Exercise = Happy Mom

Exercise just makes me happy. After a good, hard workout I'm on a high for a while and that's good for everybody in the family.

Why is that?

"Exercise releases endorphins, natural hormones that flood the body with a feel-good energy, a natural high! You release stress through physical exertion and regulated breathing, so you can let go of the day’s challenges and go home feeling relaxed and refreshed." (i)

I can promise you that is true. I feel better physically and emotionally after I exercise and when I'm facing a hard problem or need to prepare a speech or presentation or think up a new scene for a book I do my best work out on a walk or run.

Exercise can also help relieve depression: "In the New York Times recent research, studying twins, indicated that, despite studies that seemed to suggest that exercise was almost as effective in relieving depression as anti-depressants, in fact, the “association of exercise with reduced anxious and depressive symptoms could be explained genetically: people disinclined to exercise also tend to be depressed. One does not cause the other.” (ii)

Exercise has so many great benefits. I think too often we exercise to lose weight but that's just a nice side benefit for me.

What do you do to get happy?


(i) Exercise can Make You Happy & Healthy by David Bohl, read the entire article here.
(ii) The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, check out the blog here.