Bring up the subject of exercise and you’re bound to get a lively reaction out of most people. Some people love their morning run, while others dread anything that may require them to leave their couch. Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, exercise is an essential ingredient in a happy life. Life is movement. Just as water that sits still becomes stagnant, our body and mind can easily slip into the stagnation of discomfort, depression and disease if we do not stretch and exercise sufficiently.
WHY EXERCISE?
Research has finally affirmed what every good doctor has observed for centuries. Happy people are healthy people. Happy hearts are healthy hearts. Observing indicators of physical health such as blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol (a hormone released in response to stress ) levels, immune system function, as well as occurrence of chronic diseases - With respect to mental health, has left researchers With one clear fact: your psychological well-being and your physiological well-being are inextricably linked.
Depression has been closely linked to heart disease. The concept of the "broken heart" is more real than you may have imagined. Doctors are beginning to understand that not only do their patients need to get healthy, they also need to get happy. Exercise has the ability to help you reach both of these goals.
You may need to encourage and even discipline yourself in order to gather the momentum to start and maintain an exercise program. Just knowing the well-established benefits of regular exercise should be encouragement enough. These benefits include increased cardiovascular healthand decreased risk of heart disease, increased strengThand fl exibility in your joints and muscles, increased strengThin your bones, lower blood sugar levels, improved function of the immune system, maintenance of a healthy weight, decreased risk of many chronic diseases such as breast cancer, colon cancer and diabetes, increased life expectancy and decreased likeliness of depression and anxiety.
The bottom line? Exercise will improve your overall health, state of mind and quality of life. Exercise is particularly useful in cultivating a happy mind. From a biochemical point of view it is easy to understand why. Exercise activates and balances the levels of neurotransmitters (serotonin and norepinephrine) associated With depression and general reactions to daily events. Also, in a phenomenon commonly known as "runner’s high," exercise stimulates production of neurotransmitters (endorphins) that result in feelings of well-being.
Through the wisdom of yoga science, additional benefits of exercise are unveiled. Memories, emotions and any physical or mental stresses or traumas are all stored, not only in the mind, but also in the tissues of the body. When we exercise and stretch properly, we allow the body to process, resolve and release these impressions. This fact is easily illustrated by observing your state of mind while stretching. Notice how feelings of discomfort or irritability, that may have been present at first, are resolved as physical tension is removed. Furthermore, while exercise improves the physical circulation in our body, yoga exercise improves the pranic (energetic) fl ow of our body.
HOW TO EXERCISE
What is proper exercise ? How much should I exercise? These are questions whose answers are less agreed upon by modern research. In 1996 the U.S. surgeon general recommended a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended at least 60 minutes a day of "moderately intense physical activity" for adults. Other recommendations range in between. Finding the time to exercise can be difficult in today’s hectic world. Ironically, the days when exercise seems impossible are the days when it may be precisely what you need. Even a five-minute walk or a quick neck roll and forward bend can be helpful and can relieve a tremendous amount of stress. The most important thing to remember about exercise is that any amount is better than none.
Similarly, almost any type of exercise is better than none. How ever, diff erent types of exercise will yield diff erent results. It is important to consider what results you are seeking before you choose an exercise routine.
In America, much of the fitness industry has been infl uenced by the world of "body building" which focuses on appearance, not performance. When you want to show clear definition of a specific muscle, then you exercise that muscle or group of muscles in isolation in order to gain maximum engorgement of the muscle. This is not fitness, but purely for show. In everyday life, when we perform practical actions such as walking, lifting, running, pushing and jumping, we do not use our muscle groups in isolation. Rather, our whole body works in synchronicity to provide balance, strengThand grace to our movements.
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