Stress Awareness Month: Do more exercise

It’s no secret that regular exercise is good for you. Not only does it improve your physical fitness levels and mental wellbeing, it also releases endorphins that can help relax you and relieve stress.

Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can vastly improve the stress levels and wellbeing of someone who currently does little to no physical activity in a day. This doesn’t have to be 30 minutes of high intensity sprint efforts; just a casual lunch-break walk or regularly taking the stairs is better than nothing.

As you do more and more of this, you may find it becomes too easy and you fancy trying something more structured or physically challenging. Our advice is to find something you enjoy. Try a few things and find your own favourite – after all, forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy will some become tiresome and you’ll probably find you stop going and revert back to old ways.

There’s many other benefits to physical activity too, ranging from improved sleep through to improved work ethic.

All this month we will be sharing tips and hints that can help nurses and carers reduce their levels of stress in support of Stress Awareness Month. To read them all, click here.

Sources:

http://www.stress.org.uk/exercise.aspx

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