of services. Treatment decisions should be made by the individual in collaboration with the treatment team and their family when possible.

If the situation is life-threatening, call 911 and ask for someone with mental health experience to respond.

References:

  1. https://nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month
  2. https://nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/PDFs/2022-SPAM-Partner-Guide.pdf
  3. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/05/health/cnn-kff-mental-health-poll-wellness/index.html

Good Relationships Equate to Happiness

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“Satisfaction with relationships was a better predictor of how people would age more than cholesterol, socioeconomic conditions, or genetics.” ~ Motley Fool contributors Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers

Positive and strong relationships keep you happier, healthier and living longer, according to the results of a 75+ year experiment started at Harvard during the Great Depression and according to dozens of other studies.

In 2002, two pioneers of Positive Psychology, Ed Diener and Martin Seligman, conducted a study at the University of Illinois on the 10% of students with the highest scores recorded on a survey of personal happiness. They found that the most salient characteristics shared by students who were very happy and showed the fewest signs of depression were “their strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them.” The New Wallis, 2005).

“Social connections are really good for you; and loneliness kills. “People who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community are happier; they are physically healthier; and they live longer than people who are less socially connected.”

A relative lack of social connections has been associated with depression and later-life cognitive decline, as well as with increased mortality. One study, found that lack of strong relationships increased the risk of premature death from all causes by 50% — an effect on mortality risk roughly comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and greater than obesity and physical inactivity.

Thus, satisfaction with relationships was a better predictor of how people would age more than cholesterol, socioeconomic conditions, or genetics.

Social connections give you pleasure, they also influence your long-term health in ways every bit as powerful as adequate sleep, a healthy whole real food diet, physical activity and not smoking.

Understanding finance and investing your personal capital are just a means to an end. The whole point of financial freedom is using that time that’s freed up to strengthen your personal relationships.

There’s nothing more important to a long-term mindset than good social relationships. The quality of your personal relations with other people is the number one factor that effects your level of life-satisfaction.

So, make it a priority to take time to foster your most meaningful relationships. Choose activities that are most likely to bring joy to you and the people you have the strongest personal relationships.

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” ~ John C. Maxwell

References:

  1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-of-strong-relationships
  2. https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of-happiness/relationships-and-happiness/

Hope is a Way of Thinking…a Super Power

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Hope is a feeling of expectation, a desire or wish for a certain thing to happen.

According to psychologist and renowned hope researcher Charles R. Snyder et al. (1991) hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-directed determination and planning to meet these goals.

“Hope is not an emotion; it’s a way of thinking or a cognitive process.” Brené Brown

In other words, hope is like a snap-shot of a person’s current goal-directed thinking, highlighting the motivated pursuit of goals and the expectation that those goals can be achieved.

Hope helps us remain committed to our goals and motivated to take action towards achieving. Hope gives people a reason to continue fighting and believing that their current circumstances will improve, despite the unpredictable nature of human existence.

As psychologist and renowned hope researcher Charles Snyder et al. (2002, p. 269) stated so eloquently:

A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind.

While some approaches conceptualize hope in the realm of being, that is acknowledging hope during illness and within palliative care; Snyder et al (1991) emphasized the relevance of hope in the context of doing – that is the capacity to achieve goals.

According to Snyder’s Hope Theory (Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991), hopefulness is a life-sustaining human strength comprised of three distinct but related components:

  1. Goals Thinking – the clear conceptualization of valuable goals.
  2. Pathways Thinking – the capacity to develop specific strategies to reach those goals.
  3. Agency Thinking – the ability to initiate and sustain the motivation for using those strategies.

Hope does not necessarily fade in the face of adversity; in fact hope often endures despite poverty, war and famine. While no one is exempt from experiencing challenging life events, hope fosters an orientation to life that allows a grounded and optimistic outlook even in the most challenging of circumstances.

Practicing optimism has much in common with hope. Both are concerned with a positive future orientation and both assume that good things will generally occur in one’s life.

The difference is that optimism is a positive attitude about a future event that is probable and likely to occur: the optimist expects that life will work out well and as expected (Scheier & Carver, 1993).

On the other hand, being hopeful is regarded as more realistic than optimistism.

The hopeful individual recognizes that life may not always work out as planned, yet maintains positive expectancy directed toward possible outcomes that hold personal significance (Miceli & Castelfranchi, 2002)

Hope is more than just a state of mind; it is an action-oriented strength.

References:

  1. https://positivepsychology.com/hope-therapy/

C.R. Snyder was a fellow of the APA in the divisions of teaching, social and personality, clinical, and health. He worked as the director of the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Kansas and was  the editor of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Snyder passed away in 2006.

The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.” Hope means “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen” and it is a cognitive processes or way of thinking.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NIV)

The Next Pandemic: Mental Illness has Arrived

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is a time to bring awareness to this pervasive issue affecting millions of Americans and people worldwide. 

Within the past couple of years, this country has been facing a crisis that can no longer be ignored, the number of Americans dealing with mental health continues to grow.  

Mental Illness is the emerging post-Covid reality that a building crisis of poorly treated mental illness, anxiety, depression and suicide, writes Daniel Henninger, Opinion Columnist, Wonder Land, The Wall Street Journal.

Depression, self-harm and suicide are rising among young people. Suicide, already the second leading cause of death among people 15 to 34 before the pandemic, has increased.

The 2020 pandemic highlighted the significance of prioritizing mental health yet the number of those walking around untreated continues to grow. At some point, we will have to realize that mental health is a serious crisis for the country. 

America is facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come. —American Psychological Association (APA).

According to the Centers for Disease Contro and Prevention (CDC), a study released in August 2020 that showed that over 40 percent of adults in the United States reported dealing with mental health challenges or substance use. 

Additionally, suicidal ideation continues to increase among adults in the U.S. The number of youth struggling with depression has increased, according to Mental Health America.

What’s alarming is that more than 50 percent of of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 20 million adults in the United States who are being untreated. White youth with depression were more likely to receive mental health treatment while Asian-Americans youth were least likely to receive mental health care.

Many Americans spent the 26 months of the pandemic drinking too much alcohol or using drugs. One result: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported a record number of deaths from drug overdoses last year, nearly 108,000 and 15% higher than 2020, prominently from fentanyl.

Absent medical treatment, some of the most severely mentally ill individuals self-medicate on the street with alcohol or drugs, turn violent and typically end up in filling the jails and prisons across the country.

The solution to the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970s emptied the mental hospitals was supposed to be outpatient “community care.” It never happened.

With the incidence of disorders and suicides rising, there will be postmortems on the damage done during the pandemic to young people. With their schools closed, some isolated from friends and disintegrated inside social-media sites like TikTok or the online cauldrons.

It was clear the lockdowns and closings were wrecking mental health, especially among children and teens. Sadly, the National Institute of Mental Health did not have a seat at the decision table at the national level. Political officials ceded complete control of pandemic policy to public-health authorities. Next time, private and personal mental health should get a voice.

Between the social isolation, economic instability, political turmoil, racial violence, death and sickness, and overall uncertainty about the future, it is no wonder that mental health in America is on the decline, that depression and anxiety levels are on the rise, and that the demand for mental health and addiction treatment is skyrocketing.

Mental disorder has become too pervasive to sweep under a rug. The current national solution has been to let families alone pick up the broken pieces. It’s not enough.

Write henninger@wsj.com.

Your mental health matters!

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Good mental health helps you cope with stress and improve your quality of life.

References:

  1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-pandemic-mental-illness-homelessness-buffalo-shooting-online-hospital-11652906894
  2. https://afro.com/mental-health-in-a-pandemic-take-it-seriously/
  3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/nurturing-self-compassion/202103/is-mental-health-crisis-the-next-pandemic
  4. https://go.usa.gov/xuQPu #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

The Great Benefits and Joy of Movement

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“Anytime you engage in regular activity, you’re becoming this version of yourself that is more hopeful, more motivated, more energized, and better able to connect with others.” ~Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.

Knowing only great benefits and happiness will result from movement, why are Americans so resistant to making movement a priority in their day?

While our brains and bodies reward us for moving and exertion, we also are built with an instinct to avoid overexertion, conserve energy, to rest, to avoid discomfort, and avoid failure and embarrassment, says Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., a research psychologist, a lecturer at Stanford University, and an award-winning science writer and author of The Joy of Movement.

To retrain our bodies to encourage movement, we must first start with self-compassion and the practice of gratitude. We must remove the negative connotations from movement and recognize how the practice of movement can be really rewarding on its own.

“Exercise is health-enhancing and life-extending, yet many of us feel it’s a chore.” Kelly McGonigal

Research shows, according to Dr. McGonigal, there are three motivations that keep people moving:

  • Enjoyment – doing something you actually enjoy
  • The activity provides social community or sense of identity (i.e. “I’m a runner”), … positive social connection, and
  • It’s a personal challenge and meaningful to you as you’re making progress toward a goal.

If you can find an activity that gives you all three – you’re hooked for life! Exercise is health-enhancing and life-extending, yet many of us feel it’s a chore and burden.

Movement can be a source of joy and is intertwined with some of the most basic human joys, including self-expression, social connection, and mastery–and why it is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Basically, bliss can be found in any sustained physical activity, whether that’s hiking, swimming, cycling, dancing, or yoga. However, the runner’s high emerges only after a significant effort. It seems to be the brain’s way of rewarding you for working hard.

McGonigal tells the stories of people who have found fulfillment and belonging through running, walking, dancing, swimming, weightlifting, and more, with examples that span the globe.

Along the way, Dr. McGonigal paints a portrait of human nature that highlights our capacity for hope, cooperation, and self-transcendence.

Movement is integral to both our happiness and our humanity. By harnessing the power of movement, you can create happiness, meaning, and connection in your life.

The latest theory about the runner’s high claims that: Our ability to experience exercise-induced euphoria is linked to our earliest ancestors’ lives as hunters, scavengers, and foragers.

As biologist Dennis Bramble and paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman write, “Today, endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation, but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus.”

The neurochemical state that makes running gratifying may have originally served as a reward to keep early humans hunting and gathering. What we call the runner’s high may even have encouraged our ancestors to cooperate and share the spoils of a hunt.

In our evolutionary past, humans may have survived in part because physical activity was pleasurable. It takes about six weeks of consistent moderate movement to see structural and neurochemical changes in your brain. And, increase intensity amplifies the benefits. The harder stuff seems to payoff. Exercise gets easier and more pleasurable sooner.

The key to unlocking the runner’s high is not the physical action of running itself, but can be achieved on continuous moderate intensity exercise. And in fact scientists have documented a similar increase in endocannabinoids from cycling, walking on a treadmill at an incline, and outdoor hiking.

If you want the high, you just have to put in the time and effort. 

References:

  1. https://getmadefor.com/blogs/perspective/the-joy-of-movement-how-looking-backwards-moves-us-forward
  2. https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Movement-exercise-happiness-connection/dp/0525534105/ref=nodl

Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., is a research psychologist, a lecturer at Stanford University, and an award-winning science writer and author of The Joy of Movement.