Local Life - Wigan - July 2020

18
Get Moving
for Mental Health
During the lockdown, with so little choice of
things to do, it may well be that a walk round
the block became part of your daily routine. That
should have reminded you of the physical and
mental benefits of fresh air and moving around.
But as lockdown eases, if you find you have reverted
to form and even the very word ‘exercise’ makes you
want to retreat to the sofa to binge watch Netflix,
we hear you!
It really doesn’t have to be a chore though. Any type
of exercise is useful, as long as it suits you and you
do enough of it. It should be something you enjoy
or it will be hard to find the motivation to do it
regularly.
As the saying goes: necessity is the mother of
invention and the last couple of months have
been amazing for introducing exercise that doesn’t
involve being in a gym. From martial arts in the
garden, online yoga and cycling to just that brisk
walk round the block.
Exercise to boost your mood
Aerobic exercises, where your heart rate is elevated,
have been shown to help depression. They reduce
your levels of cortisol (AKA the ‘stress hormone’).
You could try jogging (using the Couch to 5K app to
keep yourself motivated), a virtual exercise class or
just dancing in your kitchen.
Exercise to ease anxiety
Yoga and pilates can have a direct impact on your
nervous system, helping to calm it down and ease
anxiety. Some studies have shown that yoga can
also be beneficial for tackling depression, alleviating
stress and even reducing pain and blood pressure.
Exercise in nature
According to a study by the University of Exeter,
spending two hours a week in nature is good for
both your mental and physical wellbeing. This
could mean your local park, a field or even doing an
outdoor circuits session in your garden.
Virtual exercise classes
Joe Wicks runs weekday PE classes at 9am on his
YouTube channel and you don’t need to have
children to take part. If the family classes are too
energetic, try some of his other workouts, such as
the ones aimed at seniors.
Don’t fancy PE? You’ll find dance, martial arts and
more online. The dance troupe Diversity teaches
regular classes on www.20dv.co.uk. And you can
take part in Oti Mabuse’s free dance classes on her
YouTube channel whenever you want.
Exercising with a health condition
If you’re worried that exercise might make an
existing health condition worse, do speak to your
GP.
Finally the NHS offers more than 20 instructor-led
workouts at www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-fitnessstudio,
starting from just 10 minutes long. There’s
even a 30 minute workout using your sofa!
Keep motivated
Make a note of how you feel before and after your
workout. Try rating your anxiety and mood out of
10 and see whether the workout has had a positive
effect.