Health Update: This Combo Helps Reduce Anxiety, Stress, & Depression
Hello everyone:
Here is some well-done research about mental health. It seems that when you combine mindfulness with movement, you get double the effect. There are many papers showing that exercise is often as good as medication for mild to moderate depression, and here is more proof. The author’s state:
“Physical activity and mindfulness practice both have established psychological benefits, yet research into their interaction and combined use is sparse. This systematic review aimed to pool the evidence examining the impact of interventions that combined physical activity and mindfulness on mental health and wellbeing outcomes, and their potential mechanisms of action.”
“Interventions combining physical activity with mindfulness are effective for improving mental health and wellbeing, possibly more so than either approach alone.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175529662300073X?via%3Dihub
Bottom Line:
New like this is somewhat puzzling to me as there have already been a large number of studies about this topic that revealed that the ancient practice of yoga has the same effects as mindful movement. To me, yoga is mindful movement and should be a part of your overall healthy lifestyle. And thanks to these researchers, we have more confirmation that movement is a vital part of life and health. I call movement Vitamin M. Make sure you get some Vitamin M every day with a dose of mindfulness on top! Here are some links about yoga and mental health if you are interested.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2156587217715927
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/yoga-for-better-mental-health
