Interval exercise maximises vagal tone and from my experience maximises mood

I’m so happy to see that workplaces are adopting midday physical activity programs for their employees, providing them with more opportunities to get active despite a busy schedule.

We can all use a little more De-Stinking!

Have a great week.

Best,
Gloria

Kathryn

When I was a younger, maybe twelve or so I used to become very sullen and moody (aka a normal kid). We used to live in a working class development and my mother would always say, “Go outside and get the stink blown off you”. Remembering that phrase tickles me so much. It wasn’t the smell of me that needed improvement, which with all the hormones I’m sure there was some foulness, but the simple act of getting up and strolling around the development would soon boost my mood. Moms sometimes know best.

I still need to get the Stink Blown Off Me. I think more adults should De-Stink once in while when they are stressed out. Don’t you think so?

Several years ago, before I became a family man, I walked every night after work. Where I walked had a combination of flat and hilly paths. I was able to reduce the time taken from 60 to 42 minutes as I became fitter. I was going through a very rough patch in my life and I found the thinking time without work or home distractions during the walk was invaluable. I found the key to getting the best mental benefit was making sure that my thoughts dwelled on what was going right in my life, instead of dwelling on what was going wrong.

It was also during this time that I discovered “Learned Optimism” by Martin Seligman, which has lead me into a layperson’s interest in Positive Psychology for the past eight years.

It would be interesting to see if the beneficial effects of regular exercise/physical activity are dependant on the partcipant’s state of mind.

Thank you for a very interesting post.

Another study compared jogging as exercise to other more traditional methods of anxiety regulation, such as stress inoculation and progressive relaxation, and found that jogging was equally as effective as the traditional methods in reducing state anxiety when compared to a control group.

I can send you articles if you like - let me know.

Hugs,
Gloria

…

Really like this article. I talk to a lot of people about neck-down interventions (i.e., doing physical activities to influence your mental state), and I think you’re right on with the research and your recommendations at the end of the article.

What is the research on warding off worries? And how much exercise and of what kind has an effect on decreasing worries? Thanks,

Best,
S.