
	Why Exercise? Exercise to reduce stress It's a fact of life. Most people experience stress -- going to work and school, keeping up with your bills and all expenses and really anything that can make you nervous or indecisive. Evidence shows that stress damages your health. It can weaken your immune system, increase your risk of heart trouble, raise cholesterol, keep your blood sugar too high, cause weight and skin problems. The list goes on. Regular exercise not only strengthens physical health; it can help you handle stress by... -Relaxing tense muscles -Helping you sleep better -Releasing endorphins (Natural Pain Killer), adrenaline (Naturally Increased Energy), serotonin (Natural Fighter of Depression) and dopamine (Responsible for Sleeping and Waking cycles) -- chemicals that give you a sense of well-being. What activities best treat stress? The main thing is to find things you like and commit to doing them regularly. For many, repeating the same motion for a period of time has a relaxing effect similar to meditation. Rhythmic exercises that can provide this effect include swimming laps, walking, running and cycling. Some people enjoy exercises that focus on breathing and fluid movement, such as yoga and tai-chi. Others prefer exercising in pairs, for instance, by playing a sport or dancing. Ideas to explore These ideas can help you explore ways to reduce stress through exercise: Think of exercise as "recess." Children need play time, and so do adults. We need to stretch our muscles, get our hearts pumping, breathe fresh air and take a break from our responsibilities. Separate yourself from work and school, bills and commitments. To get a stress-reducing benefit from exercise, choose an activity that's separate from the work you do all day long. Doing your chores are important, but they are not ‘stress-reducers.’ Find activities that take your mind away from the daily grind. Keep it varied. Many people get bored doing the same activity, and then feel like quitting. So mix it up. For example, take a fitness class once a week; go for a walk a few times per week, then play a sport with a friend. Remember activities you enjoyed as a child? Chances are, you'll still like them. Find the exercises that spark you to do them, again and again. Schedule these exercises and keep it regular. If your days already seem too crowded without exercise, you probably need to let something go. That could mean spending less time watching television, that same television that puts stress on your eyes and disrupts your sleep cycles the more you watch it. All about Endorphins - Click Here to Expand The Three "E's": Exercise, Endorphins and Euphoria Everyone knows that exercise has many health benefits such as increasing your fitness level and helping you lose weight. One benefit of exercise that is often overlooked, however, is that exercise can improve your mood and give you a general feeling of well being. Sure you may have heard that before, but how does exercise actually improve your mood and make you feel better? The answer comes from endorphins. We define endorphins as powerful hormone-like substances produced in the brain that function as the body’s own natural painkillers. During exercise, there is a release of endorphins in the body that are capable of producing feelings of euphoria and a general state of well being. The feelings produced can be so powerful that they can actually mask pain. All it takes is moderate amounts of exercise to experience the effects. If you are new to exercise, you may actually experience a particularly strong effect as endorphins are released in the body. Don't underestimate the effects of the release of endorphins in the body during exercise. In some cases, they can be so powerful that they can mask pain from an injury. Pushing yourself too hard, too fast could lead to muscle sprain and endorphins released by the brain could mask that pain and lead to a serious injury so you want to be careful. It's important to listen to your body. If your knee is sore, it's sore for a reason. Don't ignore it just because it "goes away" when you exercise. Take some time off and get it checked out. The last thing you want is a serious injury. Now that you have a basic understanding of exercise and the release of endorphins, you'll know why you feel better after you have worked out! Stress Relieving Activity - Click Here to Expand Let’s Perform an Activity to relieve stress: 1- Take five deep breaths. Fill every corner of your lungs, hold, then slowly exhale until you've squeezed it all out. Repeat. All that oxygen will charge you with energy. 2- Roll your neck. To get rid of tension in the neck, let your chin drop forward. Now, keeping shoulders level, slowly roll your head in a full circle to right shoulder, back, left shoulder and front. Repeat five times, alternating directions. 3- Loosen up your body. Sit upright in a chair. Lift your arms over your head and swing them back, down and forward in a circle, like a swimmer's backstroke, until they are once again over your head. Repeat five times. 4- Stand and stretch. Stand up and stretch your hands high over your head; then with knees bent to prevent strain, touch your toes. Repeat five times. 5- Unknot your back. Sit on the edge of your chair, feet flat, and lean forward, until chest is on knees, hands and head hanging loosely down. Breathe deeply. Slowly walk your hands out away from your head. Slowly walk your hands towards your feet and up to your knees to rest. Arch your back slowly as you come back to a seated position. Repeat until all the kinks are out. 6- Relax Completely. Lie on the floor, or sit in a comfortable chair. Keep your hands at your side or on the arms of the chair. Beginning with your toes and going all the way up to your scalp, visualize each part of your body and tell it to relax. Take your time. Go back over any area that becomes tense again until finally your whole body is relaxed. DansFitness.Org is fully licensed, insured and authorized to conduct business in the United States.