16 Aug 2013

I’m busy right now

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All of us are busy. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Unless of course, being busy stops you from getting your move on.

Stress relief & sleep support

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Have you noticed there’s a new default answer to the standard greeting, “Hi, how are you?”

We no longer say as frequently, “Yeah good. You?” It’s more like, “Yeah good. Busy.”

All of us are busy. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Unless of course, being busy stops you from getting your move on.

“When times are crazy, the thing people give up is exercise, and that’s the thing a person needs,” says Dr Erica Christ, exercise physiologist at the Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, USA.

“When a person is excitable from stress, the burst of energy that you get from exercise can help burn the adrenaline off and calm you down.”

What fitness also does, she says, is it promotes a sense of mindfulness. “It makes the other things in your life fall into place.”

Is that true for you? I don’t know that fitness fixes everything. But what’s true for me is that exercise gives me perspective.

I choose to walk or to jump on my bike – and that’s a total pleasure because I live in a beautiful slice of the world (Darwin, NT).

I find that getting out in the fresh air, spotting a stray bird or catching a glimpse of the harbour reminds me that whatever the issues I’ve faced that day, they are small in comparison to the bigger picture.

There's a whole big world going on beyond my desk. Neuroscience explains some of this calming and balancing effect. As Greenwich Hospital reports, physical activity stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine for a post-exercise mood boost.

As Dr. Christ says focused exercise is a way to de-stress from the outside world. “Use an hour to turn off the rest of the world and focus on the task at hand.”

“You become more empowered while you’re doing it, and that empowerment is motivation for overall self improvement.”

Tell me: does being busy get in the way of your ability to exercise?

References available on request

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