Anxiety effectively treated with exercise
We all experience occasional anxiety as part of life whether it is when we are faced with something unexpected we’re not comfortable with or when having to make an important decision. Anxiety is a normal response to stress but when it starts to interfere with our lives by excessive worries and fears it becomes an anxiety disorder. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.
Some of the symptoms of an anxiety disorder include:
Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge
Being easily fatigued
Having difficulty concentrating; mind going blank
Being irritable
Having muscle tension
Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep
During a panic attack, people may experience:
Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heart rate
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath, smothering, or choking
Feelings of impending doom
Feelings of being out of control
Excerpts above from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
If you feel like your anxiety and nervousness are uncontrollable, it might be time to get professional help like therapy to talk about possible reasons for your anxiety and to learn effective coping skills. However, there are things you can do to help yourself.One of the self-help tools for treating anxiety effectively is exercise. A new study by researchers from the University of Gothenburg, November 9, 2021 showed that both moderate and strenuous exercise alleviate symptoms of anxiety, even when the disorder is chronic.
The participants during the study were assigned to either moderate or strenuous group exercise sessions for 12 weeks. Most individuals in the treatment groups went from a baseline level of moderate to high anxiety to a low anxiety level after the 12-week program.
Further Resources:
Tai Chi 5 Minutes a Day Module 01 - easy for beginners
Yoga For Beginners at Home (15 minute) 30 Day Challenge Day 1
Qigong Full 20-Minute Daily Routine
Hi @amiablePeace77, I can relate to this post because I felt this kind of anxiety before in my life. However, I never really thought about how anxiety is always part of our everyday lives. This post had given me a whole new perspective on anxiety. Additionally, it sounds like meditation, Tai Chi and yoga are great self-help tool to help lower anxiety. I do yoga all of the time and I never knew that it could help with anxiety. This post was very informative and I’m glad that I read it 😊.
Desmynn
@Desmynn6789
I'm glad you found this post helpful. Anxiety can impact us in so many ways we might not fully be aware of. Nice that you practise yoga, I believe it's a wonderful way to explore our bodies for any tension and to relax them.
@amiablePeace77 Great article!
I find exercises really take the edge off my anxieties. Thanks for sharing.
@soulsings
I agree soul, exercising diverts you from the very thing you are anxious about.
I never thought of myself as experiencing anxiety, mental health is not something that was ever a "real" thing to deal with and I never really understood what it actually meant because everyone talked about having anxiety all the time. But I experience all of the items listed in the first set of bullets, however, I have only ever experienced one panic attack in my life. I constantly feel on edge like I am going to explode but then suddenly snap out of it. I started working out because the feelings were starting to eat me alive and I was afraid of myself. Now working out relieves so much stress and gives me a way to get out alot of what I am feeling physically and have nothing to focus on but what im doing for a few hours. Plus it has given me a great support group of people!!
@TheRealAlice96
Thank you for sharing how exercises benefitted you! It is much healthier to use excess energy created by stress for running, lifting weights or any other sort of exercise then keeping it inside where it slowly eats you up. Nice to hear that you even made supportive relationships with others.