Powerful Impacts Of Moving Your Body Every Day
Your body does a lot for you and is always keeping a watchful eye out for your well-being. It can be easy to take our bodies for granted, but the fact of the matter is that we all have one body for our entire lifetime and it's the vessel that allows us to enjoy everything we do. Taking care of your body can help your body take care of you, making it a reciprocal relationship that's definitely worth investing in. While there's a lot that our bodies do on their own, like breathing in oxygen, digesting food, maintaining a beating heart, and pumping blood to carry nutrients and oxygen to every part from head to toe, there are habits that we can cultivate to help our bodies thrive, which in turn produces a multitude of benefits including increased mood, decreased stress, and stronger relationships with others. Essentially, the more we do to create positive influences for the benefit of our bodies, the more positive functions our bodies will provide for us.
One simple way to care for your body is by moving it every day. You don't have to suddenly become a marathon runner, but finding ways that you can personalize daily movement will result in significant positive impacts on your outlook, mental wellness, and physical comfort. The perks of daily physical activity are vast, and many may surprise you. Here's what to know about the benefits and bonuses you can gain from moving your body every day.
Benefit from a boost of energy and positive outlook
One of the most miraculous benefits of moving your body, whether you're currently in the rhythm of exercising daily or more sporadic with physical movement, is the boost of energy and optimism your body produces through the hormones released via physical movement. If you've had a hard day, rough week or are experiencing a difficult life event, getting up and moving around may not intuitively feel like the thing you want to do, particularly if you're tired, but the benefits are vast and greatly outnumber sitting around. In fact, physical activity has been found to alleviate symptoms of depression, significantly decrease stress, and help you navigate through troublesome moments in your life by increasing neuroplasticity in your brain, reveals Healthline. Regular physical activity can also provide positive contributions to mental health conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Even if you're absolutely exhausted at the end of the day, moving around can give you the boost you need to keep going. Yes, believe it or not, exerting energy to move your body can actually make you feel more energized! Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that the release of endorphins during exercise produces feelings of naturally-derived euphoria. The release of endorphins in the body can temporarily block pain receptors and potentially ease chronic pain, though never strain your body.
Create a genuine connection with your body
As you enjoy the mood-boosting endorphins and the positive effects of increased oxygen flow to your brain, a conscious way to benefit from daily movement is by utilizing the uplifting mental wellness effects to form a more intimate connection with your body. This process of connecting with the physical vessel in which you live your life is called cultivating body awareness, says Healthline. Of course, you've been living in your body since birth and are familiar, but through regular physical movement and rhythms of routine involving physical activity, you can develop a deeper knowledge of your body's abilities, become grounded in the present moment, and more attuned with the messages and signals your body communicates to you about your physical, mental, and emotional needs. Though practices like meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness curriculum may not seem like exercise in the traditional sense, they can further reduce stress and anxiety. Yoga, pilates, and low-impact exercises often blend gentle movements with mindfulness.
For people who are limited in mobility, creating habits of movement adapted to your body's capabilities is an excellent way to reap the benefits of body awareness. A 2018 study published in the journal Plos One found that body awareness can increase self-esteem in people who experience chronic pain while ignoring the connection with one's body can have the opposite effect and result in decreasing self-value. No matter your physical abilities, body awareness is for everyone!
You can boast about being a brainiac
In addition to making you happier, regularly moving your body can make you smarter, too. That's a win-win for sure! Since physical movement increases blood circulation, your brain subsequently experiences greater access to and intake of oxygen, according to Healthline. Again, it doesn't matter your age, whether you're 5 or 105 years old, or your range of mobility. Moving your body as you are able, leads to improved cognitive clarity through corresponding oxygen flow, and is a way to decrease the risk of cognitive decline through dementia, shares Chopra, and Alzheimer's disease later in life. It's never too early to begin a practice of physical movement for the prevention of conditions related to cognitive decline, so take this as your sign to begin a regular routine of movement, or encourage a family-involved physical activity regimen if you have young children, so that everyone can become brilliant brainiacs and promote preventative practices for disease later in life.
For people with neurodivergent diagnoses like ADHD or other conditions that affect executive functioning, the increased blood flow and oxygen directed to the brain can quell activating stimuli and foster better control of executive functioning skillsets.
Movement increases clarity while reducing stress
The benefits of regular movement within your body may seem repetitive, but that's because everything within your body, mind, and emotional regulation are all intrinsically connected. You cannot have one without the others. Since all your being is encapsulated within your physical body, daily movement benefits all aspects of your perception, feelings, experiences, and physical sensations. As you develop a daily movement routine, try to incorporate mindfulness habits to ground yourself and movement regimens to take care of your physical vessel. Again, all elements are interconnected, so it's possible that you may find yourself fostering mindfulness practices as you go for a daily walk, practice yoga, or take time to stretch each day. Through combined development of physical movement, mindfulness, and body awareness, you may begin to notice weight loss and greater control over weight management, emotional regulation, and decreased levels of stress as your overall production of cortisol, aka the stress hormone, is reduced through daily movement, according to Harvard Health Publishing.
After you've gone for a walk or engaged in some form of movement, stretching is a regular practice that can concurrently increase flexibility, body awareness and promote blood flow to your muscles and joints to reduce your risk of injury, advises Mayo Clinic. Stretching can help reduce chronic pain, though never stretch your muscles to the point of pain.
Relish in strengthened relationships
When you move your body every day, you won't just experience benefits focused within your body, mind, and cognitive clarity. Through regular physical activity, you'll also find that your relationships with others are stronger and healthier in both the physical and interpersonal sense. Joining group exercise classes is an excellent way to meet other people on similar journeys of connecting with their bodies, and you'll likely begin to make new friends. Plus, connecting with others who are physically active and experiencing the same mood-boosting mental wellness benefits that movement provides means that the people you meet at the gym or in a group class are prone to having positive outlooks, optimistic dispositions, and feel good about themselves through the increased confidence that comes with the 'feel good' hormones of being active, says Exercise Right.
Your love life can benefit from regular movement, reveals Chopra. You and your partner may choose to exercise together, which can bring you closer through a positive shared activity. Additionally, exercise has been found to increase arousal levels, blood flow to the genitalia, and improved sensual satisfaction, regardless of gender. Plus, the stronger and more flexible you become can add to intimate experiences.
A little bit of movement leads to large improvements
If you still aren't convinced of the incredible benefits of moving your body every day, or if you're intimidated by the thought of suddenly picking up an exercise routine when physical activity has never been your thing, there are some additional perks to physical activity regularly that you should know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that physical movement of your body to whatever degree you're able to connect through respective activities can increase your lifespan and significantly reduce your risk for life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and numerous forms of cancer, including colon, breast, bladder, lung, and esophageal cancers, among others. Through the interconnectedness of movement, the reduction of stress-provoking cortisol during physical activity can lead to a better quality of sleep at night, which in turn can decrease your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and other conditions which pose threats to your longevity and quality of life.
Moving your body, even just a little bit each day, is a way to practice caring for your mental health and, in turn, caring for your relationships, according to the University of Colorado Boulder. If the advantages of daily activity for you and your body still aren't appealing, consider the practice of regular physical activity a caretaking habit for your loved ones, including your partner, children, and friends. When you're healthy and your stress is managed, you can show up for those you love.