The next step is figuring out what type of exercise makes you feel cared for instead of tortured or triggered. I think approaching exercise as something we do because we care for ourselves is helpful and healing. This definition blows out the concept beyond bubble baths and pedicures to encompass everyday tasks like brushing our teeth and taking a shower. What if exercise became a way that we showed ourselves love instead of using it to imply that we aren’t physically good enough? What would that look like? One of my favorite definitions of self-care is defining it as any action that shows we hold value and deserve to be cared for. Instead of viewing exercise as something we are doing for our bodies, we start to view it as something we are doing for our minds. What I’m proposing is that we break the connection between exercise and physical change. And feeling like you have to look a certain way in order to be happy or have value isn’t ideal for one’s mental health (or life).

It’s not about feeling good, it’s about looking a certain way. Or, conversely, you start to get obsessed with the changes you are seeing and your drive to exercise can become compulsive. If you don’t see noticeable changes both in the mirror and on the scale, you end up feeling like a failure. So if you view exercise solely as a method to get you closer to that body type, exercise becomes part of the problem. We already live in a world that is obsessed with an “ideal” body type. Framing exercise this way can be triggering and harmful, resulting in many people (understandably) avoiding it altogether.

The result is that we often approach exercise in an unhealthy way because we singularly see it as an opportunity to change our bodies. The biggest one, in my opinion, is that our society almost exclusively links the main value of exercise to weight loss. There are a lot of barriers when it comes to working out routinely. But even for those who can exercise, it’s often not as simple as deciding to exercise. That’s where all the other resources we can give ourselves come in, including therapy, mindfulness and good sleep hygiene. For starters, I need to acknowledge that promoting exercise is inherently ableist and isn’t an option for everyone. So, if you want to care for your mental health and are physically able, incorporating exercise into your daily/weekly routine is a great addition to your life.Įasy, right? Not so much. Despite passing my psychopharmacology class, I’m still not super comfortable explaining the science of it all, but this much I know: exercising is a huge resource when it comes to improving your mental health and brain plasticity. There is even research suggesting it has similar effects as antidepressants. One topic that has been covered in pretty much every class, however briefly, is the overwhelming evidence that exercise helps our mental health. I actually enjoy relearning certain things because it helps drive home their importance and makes the information more memorable. While each class has unique subject matter, there is a fair amount of overlap. I’ve been getting a master’s in psychology since January 2020.

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