#12 Keep moving

Have you ever noticed that you feel great after going to the gym or for a run?

The vast majority of have shown that there is an important link between exercise and mental well-being and improved mood.

The researchers of these studies consistently found that exercise has a positive impact on mood. It has been demonstrated that physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins, the “feel-good” chemicals in the brain. Some researchers think that exercise also acts as a diversion from negative thoughts. Also, some researches show that the social interaction taking place in some types of exercise, like team sport for example, contributes to a greater personal satisfaction and therefore a mood enhancement.

Something we don’t know is that exercise has also been studied as an alternative treatment to antidepressant medications and therapies used for depression; and it was concluded that exercise has an important clinical impact on depression.

Now to keep convincing you of the benefits of exercise, there are 16 reasons why exercise makes us happy:

1)    Increased dopamine in the brain (feelings of pleasure and happiness)

2)    Lower anxiety and depression (achieve long term relief)

3)    Energy boost

4)    Stress reducer

5)    Slow down cognitive decline

6)    More self confidence (feel a great sense of accomplishment)

7)    Be more social

8)    Get better sleep (improve sleep quality)

9)    Be more creative (better mood = creativeness)

10)  A more productive you

11)  Memory booster (increased memory capabilities)

12)  Be more relaxed

13)  Better coping skills

14)  Gets addiction under control (helps in addiction recovery)

15)  Enjoy the great outdoors

16)  Increase your brain power (good cardio can help to create new brain cells)

Lastly, some practical tips for exercise: try to engage at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, try to vary the type of exercise you do and choose activities you enjoy, and keep in mind that even if you cannot do high impact workouts there are plenty of low impact activities such as biking, walking or even swimming !

SO REMEMBER TO KEEP MOVING NOW !

#11 Smile more often

Smiling more is a really simple way to live happier in your life. All you have to do is smile, and life will be better, really. It’s that simple. Smiling is the natural way to unconsciously force yourself to be happy. Smiling is very efficient and powerful, but many of us unfortunately use it less and less as they grow older, even though they need happiness more than ever before.

Latest research shows that our emotions like happiness aren’t just happening all in the brain. Parts of your body like your mouth can influence and reinforce your feelings.

Researchers think that by forcing a smile, you activate a specific set of muscles in the face which is closely connected to the emotions of happiness and joy. By smiling, you are signalling the emotional centres of your brain to tell them that everything is good.

Last thing you should remember: happiness leads to smiles but smiles also lead to happiness.

SO SMILE!