Foster Mental Wellbeing with Daily Movement
The average American spends about 8 hours of their day sitting. For those with a desk job or a long commute, this number can easily be upwards of 10 or more hours a day. When you add in the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep, you have all the ingredients of a sedentary lifestyle.
As winter draws closer, you may find yourself more inclined to curl up on the couch with your favorite blanket to watch a movie. While that may sound like the perfect way to spend a winter evening, it ultimately will increase the amount of time you spend sedentary, which may be more worrying than you realize.
The effects of a sedentary lifestyle on your physical health and overall longevity are well understood. They include numerous consequences like weaker muscles, stiff joints, increased weight gain, and a variety of other health concerns.
What you may not realize is that a sedentary lifestyle affects more than just your physical wellbeing. It can negatively impact your mental wellbeing as well. How? Let’s find out.
The Mental Impact of a Sedentary Lifestyle
Sitting for extended periods of time can be harmful to your mental health in a number of ways. For starters, it can be detrimental to your physical health, which can directly impact your mental wellbeing. After all, your physical and mental health tend to be connected. This means that if your body is functioning optimally and you physically feel good, you are more likely to feel great mentally as well. But that’s just the start.
Research has shown that sitting too much can cause changes in the brain, particularly in the medial temporal lobe, which is the area of the brain responsible for forming memories. Excessive sitting can cause the medial temporal lobe to become thinner, which can ultimately cause a decline in cognitive ability.
The effects of sitting on mental wellness don’t stop there, though. A sedentary lifestyle can also influence which hormones your brain produces, which will ultimately impact your mood. Let’s explore this one a little more.
You already know that adequate blood flow is crucial to keep your brain functioning properly. After all, your blood is what carries ever-important oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body, including your brain. What you may not know is that sedentary positions such as sitting can cause your blood to remain in your feet and legs, which ultimately restricts blood flow to the brain.
When this happens, it impacts your brain’s ability to produce a variety of chemicals that are important to mental wellness. For example, improper blood flow to the brain can cause a decrease in the production of hormones like serotonin and dopamine, which are known to help regulate your mood and overall feelings of wellbeing. In fact, one study has found that people who sat for 6 hours or more a day were more likely to feel anxious or depressed than those who were more physically active throughout the day.
How Movement Fosters Mental Wellness
If a sedentary lifestyle can negatively impact both your physical and mental health, then it stands to reason that you should incorporate more movement into your daily routine. How do you do that? There are a few ways.
Of course, one way to combat the effects of excessive sitting is to exercise regularly. After all, exercise is known to facilitate the release of endorphins and feel-good hormones that promote mental wellbeing. Additionally, research has shown the regular aerobic exercise can help make your “fight or flight” system less active, which can lead to a reduction in feelings of stress and anxiety.
However, hitting the gym for 30 minutes after work may not be enough to combat the long-term effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.
In addition to regular exercise, incorporating meditative movement into your day can help to foster mental wellbeing by reducing feelings of stress and depression. Movements that are considered meditative involve paying close attention to your mind and body as you move. Some common examples of meditative movement include tai chi and yoga. However, any movement that helps you focus on your posture, breathing, feelings, and position in space can be considered meditative.
Furthermore, a simple yet effective way to decrease the amount of time you spend sitting is to work small increments of movement into your daily routine. This can include things like taking short breaks from work to stretch or walk around the office, parking at the back of the parking lot so you have a little further to walk, and household activities like cooking or tending to the garden.
Get Moving To Boost Your Mental Wellbeing
Mental health and physical health are equally important. Clearly, an active lifestyle is one of the keys to a healthy body and overall mental wellbeing. Whether you get a gym membership, spend more time outdoors, or take more breaks during your workday to stretch your legs, we invite you to join us in living the #NewEarthLife to safeguard your health by incorporating more movement into your life.
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