Anxiety and Exercise
Recently I have switched from driving to work to taking a bike. I've found that it has made a dramatic improvement to my feelings of anxiety and after my 30 minute cycle to work, I feel refreshed, relaxed, and calm.. something that I never felt when I drove. It lasts throughout the day and something that I hope to continue moving forward.
Some links if you're interested:
3 tips for using exercise to manage anxiety
Can you beat anxiety by exercising?
I'd love to hear of other people's experiences if you're willing to share?
I've been facing a lot of graduate school-related anxiety, and I recently started swimming because (a) I want to make the best use of my student fees haha and (b) I love the routine of it. I haven't thought of connecting the 2 but I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
That'll be great @tranquilSnowflakes.. please do!
Hey @Roadie thank you for sharing this! Loving all the wonderful links! :)
I've always found I derive more benefits from activities where exercise is sorta the secondary purpose. Cycling to work sounds way more enjoyable to me than getting nowhere cycling on a stationary bike for 30 minutes.
I've been having a really hard time managing my anxiety lately and have tried making steps towards eating better and exercising to better deal with it. I agree that after I exercise not only do I not feel anxious, I feel pretty dang happy. I feel proud of myself for accomplishing something good and the self care that comes after like brushing my hair and showering and putting on comfy clothes helps to keep me calm as well. I used to try to focus on cardio as my exercise of choice, but the cognitive aspect of feeling of my heart speeding up because of my actions as opposed to my thoughts didn't help as much as I thought it would.. so now I shift my focus on to strengthening my body - and going for more time as an alternative to more intensity, and it's going pretty well for me. I'm glad this forum is here, to say the least!
