Mood-boosting Exercise

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

Feeling sluggish, I sighed and leaned back in my desk chair, closing my laptop screen. Rubbing my eyes, I dreaded the next item on my list: exercise.

But, dragging myself upstairs, I went through the motions of changing into my workout clothes, putting on my shoes, and turning on the machine before getting started.

Despite my initial hesitation, I felt so much better when I was done thirty minutes later. My renewed energy reminded me of something a former colleague, Sue, had told me about her own experience with biking: “It is far easier to feel and recognize strong, genuine gratitude when doing the physical exercise that produces good chemicals in the brain. Doing and feeling go hand in hand.”

I love the idea that when our heart is pumping and oxygen is flowing to our brain, releasing endorphins, we can tune in to how grateful we are for the ability to exercise, move, or adapt to our surroundings. Whenever I am sick and unable to work or care for others, I realize how much I take my overall good health for granted. Being ill reminds me to be grateful for the days I feel well. The same is true for exercise: thanks to the feel-good chemicals that are released, I often find my spirits lifted and my mood improved. Being physically active resets my body and my mind.

If a cheerful heart is a medicine that spurs us to accomplish all we need to do each day, then the quickest way to achieve that cheerfulness is by cultivating habits that spur us to gratitude. It’s easy to say we’re thankful, but believing it deep in our bones is something that only happens with wisdom and experience. Wisdom brings life to the body (see Proverbs 4:20-22). When we take time to move our bodies intentionally, we give our brains the boost they need to choose gratitude and cultivate a cheerful heart.

Kristin

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Exercise, even if it’s simply a quick walk around the neighborhood or grocery store.