5 Strategies For Boosting Your Mood Through Exercise

By Kriti Arora
Beating depression may actually be just a jog away, recent research suggests. Yes, exercise can actually solve quite a lot of ailments, including those of the mind. Depression is a mental illness which affect the way a person talks, feels, behaves and communicates with the world around him. For a lucky few, a depressive episode may last for a few days but in some, it can last for weeks, months and even years. Exercise is a natural depression cure. Here are 5 strategies with which you can boost your mood through exercise.
Strategy #1
What kind of exercise are you comfortable with? If you are a beginner, walking and cycling are great. If you already have an exercise routine, great! Continue with it and in time increase its intensity. You can also go to the gym and take the help of a fitness instructor. After planning your workout session, make sure that you stick to it.
Strategy #2
What time can you devote to your workouts? If you are a harried housewife or a busy executive with little time on your hands, a brisk 10 minute walk is a good way to fight depression naturally. If you have a little more time, go for a 30-minute aerobic session. Choose from jogging, cycling and swimming. But make sure you exercise at least 5 times a week.
Strategy #3
It's a great idea to exercise in a group. Not only does it give you a chance to interact with other people, it also sets up the pace for healthy competition. When you are exercising with a group of people, a sense of competition (regarding achieving a health target or a particular body weight) is actually helpful. Also, you are less prone to miss out on the workout sessions because of peer pressure. Socializing with other people will also act as a mood-booster which ultimately will cure your depression.
Strategy #4
True, keeping yourself motivated to exercise everyday is not easy for people who are not depressed and is doubly difficult for people who are. Thinking about going to the gym for a strenuous workout session is difficult, but taking a smaller step is a lot easier. If your mind tells you not to go, tell it that it's okay to walk down the street at a leisurely pace. Once you do walk down the street, you will feel like going to the gym a lot more than before. The idea is to fool the mind to believe that it has to do a lot less. This strategy is something that works with most depressed people.
Strategy #5
Exercise is great for curing depression naturally. But don't fall for any of the magic pills and powders advertised everywhere these days that promise you a body like a fashion model. They are not natural at all and do more harm than good. Stay away from them.
Trust exercise to beat your depression naturally.