We’ve all experienced it: you finish up an intense workout or pleasant stroll through the park and your body is tired, but mentally you feel amazing. Naturally, you feel good about reaching goals, staying active, and focusing on your health. But it turns out that physical activity is indisputably linked with mental health benefits. And now, we need those mental health benefits more than ever. According to Mental Health America and their 2021 report, “The State of Mental Health in America,”the prevalence of mental illness among adults was increasing even before COVID-19. Now, the number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed. “From January to September 2020, 315,220 people took the anxiety screen, a 93 percent increase over the 2019 total number of anxiety screens. 534,784 people took the depression screen, a 62 percent increase over the 2019 total number of depression screens.” The good news is that we can all improve our mental wellbeing simply by moving. The John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation states it simply: “Three decades of science make it clear: exercise should be integrated into prevention and treatment of mental illness and promotion of mental wellness. “ In their 80-page, “Move Your Mental Health Report”, they found that “approximately 89% of all published peer-reviewed research report a positive, statistically significant relationship between exercise/physical activity and mental health.” That’s huge. Of course, an 80-page report is also huge. We didn’t really want to sift through that data either, but luckily for us, IHRSA…
