Getting Back to Exercise

Have you ever heard people say they need to walk, run, or exercise to clear their head. That has alot of validity and it has been shown in many scientific studies that exercise can improve mood and anxiety. Exercise is hard and not necessarily about lifting weights. In fact, a very therapeutic exercise is to walk on a regular basis. Basically if you can walk at a rate that increases your heart rate in a safe manner, for 20 minutes, 3 days a week, you can get the mental benefits of exercise. Whats really cool is that you can see the effect of exercise on the brain. In an MRI scan, brains don't change very much. But with aerobic exercise, the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with improved mood and reduced anxiety, gets bigger!! So when I tell my clients that exercise is important for recovery, I am not kidding!