CHAPTER
11

Getting Help from Exercise and Breathing

In This Chapter

• Finding out what exercise can—and can’t—do for your state of mind
• Developing a strategy for successful workouts
• Uncovering your motivation for regular exercise
• How breathing can help with anxiety
• Exploring some at-home breathing strategies

We all know exercise keeps us strong, builds our endurance, and helps with weight loss. But with society’s emphasis on the physical-health benefits, not to mention physical appearance, it can be easy to lose sight of the mental-health benefits. Can a workout really boost your mood and reduce your stress? And can regular exercise cure depression and anxiety?

In this chapter, we take a look at exercise and mental health. We look at what exercise can do for you and what it can’t. And, of course, we focus on the fascinating link between exercise and anxiety: what exercises promote calm, what exercises can stir things up, and how simple breathing and meditation techniques can soothe a troubled mind.

The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Ann was diagnosed with panic disorder and depression two years ago. She would often isolate herself and stay home, feeling unable to face work or enjoy social outings. She sought help from her general practitioner, who prescribed an antidepressant and recommended psychotherapy. Ann started feeling better; she returned to work and made more of an effort to get together with friends. However, she still felt exhausted by the demands of a stressful job.

At her doctor’s insistence, Ann began to exercise, starting out slowly just by walking and gradually increasing her workout routine. She also found a walking buddy, which made her feel less isolated and gave her an extra incentive on the days she felt too tired or stressed to move. Within three weeks, her energy level improved. She also began to appreciate the calm she felt after her workout. When Ann felt ready to discontinue her medication 14 months later, she upped her exercise routine a bit, and she found it helped her with the anxiety she felt over discontinuing her medication.

An increasing number of health professionals are prescribing exercise as an add-on to other treatments when helping an emotionally distressed patient. It’s no magic bullet (what is?), but a growing body of literature suggests that increasing physical activity is a positive and active way to help manage anxiety symptoms—and boost self-esteem.

But how can physical exercise have any effect on the mind or mood? Let’s take a look at what we know about the mental benefits of physical exercise—and what we don’t.

ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Research has found that levels of phenylethylamine, a feel-good hormone, are lower in people suffering from a mental disorder; exercise seems to boost its production.

How Does Exercise Help?

We don’t fully understand how exercise improves emotional health, but we’ve got some pretty good ideas. For example, on a physiological level, exercise may positively affect the levels of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. The increased body temperature may also have calming effects. In addition, physical activity may boost feel-good endorphins, release tension in the muscles, help you sleep better, and reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

MYTH BUSTER

“Exercise can cure anxiety or depression.” Physical activity cannot cure clinical levels of anxiety or depression, but it can provide psychological and physical benefits that alleviate symptoms and can be an important part of the recovery process.

Exercise also seems to have a number of direct and indirect psychological and emotional benefits when you have depression or anxiety. These include the following:

• Confidence. Engaging in physical activity offers a sense of accomplishment. Meeting goals or challenges, no matter how small, can boost self-confidence at times when you need it most. Exercise can also make you feel better about your appearance and your self-worth.
• Distraction. When you have depression or anxiety, it’s easy to dwell on how bad you feel. But dwelling interferes with your ability to problem-solve and cope in a healthy way. Dwelling also can make depression more severe and longer lasting. Exercise can provide a good distraction. It shifts the focus away from unpleasant thoughts to something more pleasant, such as your surroundings or the music you enjoy listening to while you exercise.
• Interactions. Depression and anxiety can lead to isolation. That, in turn, can worsen your condition. Exercising can create opportunities to interact with others, even if it’s just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood.
• Healthy coping. Doing something beneficial to manage depression or anxiety is a positive coping strategy. Trying to feel better by drinking alcohol excessively, dwelling on how badly you feel, or hoping depression and anxiety will go away on their own aren’t helpful coping strategies.

It appears that your body—and your mind—will always reward you for taking good care of them.

ANXIETY ATTACK

Aerobic exercise was the top-rated “treatment” for generalized anxiety disorder and second for panic disorder by consumers on an independent remedy-finding website.

Exercise Is Rewarded by Your Body

It’s great that our bodies have a built-in mood-improving system. For example, our brain’s pituitary gland produces beta-endorphins, which can attach themselves to the same receptors that morphine uses, producing some of the same pleasant feelings. Another chemical, phenylethylamine, is produced during exercise and is related to amphetamines, but without the long-term side effects. These chemicals may also contribute to the calm you experience when you exercise.

Some studies have shown that these chemicals are released whenever you take action to get your needs met. Apparently, it’s your body’s way of saying, “You’ve done well. Do more of this.” It’s also one of the reasons some people seem to get “hooked” on exercise, and why athletes often describe the “buzz” of a workout as a “natural high.”

ANXIETY ATTACK

It may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least 3 to 5 days a week to see an improvement in anxiety symptoms. However, even 10 to 15 minutes of exercise can improve mood in the short term.

Motivation to Exercise

You may be convinced that exercise might be a good idea. However, many of us make New Year’s resolutions that involve exercise—and few of us keep them. To improve the odds that you’ll stick with it, take some time to prepare yourself by doing the following:

• Get your doctor’s advice. Your doctor or other health professional may have some excellent exercise plans and advice. Use their support to talk over your thoughts and concerns.
• Go with your natural flow. Start with things you like to do, perhaps activities you’ve enjoyed in the past or new things you’d like to try. If you’re a people person, find an exercise buddy. If childcare is a problem, involve your kids. Don’t plan to exercise at the crack of dawn if you’re a night owl.
• Do an attitude adjustment. Keep track of the immediate benefits of exercise, such as a calmer state of mind and better sleep. Give yourself credit for every step you take, and use setbacks as an opportunity to learn. Set realistic goals, and go at your own pace.
• Reframe your motivation. Don’t let exercise be a burden; instead, think of exercise as your own private therapy session or personal meditation time.

STRESS RELIEF

Exercise builds up your stress tolerance as well as your muscles. Exercise buffs with anxiety say their workout routine serves as a form of controlled stress that supplies a kind of “vaccination” against uncontrolled stress.

Try an Exercise You Enjoy

The following table lists some exercises you can consider taking part in.

Aerobic exercise involves continuous low- to moderate-intensity exercise involving the heart and lungs. Examples include walking, running, biking, swimming, skiing, and many other exercises. Aerobic exercise is great for reducing tension and improving mood.

ANXIETY ATTACK

Some people worry that exercise might trigger an anxiety or panic attack—sometimes the normal feelings from working out such as breathlessness and a faster heart rate can feel similar to some of the early signs of a panic attack. It’s best to start slowly—take a little walk at first, and then build up.

Long-Term Motivation for Exercise

Here’s Gary’s story:

At first I found it hard to get excited about any exercise. I used to enjoy mountain biking, so I thought I would try that. I found a route that would give me opportunities to stop—I’m not as fit as I used to be. But once I cleaned up my old bike, I just let the days go by without doing anything, until one day I was talking to my friend. He saw my bike sitting out and offered to go riding with me. We went. It was tough, but it felt great to be out again.

Gary got the push he needed from a friend; luckily, he noticed some benefit from his first outing. What gets you out there, though, may not always keep you going. For example, over time, he may get bored with biking and need to vary his activities. If he’s not too confident about biking alone, he may not always be able to rely on his friend to be available. Also, biking is a seasonal activity in many areas.

ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Some research suggests that yoga, with its focus on mind-body harmony and breathing techniques, can lower anxiety levels. Regular practitioners report better concentration, improved perception, and an enhanced ability to calm themselves.

You can boost your long-term commitment to exercise by doing the following:

• Varying your activities; have two or three alternate exercise options
• Including a friend
• Starting off gently and building up slowly
• Setting a specific time of day to exercise and sticking to it
• Preparing for setbacks
• Not giving in to counterproductive thoughts

If It Seems Impossible

When Kirsty’s therapist suggested exercise, the first thing she thought was, “What has that got to do with anxiety? Between work and family, I’m already stressed enough.” She listened to some exercise suggestions, but she couldn’t find anything that suited her. She works long hours and doesn’t have access to a gym or exercise equipment.

However, after several stops and starts, she decided to fit it in wherever she could. She took the stairs rather than the elevator. She walked to work twice a week and went for a walk during her lunch hour. By breaking up exercise throughout her day, Kirsty was easily able to achieve her goal of 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

The key is to be flexible and have a backup plan. If your last workout was too much, scale it down. If you’re bored, try something else. See obstacles as hurdles rather than defeat.

In addition to tackling your exercise routine stumbling blocks, focus on the opportunity. What will happen if you exercise regularly? So you’re only able to fit in 10 minutes of jogging; you will feel better than if you did nothing.

Play games with yourself. For example, keep track of the number of steps you take, or try to walk a little faster than you did yesterday. Use humor; keep track of all the creative excuses your mind comes up with and post them somewhere in your house.

The Benefits of Breathing

Your breathing is an amazing barometer of your mental state. For instance, when you’re stressed, your breathing tends to become shallow and rapid. Very rapid breathing can cause you to feel lightheaded and give you tingling sensations in your arms and legs.

How you’re breathing also influences how you feel. For example, it’s hard to feel calm and relaxed when you’re hyperventilating. Noticing the feedback loop between breathing, feelings, and physical sensations, mental-health professionals began teaching effective breathing as a way to control arousal and reduce anxiety.

MYTH BUSTER

“Isn’t yoga a religion?” No! Some simple yoga techniques include breathing exercises and simple stretches. In fact, the first principle is learning how to relax your body and mind.

It may sound silly to say you need to learn how to breathe, but many of us breathe in a non-relaxing way; specifically, we expand our chest or raise our shoulders when we breathe in. This may be helpful in certain circumstances, but not for relaxation.

Instead, for relaxation, you need to shift your breathing down into your diaphragm. This fills your lungs from the bottom up. Here’s a quick lesson:

Lie down on your back, place your hands on your stomach, and loosely interlock your fingers. As you breathe in, your stomach should rise and your fingers become separated. If you can, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. When you’ve gotten the breathing down, capitalize on your physical calm using your mind. You might try mentally repeating My toes are relaxed; I can feel my toes relax. My calves are relaxed; I can feel my calves relax and working your way up through the rest of your body.

The more you practice deep breathing when you’re already relaxed, the easier it will be to achieve when you’re under pressure. Advanced students are able to do it wherever they are—even when they’re about to give a speech or face a scary medical procedure. Just as it’s hard to relax when you’re hyperventilating, it’s hard to feel terror when you’re breathing slowly and calmly.

After you’ve gotten the basic breathing technique down, you can add extra impact to your deep breathing by doing some of the following:

• Control your exhale—a longer “out” breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your built-in relaxation mechanism.
• Address anxious feelings by mentally repeating, “I feel scared/anxious/vulnerable” while breathing in and welcoming relaxation by thinking, “I’m letting these feelings go” as you breathe out.
• Consider occasionally adding meditative qualities to your breathing by fasting (no food or drink) for a couple of hours, but time this around your workouts so you’re not depleting yourself of needed water or energy.
• Don’t give up! Many people find it difficult to get the hang of it at first (or stop because they think it’s pointless). In reality, the ability to control your breathing can help you reduce the physical effects of stress and regain a sense of control when anxiety overwhelms you.

Two physical activities—exercise and proper breathing—can play a powerful role in boosting mood and reducing tension. In the next chapter, we examine how other ways of taking care of your body—through good nutrition and the right amount of sleep—can improve your mental well-being and lower anxiety.

ANXIETY ATTACK

Curious about using yoga but don’t know where to start? Check out life.gaiam.com/article/beginners-guide-8-major-styles-yoga, which gives you a rundown of different types of yoga you can use.

The Least You Need to Know

• Aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety by stimulating natural painkillers, boosting your confidence, and distracting you from worrying thoughts.
• Regular exercise provides immediate benefits (a mood boost) and long-term rewards (a sense of calm).
• Getting the most benefit from aerobic exercise requires 30 minutes of activity a day.
• A regular exercise routine requires motivation, flexibility, and a willingness to overcome external and internal obstacles.
• Learning to control your breathing can be a powerful step in soothing troubling physical symptoms and taming fear and anxiety.