5 Key Benefits of Exercise on Mental Health

In Dialectical Behavior Therapy, intensive exercise is considered a key skill for supporting with distress tolerance. It helps to change our body’s chemistry, which can enable us to leave sticky thought loops faster, and land in the present moment through practicing intentional action. It may not solve our problems, or take away what’s hard, but it can help us deal with difficult emotions more adaptively, in a way that allows us to maintain our self respect or take a new perspective on experience.

In psychodynamic terms, we call this sublimation; it’s coping through channeling a difficult, painful, unacceptable, or overwhelming feeling into an activity or goal that may be able to transform it into something acceptable, and even meaningful. It’s important to remember though that while exercise is one way, it is not the only way to sublimate, we can also decrease the intensity of internal states by making art, completing a household project, helping a friend, or contributing to our communities.

Polyvagal theory asserts that states of emotional shut down, numbness, emptiness or dissociation can shift by first moving back through sympathetic activation – completing an impulse to move away physically from or to conquer the experience of a threat. Activities like running or swimming have the capacity to mirror and therefore complete a flight response, while healthy, consensual competition can complete a previously suppressed fight response, possibly making it easier to regulate the nervous system.

When we commit ourselves to a goal and achieve it, our reward centers light up, potentially fueling future motivation and shaping our self-view. In the world of yoga, this is why we honor and validate when students show up on their mats. Making it to a class, an appointment or a session, is often the hardest part of any new growth process. Because exercise is malleable and can be catered to someone’s unique needs, it can provide regular boosts of affirmation when goals are sustainable, realistic and accommodate the individual.

Even when we pursue exercise solo, we may be surprised to find the potential for community building around a shared interest. Simply bumping into familiar faces at a class or at an establishment can bring us into social engagement; by proxy we practice connecting with others and the world around us, combating feelings of isolation or alienation.

The benefits of exercise on mental health are multifaceted. Beyond improving physical health, exercise provides essential tools for regulating emotions and enhancing self-esteem. It serves as a powerful tool for stress management and can help us move through difficult experiences more mindfully. Whether through solo activities or shared experiences, exercise serves as a vital component of holistic well being, complementing therapeutic work and can offer empowerment for navigating life’s challenges.