A special post for Mental Health Awareness Week 2022
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 and the theme this year is loneliness. This is a fitting topic as we all adjust to life after lockdown. Loneliness is a huge issue with 1 in 14 adults over the age of 16 feeling lonely.
A new study, by researchers at Penn State, has recently been published showing that engaging in activities which are fully engaging can effectively reduce loneliness.
I’ve written lots about mental health and exercise in previous posts including: Exercise and mental health: why is it so good for our minds?, Exercise is an effective treatment for depression and Water, swimming and wellbeing: why is it so good for us? In this post I’m focusing on staying connected to tie in with the theme for this year…
Here are 5 ways exercise can help us feel less alone:
1. Get us into a “flow state”
An exercise activity which induces a state of “flow” can help us to feel less lonely and more connected to ourselves. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience says: “I developed a theory of optimal experience based on the concept of Flow – the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do even at great cost for the sheer sake of doing it”.
Many types of physical activity can induce a state of flow. See my previous post here for more detail on “flow“.
2.Walking outdoors with a friend
Getting outside and walking has such great benefits from our mental health. Research shows that being in nature reduces feelings of anxiety and depression. Connecting with nature and listening to the sounds of the birds and the wind in the trees can be so uplifting and invigorating as well as mindful and meditative. Walking outside with a friend can be even more beneficial.
3. Exercise buddy
Pairing up with a friend to do exercise is a brilliant way to ease feelings of loneliness as well as getting movement into your day. It’s much more motivating and social to exercise together and you can hold each other to account.
4. Fitness classes
Working out in a room full of people can be intimidating but it can also be great fun. In her book The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal talks about how exercising to music and in a group can be so rewarding and help us feel so great. Providing us with the benefits of movement as well as the feeling of connection and empowerment we get from music. I definitely feel this during my power ballad classes.
5. Parkrun
Parkrun is a brilliant way to move, feel great and also connect with others. Whatever your fitness abilities you will find all sorts of people joining together each Saturday morning at 9am to walk, run or jog around their local 5K parkrun route.