Move your Body – Change your Brain

When you move your body, you will change your brain.

Ancient Greeks knew already about the importance of moving the body and how this works out of the whole system. Physical activity is good for your body, brain, and mind.

The Greek philosopher Thales( 624-546 BC) said: ” A sound mind in a sound body. ” They believed that there was a direct link between physical exercise and mental wellbeing. What is good for your body is good for your mind, and what is good for your heart is good for your brain.

And that is the truth.

Dr.Wendy Suzuki claims that exercise changes the brain.

Moving your body improves not only cardiovascular health but also improves cerebrovascular health. And this means that moving your body improves learning, memory, and cognitive function.

The Dutch professor in neuropsychology, Erik Scherder, also promotes that moving your body changes your brain. The best way is walking in nature, which prevents developing diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Exercise is medicine! It has been proven to be effective for depression and anxiety, which is very often connected. Moving your body is the best to change your brain positively.

Aerobic Activity, Strength Training, Yoga, Pilates are often more effective than medicine, strengthening the body and the brain.

Move Your Body – Effects on Stress.

In this stressful world, people have so much to do that they hardly can cope with all demands of this time. Rushing through the day, they often do not feel themselves anymore.

To cope with stress, we have our primal brain. This brain is in control of our instinctive, automatic self-preserving behavior patterns, which ensure our survival. The primal brain is in charge of feeding, fighting, fleeing, and reproduction. In earlier times, people meeting dangerous situations reacted by fighting or fleeing, which was necessary facing an enemy.

Nowadays, it is like people facing dangerous situations all day long. The stress they experience is like an accumulation of many dangerous situations. Their adrenalin is so high up that they are not able to reduce it anymore. It is impossible to relax without consuming alcohol or other drugs.

Everything is out of balance; their biochemistry is out of order. Their immune system is imbalanced and weak, leaving the victims to pathogens entering their bodies and stimulating infections and inflammation that can become chronic.

To get rid of this stress, it is very effective to move your body. Even walking for half an hour a day is already very effective in balancing the body’s biochemistry.

Yoga, Pilates, or body balance are very calming practices for the body and, of course, for the mind, relaxing the body and mind and strengthening the muscles.

Aerobic training is excellent for losing stress, strengthening the cardiovascular system, blood flow, and lymphatic flow, and the body can detox. It is lifesaving to build in some fitness into your day.

Move Your Body- Does It Need to Be a Sports School?

Many people are so tight up in their daily life that they have no time to join yoga classes or a sports school. Or they have not the money to join them.

Now we live in a digital world. Everything is on the internet. Here in the Netherlands, many people cycle to work or shopping. That is very good to reduce your stress symptoms. I wouldn’t say I like cycling very much, but I love to walk. If I have to visit a client who lives in an Appartement, 7 levels up, I don’t take the lift. I take the stairs. By parking my car in front of a house, I have some minutes to walk to my client. In this manner, I build in precious time to move my body effectively.

I have two water bottles at home, 500 ml, and a training app on my mobile for strength training. By using these bottles, I can build my muscles, following the training on my app.

I also do walking in the forest and power walking, reducing the upbuild of my stress level. Having downloaded my yoga app on my mobile, I follow a routine whenever I have the time in the morning. You can purchase all items online or in sports shops.

There are lots of opportunities to move your body. Even working in my little garden is relaxing and strengthening my body. There is no excuse!

Move your body -Women and Fitness.

Most women still do a lot of multitasking and getting trapped in massive stress by their daily responsibilities. Women often don’t have only a family, a husband, and children, but also a job.

Occupied by doing the shopping, the household, and looking after the needs of their families doesn’t leave much time for themselves. So they are easily stressed out and exhausted.

I already blogged about setting boundaries and having time for yourself. I can’t stress this enough; it is really essential to keep looking after yourself. You will not take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself first. This is a law!

If we are not respecting ourselves, we will not respect someone else. If you don’t love yourself, you will not love someone else. Believe me or not, that is a fact!

To increase your strength, try to do some fitness. Your body and mind will thank you for getting stronger, healthier, more beautiful, and more focused.

Move Your Body – Fitness in Nature

Nature is very effective to our stressed-out mind. Walking outdoors in the forest or at the beach, or even in your garden is doing a good job to the body. Nature is calming and grounding the body and mind, leading to a more focused and relaxed body and mind.

People these days are spending much time indoors. They get sluggish, increasing body weight, receiving not enough oxygen, feeling easily cold due to not moving enough, often accompanied by not eating right, bringing us to another chapter. Well, everything belongs together.

If you could manage to do your fitness outdoors, you will have great benefits for your body and mind, strengthen your immune system and your focus, as a result of breathing more oxygen while performing your exercises.

In these times, we have to do with lots of electrosmog from household devices in the digital time we live now, and all that high – frequency fields created by cellular and cordless phones, cellular phone towers, Wi fi, and microwaves are very damaging to the body’s cells.

It is essential to get out of home and get tuned in with nature leaving you re-energized and renewed. Managing to do your yoga or fitness training outdoors is powerful.  Try it out! You will be amazed at how beneficial it is for your well-being.

Final Thought

I see that many people try to include some fitness into their daily routine. More people worldwide see the benefits of a fitness routine on their bodies and minds. It doesn’t matter what sort of fitness they choose for themselves, as long they keep moving their bodies. Lots of people are visiting Yoga classes or Pilates. Also, a visit to the sports school is perfect.

However, some people don’t have the finances to join the sports school; they could try yoga or training apps on their mobile phones. Also, by doing power walking or jogging outdoors, they don’t need to join a sports school, it is free, and they can do it in their own time, wherever they wish. It is easier to include some walking into their daily routine.

Performing fitness in nature will increase the benefits to their bodies and minds, getting rid of all that stress built up during the day.

Do yourself a favor! Get up and move your body! Your body and brain will be happy!

Please let me know what you think. What are your experiences? I would love to know how you meet your daily stress.

To your health,

Sylvia