Research Report

How Exercising Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health?

Sobhita Vimala Purnakirti

Researcher

November 2019

I. Table Of Contents

II. Introduction

People know that exercise can improve physical health. Exercise is regularly recommended by medical professionals to improve diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. But exercise is not commonly a significant part of a treatment regimen for people who suffer from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Most people in the general population understand that regular exercise is beneficial to physical health. Now, new research suggests that it has equally important mental health benefits. Unhealthy lifestyles can contribute to an array of physical problems and can play can an equally important role your mental health and maintaining a sense of well-being.

Exercise is not just about aerobic capacity and muscle size. Sure, exercise can improve your physical health and your physique, trim your waistline, improve your sex life, and even add years to your life. But that’s not what motivates most people to stay active.

People who exercise regularly tend to do so because it gives them an enormous sense of well-being. They feel more energetic throughout the day, sleep better at night, have sharper memories, and feel more relaxed and positive about themselves and their lives. And it’s also powerful medicine for many common mental health challenges.

Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood. And you don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to reap the benefits. Research indicates that modest amounts of exercise can make a difference. No matter your age or fitness level, you can learn to use exercise as a powerful tool to feel better.

III. Body

1. How Exercising Help Teenagers In General?

a. Why Is Exercise Important to Teenagers?

Regular exercise is important to teenagers because it helps maintain their physical and mental health. Teens should strive for at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily, aiming to spend less time being sedentary and more time being active, according to Teens’ Health.

If teenagers can discover physical activities they enjoy, they are more likely to exercise on a regular basis and continue exercising into adulthood. Parents can encourage teenagers to exercise regularly by setting a good example and becoming more active themselves.

Add Aerobic Exercise for Teens

Aerobic exercise for teens increases the heart and breathing rate, strengthens the heart muscle and improves oxygen delivery to all body parts. Good aerobic fitness boosts energy levels and allows teens to stay physically active for longer periods without fatigue. It also enables them to respond to unexpected physical demands such as running for a bus or climbing stairs.

Examples of activities that provide a good aerobic workout include hockey, soccer, rowing, basketball, tennis, hiking, in-line skating, dancing, aerobics, brisk walking, swimming, running and biking.

Include Some Strength Training

Strength training exercises such as; pushups, pullups, squats, leg raises and crunches increase muscle mass and help build strong arm, leg and stomach muscles. Strong muscles help protect the joints and prevent injury. Muscle uses more calories than fat when the body is at rest and helps maintain a healthy weight.

Help Control Your Weight

Exercising burns calories, helping teenagers avoid weight gain and develop lean, toned physiques. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the risk of diseases such as; type II diabetes and high blood pressure, which are becoming more prevalent among teens, according to Teens’ Health.

People vary in the amount of exercise they need to do to lose weight. Some people may need to do more than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly to maintain their weight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Physical exercise encourages the body's production of endorphins, chemicals that improve mood. Exercise reduces the risk of depression, increases self-esteem, builds self-confidence and promotes restful sleep. It also enhances thinking and learning skills and may improve school performance.

Taking part in 30- to 60-minute aerobic and muscle-strengthening sessions three to five times weekly can improve mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prevent Disease and Illness

Regular exercise for teens reduces the risk for type II diabetes, heart disease, stroke, colon cancer and breast cancer. It also helps lower blood pressure and increases HDL blood cholesterol, or good cholesterol. Weight-bearing exercise such as brisk walking, running and jumping strengthens bones and helps prevent loss of bone density and osteoporosis in later life. Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by weak, brittle bones, which increases the risk of serious, potentially life-threatening hip fractures in older adults.

b. Exercise and Teenagers

Exercise is an important part of keeping teens healthy. Encouraging healthy lifestyles in children and teens is important for when they grow older. Lifestyles that are learned in childhood are more likely to stay with the child into adulthood. Some changes in lifestyle can be harder to make as a person age. The best way to promote healthy lifestyles is for the whole family to become involved.

Establishing an exercise plan

A daily exercise program is a fun way to share physical activity with family and friends while helping to establish good heart-healthy habits. The following exercise guidelines for teens can help you and your teen plan activities:

Teenagers need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days to maintain good health and fitness, and for healthy weight during growth.
Parents are encouraged to limit a teen's screen time (TV, video, and computers) to less than 2 hours daily and replace these sitting activities with activities that require more movement.

Even low-to-moderate intensity activities for as little as 30 minutes a day can be helpful.

These activities may include the following:

Pleasure walking
Climbing stairs
Dancing
Home exercise

Regular aerobic physical activity increases a teen's capacity for exercise. It also plays a role in the prevention of heart diseases and type 2 diabetes. Aerobic activities are continuous activities that cause the heart rate and breathing rate to increase. To prevent dehydration, encourage your teen to drink fluid regularly during physical activity. Also, have them drink several glasses of water or other fluid with no added sugar after the physical activity is completed. Examples of vigorous activities may include:

Brisk walking
Running
Swimming
Cycling
Roller skating
Jumping rope
Playing on the playground
Dancing
Gymnastics
Hiking
Soccer
Tag games

For teens, daily exercise may help prevent conditions such as; obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels, as well as poor lifestyle habits that lead to heart attack and stroke later in life.

Exercise on a regular basis is part of a healthy lifestyle. But some teenagers can exercise too much. If your teen begins losing weight and falls below expected growth patterns, or if exercise interferes with other normal activities including school, you should talk with your teen's healthcare provider.

Benefits from regular exercise or physical activity

According to the American Heart Association and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, the following are key benefits of physical activity:

· Improves blood circulation throughout the body

· Keeps weight under control

· Improves blood cholesterol levels

· Prevents and manages high blood pressure

· Prevents bone loss

· Boosts energy level

· Releases tension

· Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well

· Improves self-image

· Helps manage stress

· Fights anxiety and depression

· Increases enthusiasm and optimism

· Increases muscle strength

c. Physical Activity for Youth

Children and adolescents (ages 6 - 17) should be physically active for at least 60 minutes daily. In 2009, just 18% of high school students participated in at least 60 minutes of PA each day. Those 60 minutes should include aerobic, strength and bone-strengthening activities.

Aerobic: Most of the time spent being active should be doing moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic activities (vigorous-intensity activities should be done on at least three days of the week).
Strength-building: muscle-strengthening activities should be included in the 60 minutes of physical activity on at least three days of the week.
Bone-strengthening: As part of the 60 minutes of activity daily, bone-strengthening activities should be included three days of the week.

Encourage youth to be physically active through:

Age-appropriate activities
Doing three types of activity - aerobic, muscle-building and bone-building
A variety of activities
Participation in activities they enjoy

Inactive Youth

For those who have limited experience with physical activity, remember to start slowly and build gradually over the course of weeks and months. When it comes to youth, focus on physical activity, not necessarily on organized exercise. Look for ways to make ordinary daily activities more active and opt for those things youth will have fun doing and aim for light- to moderate-intensity activities for short periods of time. Finally, remember to consult your physician with any questions or concerns you have about increasing physical activity.

Aerobic Activities

Aerobic activities are those that incorporate running, swimming, biking and jumping rope, to name a few. These can be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity; include vigorous-intensity activities at least three times each week.

Examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activities:

Active recreation, such as hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading
Bicycle riding
Brisk walking

Examples of vigorous-intensity aerobic activities:

Active games involving running and chasing, such as tag, soccer, and basketball
Bicycle riding
Jumping rope
Martial arts, such as karate
Running
Sports such as soccer, ice or field hockey, basketball, swimming, tennis
Cross-country skiing

Muscle-strengthening Activities

Strength-building activities should be done three times each week as part of the daily 60 minutes of physical activity. Younger children can do structure activities like gymnastics or unstructured ones like playing on a jungle gym. Older children and adolescents might enjoy push-ups, pull-ups and weightlifting.

Examples of muscle-strengthening activities:

Games such as tug-of-war
Modified push-ups (with knees on the floor)
Resistance exercises using body weight or resistance bands
Rope or tree climbing
Sit-ups (curl-ups or crunches)
Swinging on playground equipment/bars

Bone-strengthening Activities

Weight-bearing activities like hopping, jumping rope, skipping, running and sports and activities that incorporate those movements/activities (i.e. gymnastics and basketball) help to build strong bones. Include these types of activities three times weekly as part of the 60 minutes daily.

Examples of bone-strengthening activities:

Games such as hopscotch
Hopping, skipping, jumping
Jumping rope
Running
Sports such as gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis

2. What are the benefits of exercising related to the teenagers’ mental health?

a. Get Moving: The Benefits of Exercise for Teen Mental Health

Physical activity has significant benefits, like increasing self-esteem and body positivity.

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS that parents can do for their kids is help them build an exercise habit. That might mean dance, yoga, hiking or high school athletics. It should be something they really enjoy, so they're inspired to keep doing it.

Why is exercise so essential for teens? Because physical activity has significant benefits for teen mental health, according to a large body of research. In fact, exercise can even be as effective as antidepressants. And, on the flip side, physical inactivity is associated with the development of psychological disorders.

Studies show that exercise has the following benefits for teen mental health:

Positively impacts levels of serotonin, a chemical that helps regulate mental health.
Releases endorphins, the body's natural "happy chemicals."
Lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol .
Stimulates the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which improves mood.
Increases self-esteem and body positivity.
Helps teens sleep better.

Evidence shows that teen athletics are particularly supportive, on a number of levels.

According to a Canadian study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, students who play team sports in grades eight through 12 have less stress and depression as young adults. Teens who play sports also gain confidence, critical-thinking and judgment skills, as well as increased cognitive function.

However, just about any type of physical exercise is beneficial. In a small study of a dozen young adults at the University of Newcastle in Australia, participants with major depressive disorder exercised regularly; after 12 weeks of exercise, 10 of the participants were no longer categorized as depressed. Regular exercise has also been shown to decrease symptoms of anxiety.

And the effects are long-lasting: In one study, researchers found that people who got regular vigorous exercise were 25 percent less likely to develop depression or an anxiety disorder over the next five years.

According to James S. Gordon, author of "Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression," "Physical exercise has direct effects on the biology and psychology of depression. … Exercising, we discover that feelings of helplessness and hopelessness begin to fade."

Another important benefit for teens: Exercise prevents substance use disorder.

As well as keeping anxiety and depression at bay, physical activity helps fight addiction. Research on lab rats and mice shows that regular exercise reduces the inclination to use drugs and alcohol. In essence, physical activity provides a healthy alternative reward for the brain, catalyzing a powerful surge of dopamine. And finding healthy ways to increase dopamine is key to successful recovery, especially in the early stages.

Additionally, exercise combats addiction because it addresses two of the major motivators for substance and alcohol abuse: depression and anxiety. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, teens who have substance use disorder are roughly twice as likely to have mood and anxiety disorders compared with the general population, and those with mood and anxiety disorders are more likely to use drugs. State of mind is intimately linked with substance use.

However, there are risks associated with teen sports.

When teen athletes feel pressured to overachieve in sports, they sometimes turn to performance-enhancing drugs. In the federal government's annual Monitoring the Future study, researchers examined the use of performance-enhancing substances among 67,000 high school students. Overall, close to 7 percent of students reported trying anabolic steroids at least once – an increase from 2012, when it was 5 percent.

In addition, doctors often prescribe medication for sports injuries, which can lead to addiction, causing serious health problems and even death. Therefore, coaches, doctors and parents need to monitor teen athletes closely, and be vigilant about avoiding addictive methods of pain relief for injured teens.

Researchers say that how often we exercise is more important for mental health than how vigorously we exercise.

"Data regarding the positive mood effects of exercise involvement, independent of fitness gains, suggest that the focus should be on frequency of exercise rather than duration or intensity," say Lynette Craft and Frank Perna, authors of a review of research on the benefits of exercise for clinical depression. According to experts, teens who do some sort of physical activity three to five times a week, for at least 30 minutes, can reap mental health benefits.

Bottom line: Encouraging teens to get moving is worth the extra time, money or driving that teen exercise or athletics might require from parents. Ultimately, it will give them a strong foundation for physical and mental well-being for the rest of their lives.

b. Exercise for Mental Health

In this era of exponential growth of the “metabolic syndrome” and obesity, lifestyle modifications could be a cost-effective way to improve health and quality of life. Lifestyle modifications can assume especially great importance in individuals with serious mental illness. Many of these individuals are at a high risk of chronic diseases associated with sedentary behavior and medication side effects, including diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular disease.1 An essential component of lifestyle modification is exercise. The importance of exercise is not adequately understood or appreciated by patients and mental health professionals alike. Evidence has suggested that exercise may be an often-neglected intervention in mental health care.2

Aerobic exercises, including jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing, have been proved to reduce anxiety and depression.3 These improvements in mood are proposed to be caused by exercise-induced increase in blood circulation to the brain and by an influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and, thus, on the physiologic reactivity to stress.3 This physiologic influence is probably mediated by the communication of the HPA axis with several regions of the brain, including the limbic system, which controls motivation and mood; the amygdala, which generates fear in response to stress; and the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory formation as well as in mood and motivation.

Other hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the beneficial effects of physical activity on mental health include distraction, self-efficacy, and social interaction.4 While structured group programs can be effective for individuals with serious mental illness, lifestyle changes that focus on the accumulation and increase of moderate-intensity activity throughout the day may be the most appropriate for most patients.1 Interestingly, adherence to physical activity interventions in psychiatric patients appears to be comparable to that in the general population.

Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.2 Exercise has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal.3 Exercise is especially important in patients with schizophrenia since these patients are already vulnerable to obesity and also because of the additional risk of weight gain associated with antipsychotic treatment, especially with the atypical antipsychotics. Patients suffering from schizophrenia who participated in a 3-month physical conditioning program showed improvements in weight control and reported increased fitness levels, exercise tolerance, reduced blood pressure levels, increased perceived energy levels, and increased upper body and hand grip strength levels.5 Thirty minutes of exercise of moderate intensity, such as brisk walking for 3 days a week, is sufficient for these health benefits. Moreover, these 30 minutes need not to be continuous; three 10-minute walks are believed to be as equally useful as one 30-minute walk.

Health benefits from regular exercise that should be emphasized and reinforced by every mental health professional to their patients include the following:

1. Improved sleep

2. Increased interest in sex

3. Better endurance

4. Stress relief

5. Improvement in mood

6. Increased energy and stamina

7. Reduced tiredness that can increase mental alertness

8. Weight reduction

9. Reduced cholesterol and improved cardiovascular fitness

Mental health service providers can thus provide effective, evidence-based physical activity interventions for individuals suffering from serious mental illness. Further studies should be done to understand the impact of combining such interventions with traditional mental health treatment including psychopharmacology and psychotherapy.

c. Exercise and mental health

Exercise has many benefits, not only for your physical health but also your mental health. In your brain, exercise stimulates chemicals that improve your mood and the parts of the brain responsible for memory and learning.

Benefits of exercise

Exercise can make you feel better, even if you’re feeling okay.

It can reduce the risk of illnesses like heart and lung disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease.

Exercise helps people recover from a stroke and many other illnesses and conditions.

Exercise also helps you to lose weight if you want to, which is good for your health overall and might be good for your self-esteem.

Mental health benefits of exercise

Exercise makes you feel good because it releases chemicals like endorphins and serotonin that improve your mood. It can also get you out in the world, help to reduce any feelings of loneliness and isolation, and put you in touch with other people.

If you exercise regularly , it can reduce your stress and symptoms of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, and help with recovery from mental health issues.

Exercise also helps improves your sleep, which is important in many different ways.

Exercise and the mind

Exercise pumps blood to the brain, which should make you think more clearly.

It increases the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory.

It also increases the connections between the nerve cells in the brain. This improves your memory and helps protect your brain against injury and disease.

How much exercise do you need?

Australian Government guidelines recommend adults do at least 30 minutes of moderate to intensive physical activity on most or all days of the week. You can make up 30 minutes over the day by combining shorter 10–15-minute sessions.

Practicing mindfulness while doing exercise also reduces your stress and improves your mental health.

If money is a worry, think about local community centers, which often have affordable exercise groups. And if you have private health insurance, you might get help for gym membership as part of a mental health care plan.

You may struggle finding motivation, or staying motivated for exercise. Think about ways you can make exercise part of your daily routine and lifestyle. Choose something you enjoy, and ask your friends or family to help motivate you and to keep you on track.

If you own a dog, take them for walks in your local area.

Combine your exercise routine with a healthy diet to boost your motivation and energy for exercise.

3. What kind of exercise activity that can help teenagers’ with their mental health?

a. 25 Fun Mindfulness Activities for Children and Teens (+Tips!)

Mindfulness can boost the quality of our lives in numerous ways.

“In today’s rush, we all think too much—seek too much—want too much—and forget about the joy of just being.” – Eckhart Tolle

What does mindfulness do to spark “the joy of being” that Tolle references? How can kids start benefiting from its practice?

This article delves into both of these questions and includes plenty of specific activities for you to start using today. Mindfulness can nurture inner peace, improve the quality of exercise, enhance self-confidence, and facilitate more meaningful relationships with others.

Research confirms that for children, mindfulness can:

Mitigate the effects of bullying (Zhou, Liu, Niu, Sun, & Fan, 2016);
Enhance focus in children with ADHD (Zhang et al., 2016);
Reduce attention problems (Crescentini, Capurso, Furlan, & Fabbro, 2016);
Improves mental health and wellbeing;
Improves social skills when well taught and practiced in children and adolescents.

It’s important for caregivers and educators to provide age-appropriate mindfulness practices for children.

For example, fostering mindfulness in preschoolers with tools like pictures, objects, food, simple movements, and music, can help them develop an ability to focus attention at a great level.

In a study by Flook et al., (2015), they did an activity called ‘’Belly Buddies’’ in which kids listened to music while being asked to notice the sensation of small tone on their stomachs rising and falling as they breathe. Simple activities like these can have long-lasting developmental benefits when practiced regularly.

The kids became more attune with their bodies, as well as the simple pleasure of focusing on their breathe and music.

Want more? We have 25 mindfulness activities designed specifically for children. Plus, they are fun to do.

This article contains:

Before you start reading this article, I recommend you to download Week 1 of Mindfulness X for free.

With this package, you will not just be able to understand mindfulness on a theoretical level, but you’ll also have the tools to apply mindfulness in your work with clients or students. You can download the package with PDF’s for free on this page: https://bit.ly/2OUGkwI

4 Fun Mindfulness Activities and Exercises for Children

Let’s start with these simple ways to attune children with their bodies. At a young age, humans naturally curious about the strength and flexibility of their bodies. It’s a great age to introduce body-mind awareness as a valuable way to take care of themselves.

Mindful Posing

One easy way for children to dip their toes into mindfulness is through body poses. To get your kids excited, tell them that doing fun poses can help them feel strong, brave, and happy.

Have the kids go somewhere quiet and familiar, a place they feel safe. Next, tell them to try one of the following poses:

The Superman: this pose is practiced by standing with the feet just wider than the hips, fists clenched, and arms reached out to the sky, stretching the body as tall as possible.
The Wonder Woman: this pose is struck by standing tall with legs wider than hip-width apart and hands or fists placed on the hips (Karen Young, 2017).

Ask the kids how they feel after a few rounds of trying either of these poses. You may be surprised.

Spidey Senses

While on the subject of superheroes, this can be a related “next step” to teach kids how to stay present.

Instruct your kids to turn-on their “Spidey senses,” or the super-focused senses of smell, sight, hearing, taste, and touch that Spiderman uses to keep tabs on the world around him. This will encourage them to pause and focus their attention on the present, opening their awareness to the information their senses bring in (Karen Young, 2017).

This is a classic mindfulness exercise and encourages observation and curiosity—great skills for any human to practice.

The Mindful Jar

This activity can teach children how strong emotions can take hold, and how to find peace when these strong emotions feel overwhelming.

First, get a clear jar (like a Mason jar) and fill it almost all the way with water. Next, add a big spoonful of glitter glue or glue and dry glitter to the jar. Put the lid back on the jar and shake it to make the glitter swirl.
Finally, use the following script or take inspiration from it to form your own mini-lesson:

“Imagine that the glitter is like your thoughts when you’re stressed, mad or upset. See how they whirl around and make it really hard to see clearly? That’s why it’s so easy to make silly decisions when you’re upset – because you’re not thinking clearly. Don’t worry this is normal and it happens in all of us (yep, grownups too).

[Now put the jar down in front of them.]

Now watch what happens when you’re still for a couple of moments. Keep watching. See how the glitter starts to settle and the water clears? Your mind works the same way. When you’re calm for a little while, your thoughts start to settle and you start to see things much clearer. Deep breaths during this calming process can help us settle when we feel a lot of emotions” (Karen Young, 2017).

This exercise not only helps children learn about how their emotions can cloud their thoughts, but it also facilitates the practice of mindfulness while focusing on the swirling glitter in the jar.

Try having the kids focus on one emotion at a time, such as anger, and discuss how the shaken verse settling glitter is like that emotion.

Safari

The Safari exercise is a great way to help kids learn mindfulness. This activity turns an average, everyday walk into an exciting new adventure.

Tell your kids that you will be going on a safari: their goal is to notice as many birds, bugs, creepy-crawlies, and any other animals as they can. Anything that walks, crawls, swims, or flies is of interest, and they’ll need to focus all of their senses to find them, especially the little ones (Karen Young, 2017).

A similar exercise for adults is the mindfulness walk. This exercise provokes the same response in children that a mindful walk elicits in adults: a state of awareness and grounding in the present.

If you’re interested in more information on how to encourage the practice of mindfulness in children and teens, you can check out the other exercises from this website. Otherwise, head on to the next section where we lay out key tips for teaching these concepts.

15 Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids and Teenagers

When you are trying to teach your kids or young clients about mindfulness and its benefit, we recommend you begin with a few guidelines:

Make sure they are ready to give mindfulness a try; if they are full of energy and itching to run and play, it may not be the best time for practicing mindfulness for the first time.
Explain what mindfulness is and what it is not; give examples of what seems similar to mindfulness but is not (i.e., introspection or chasing thoughts down the “rabbit hole” versus listening to our bodies).
Say it in an age-appropriate way, with words they will understand.
Offer to practice mindfulness with them; sometimes having a model makes all the difference.
Assure them that it’s okay to get off track, and how to gently guide themselves back to mindfulness when they realize they lost focus.
AFinish the practice by doing something they enjoy with them to ensure they have a positive experience.

Megan Cowan, co-founder, and co-director at the Mindful Schools program in Oakland, also has some tips on how to teach mindfulness to kids (2010):

Keep the purpose of mindfulness practice in mind. Be sure to engage in mindful practice with children in positive situations, and never use it as a disciplinary tool.
Make sure you practice mindfulness yourself!
Set a daily routine for practicing mindfulness to make sure you incorporate it.
Prepare the environment for successful practice; move the furniture around or have everyone switch positions.
Involve students in the process; perhaps designate a different child each day to alert the class when it’s time to practice mindfulness or help set up any tools or props.
Share your own experiences with the kids; this will help them understand how mindfulness is applied and practiced in everyday life. Feel free to share how you redirect yourself when you feel distracted during a mindfulness session.
Encourage the children to share their experiences as well, whether they were good experiences with mindfulness or experiences in which they got distracted. Maybe each session can end with a few students sharing how it went for them.
Practice every day. The more you embed mindfulness into the daily routine, the easier it is to engage.

Cowan (2010) also includes a short script if you’d like to use her mini-lesson.

Relay the following instructions to your kids:

“Please get into your mindful bodies–still and quiet, sitting upright, eyes closed.”
“Now place all your attention on the sound you are about to hear. Listen until the sound is completely gone.”
Ring a “mindfulness bell,” or have a student ring the bell. Use a bell with a sustained sound or a rainstick to encourage mindful listening.
“Please raise your hand when you can no longer hear the sound.”
When most or all have raised their hands, you can say, “Now slowly, mindfully, move your hand to your stomach or chest, and just feel your breathing.”
You can help students stay focused during the breathing with reminders like, “Just breathing in … just breathing out …”
Ring the bell to end.

For more in-depth tips and ideas on teaching mindfulness to children, check out the book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community.

The website from editor and children’s book author Annaka Harris also provides some great ideas for exercises that teach mindfulness to children.

8 Mindfulness Games, YouTube Videos, and Apps to Support Your Teachings

Technology offers learning and development for these practices. To ensure that you are using technology to your advantage when it comes to teaching children mindfulness, give some of these resources a try.

Mindfulness for Children: Meditations for Kids

This is an application that can be downloaded through the Android app store, iTunes, Google Music, or the Apple app store. Multiple versions are available. There are a few versions that must be purchased and one free version, which offers fewer conveniences than the paid versions.

This app is centered around guided meditation. It is designed to help children relax before bed. Nature sounds and instructions start the sessions. The app can guide the user through a body scan, visualizations, and breathing exercises.

Reviews for this app have been positive and the developers report that parents have seen a reduction in ADHD symptoms by using this app.

For more information or to give this app a try, visit the website.

Smiling Minds App

Another application that is popular for children as young as seven is the Smiling Mind app. This app is available through the Apple app store as well as the Google Play store. It is free to download and use.

This app offers similar features to the Mindfulness for Children app, including a body scan activity. There are dozens of modules with hundreds of sessions available, each customized for well-being, education, and the workplace (for adults).

If you’d like to check out the reviews for this app or learn more about it, visit the website.

Still Quiet Place

If you’d like to use a video to help your kids learn how to practice mindfulness, the “Mindfulness Exercises for Kids: Still Quiet Place Video” is a great resource. This animated video can help students learn how to go to a “still quiet place.”

Check out the video here, and scroll down to the link below the video to see more activities from GoZen.com.

Mindfulness Exercises for Kids: Still Quiet Place (GoZen!)

Mindfulness Games for Kids

Several interactive games are available on the Kids Activities Blog. Here are just a few:

Blowing bubbles. Have your kids focus on taking in a deep, slow breath, and exhaling steadily to fill the bubble. Encourage them to pay close attention to the bubbles as they form, detach, and pop or float away.
Pinwheels. Use the same tactics from blowing bubbles to encourage mindful attention on the pinwheels.
Playing with balloons. Tell your kids that the aim of this game is to keep the balloon off the ground, but have them move slowly and gently. You can tell them to pretend the balloon is very fragile if that helps.
Texture bag. Place several small, interestingly shaped or textured objects in a bag. Have each child reach in and touch an object, one at a time, and describe what they are touching. Make sure they don’t take the object out of the bag, forcing them to use only their sense of touch to explore the object.
Blindfolded taste tests. Use a blindfold for each child and have them experience eating a small food, like a raisin or a cranberry, as if it was their first time eating it.

If you want to know about more games you can play with children to teach them about mindfulness, check out the book Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families by Susan Kaiser Greenland.

3 Mindfulness Training Classes For Children with Anxiety

Mindfulness practice can be an especially important component of a child’s life if they suffer from anxiety. Learning about mindfulness and how to engage in mindfulness can help a child realize that worrying is normal, and there are useful coping methods when we are worrying too much.

Aside from the Mindful Schools program mentioned earlier, there are classes and programs designed especially for children, and even a few that are structured for children with anxiety.

The “Wellness Works in Schools” course is one such class, which has been shown to result in increased self-regulation and executive function (Garey, 2017).
The Hawn Foundation’s MindUP curriculum is also a useful tool for teaching mindfulness to children (Garey, 2017). These courses can help children learn how to manage their stress as they grow up.
There is also a popular course called “MonkeyMind and Me: A Mindfulness Course for Children.” Children learn how to meditate and practice mindfulness over eight one hour sessions held over eight weeks. The lessons are delivered through stories about MonkeyMind, a friendly puppet who has trouble with self-regulation (“MonkeyMind and Me”, 2017). The course includes lessons, opportunities to practice, design of a homemade project, and a graduation ceremony.

The structure of these lessons and exercises transforms teaching mindfulness into an experience everyone might enjoy—and benefit from.

The Basics: Teaching Essential Mindfulness Practices and Skills

Before you delve into the classroom, review these basic skills and you may have better success with students and clients learning mindfulness.

Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing is a staple of practicing mindfulness. It is the foundation of many other exercises. To help kids learn how to engage in mindful breathing, you can use a video like the one below:

😊 🌺 Breath Meditation for Kids 😊 ❤️‍ Mindfulness for Kids

This video guides children through a breathing meditation by instructing them to imagine a sailboat that rises and falls as they breathe; with each inhale and exhale, the boat moves gently on top of the water.

They also get an opportunity to visualize their breath with a color and focus on the experience of their breath moving through their nostrils. Lastly, the video ends with the exercise of the children imagining (with their eyes closed) that they used to be a fish and paying attention to how it would feel to breathe through their lungs for the first time.

Body Scan

The body scan is a key practice in mindfulness, and an easy one to teach to children.

Have your kids lie down on their back on a comfortable surface and close their eyes;
Then tell them to squeeze every muscle in their body as tight as they can. Tell them to squish their toes and feet, squeeze their hands into fists, and make their legs and arms as hard as stone;
After a few seconds, have them release all their muscles and relax for a few minutes;
Encourage them to think about how their body is feeling throughout the activity (Roman, 2015).

This simple exercise gets kids to be more aware of their bodies and helps them find a way to be present in the moment.

Heartbeat Exercise

Paying attention to one’s heartbeat has a role in many mindfulness exercises and activities. To begin, tell your kids to jump up and down in place or do jumping jacks for one minute.

When they have finished, have them sit down and put a hand over their heart. Instruct them to close their eyes and pay attention only to their heartbeat and, perhaps, their breath as well (Roman, 2015).

This exercise teaches children to notice their heartbeat, and use it as a tool to help their focus. These skills will come in handy as they start engaging in more advanced mindfulness activities.

Mindfulness Meditation for Very Young Children

You might be thinking that these tips and exercises are great for elementary or middle school students, but less realistic for young children. This section focuses on children who are toddlers through kindergarten graduates.

One mother explained laid out her five strategies for teaching young children mindfulness—starting with her three-year-old child learning mindfulness.

Her strategies are:

Teach kids to recognize and identify their own emotions. Children need to associate the word or term for an emotion with the actual experience of feeling that emotion. Encourage them to think about how each emotion feels in their body. Does anger feel like they’ve got steam coming out of their ears? Does love make them feel like their heart is going to burst open?
Validate their emotions. Children often respond with frustration or sadness when told that their pain, however trivial it seems to us, is “not a big deal.” When teaching mindfulness, let kids feel their feelings without fear of judgment. Focus instead on teaching them tools to listen to their emotions.
Teach kids mindful breathing strategies. As we noted above, mindful breathing is a building block in all mindfulness practices. Children benefit from focusing on their breathing when confronted with emotions that are hard to manage.

The author of the blog laid out three techniques she has put to use with her children:

1. Noticing the breath: this involves simply paying attention to what breathing actually feels like.
2. Five-finger starfish meditation: this breathing technique has kids holding up one hand in a starfish position (fingers spread wide) while they gently trace up and down each finger with the other hand, focusing on regular breathing at the same time.
3. Counting the breath: this technique is what it sounds like: have your children pause and count their breaths. One breath in is “1”, the next breath out is “2,” etc. You can have them count to 10 if they’re very young, or slightly higher depending on their abilities.

Lead them in a guided meditation. Use a script or an exercise or app like the ones described above for this meditation.
Practice what you preach. As we mentioned earlier, it is so important to actually “do as you say.” Kids are intuitive and human nature encourages mimicry, two advantages we can harness when trying to teach (Beach, “Baby Buddhas.”)

Guide your kids every step of the way, but make sure you are taking those steps yourself as well. It will make everyone’s practice richer.

The Benefits Of Mindfulness In Schools (K12) + Videos

Childhood and adolescence are important developmental stages that will construct the groundwork for mental health in the adult developmental stage.

In recent literature, mindfulness-based school programs have demonstrated a range of social, cognitive, and emotional benefits for elementary and middle-school students.

Cognitive Benefits

Executive function is a set of mental skills that constitutes attention, switching focus, planning, organizing and remembering details. Research in education suggests that mindfulness practice can lead to improvements in executive function in children.

For instance, in the study of Flook et al., (2010) conducted on 3^rd graders, students who went through an 8-week mindfulness program showed improvements in behavioral regulation, metacognition and focus compared to the controls group who did not have the mindfulness program.

In another study, students who had a 24-week of mindfulness training scored higher in attentional measures in their elementary school (Napoli et al., 2004). Additionally, a study on preschoolers emphasized that children who went through a mindfulness curriculum for 12 weeks earned higher marks on academic performance measures. They also showed greater improvements in areas that predict future success (Flook et al., 2015).

Social Benefits

A social skill is any skill that we use to interact and communicate with others.

Deficits and excesses in social behavior can affect learning, understanding, and classroom climate. Recent research on lower-income and ethnic minority elementary school children highlighted how a 5-week mindfulness curriculum can lead to better participation in activities, as well as nurture a classroom culture of mutual respect and care in 9th-grade students (Black et al., 2013).

Emotional Benefits

Emotional health, which is a positive sense of well-being, is an important component of child and adolescent development. Emotional problems such as anxiety, stress, and depression can affect self-esteem, performance, and social interactions.

Mindfulness practice may facilitate the ability to manage stress, and also lead to deeper well-being in students.

According to one study by Schonert-Reichl and his colleagues (2010), mindfulness practice leads to higher scores on self-report measures of optimism and positive emotions in elementary school students.

Moreover, in a study conducted by Wall (2005), self-reported findings showed preteens feeling calmer, with an enhanced experience of well-being—and improved sleep—after a 5-week modified mindfulness-based stress reduction program.

Videos on Mindfulness in Schools

These four videos can help students open their minds to the benefits of mindfulness. We recommend pairing any of these segments with a discussion.

Questions for after the selected clip can include, “Has anyone practiced mindfulness, and how has it gone for you?” or “What do you think is the reason most people do not practice mindfulness, and how can we start changing this?”

Mindful Schools In-Class Instruction

Sanjay Gupta MD: Teaching mindfulness in schools

Mindfulness in Schools: Richard Burnett at TEDxWhitechapel

Mindfulness in Education, Learning from the Inside Out: Amy Burke at TEDxAmsterdamED 2013

A Take Home Message

Research confirms that mindfulness can improve mental health by aiding well-being, attention, self-regulation, and social competency. It just needs to be practiced—and encouraged.

Mindfulness-based programs in schools can have a life-long impact on the psychological, social, and cognitive well-being of children and teens. Even at home or with clients, how can you incorporate mindfulness into your teachings and own schedule?

b. How to look after your mental health using exercise

There are many reasons why physical activity is good for your body – having a healthy heart and improving your joints and bones are just two, but did you know that physical activity is also beneficial for your mental health and wellbeing?^[1]

We need to change the way we view physical activity in the UK in order not to see it as something we ‘have to do’, ‘should do’ or ‘ought to do’ for our health, but as something that we do because we personally value its positive benefits to our wellbeing.

As part of our work to promote better mental health, we have produced this pocket guide to show the positive impact that physical activity can have on your own mental wellbeing, including some tips and suggestions to help you get started.

Being active doesn’t have to mean doing sport or going to the gym. There are lots of ways to be active; find the one that works for you and let’s all get physical!

"It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor." Marcus Tullius Cicero

What is physical activity?

At a very basic level, physical activity means any movement of your body that uses your muscles and expends energy.^[2] One of the great things about physical activity is that there are endless possibilities and there will be an activity to suit almost everyone!

It is recommended that the average adult should do between 75 and 150 minutes of exercise a week.^[3] This can be either moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, hiking or riding a bike, or it can be more vigorous activities, such as running, swimming fast, aerobics or skipping with a rope. Any activity that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster, and makes you feel warmer counts towards your exercise!^[4]

An easy way to look at types of physical activity is to put them into four separate categories.

Daily physical activity

For adults, physical activity can include recreational or leisure-time physical activity,

transportation (e.g. walking or cycling), occupational activity (i.e. work), household chores, play, games, sports, or planned exercise in the context of daily, family, and community activities.^[5]

Everyday things such as walking to the bus stop, carrying bags or climbing stairs all count, and can add up to the 150 minutes of exercise a week recommended for the average adult.

Exercise

Purposeful activity carried out to improve health or fitness, such as jogging or cycling, or lifting weights to increase strength.

Play

Unstructured activity that is done for fun or enjoyment.

Sport

Structured and competitive activities that include anything from football or squash to cricket. We can play these as part of a team or even on our own. This can be a fun and interactive way of getting exercise that doesn’t have to feel like exercising.

These activities can vary in intensity and can include high-intensity activities, such as tennis, athletics, swimming, and keep-fit classes, or they can be lower-intensity activities and sports, such as snooker or darts.^[6] Making exercise fun rather than something you have to do can be a motivator to keep it up.^[7]

What is wellbeing?

The government defines wellbeing as ‘a positive physical, social and mental state’.^[8] For our purposes, we are focusing on mental wellbeing.

Mental wellbeing does not have a single universal definition, but it does encompass factors such as:

The sense of feeling good about ourselves and being able to function well individually or in relationships
The ability to deal with the ups and downs of life, such as coping with challenges and making the most of opportunities
The feeling of connection to our community and surroundings
Having control and freedom over our lives
Having a sense of purpose and feeling valued ^[9]

Of course, mental wellbeing does not mean being happy all the time, and it does not mean that you won’t experience negative or painful emotions, such as grief, loss, or failure, which are a part of normal life. However, whatever your age, being physically active can help you to lead a mentally healthier life and can improve your wellbeing.

What impact does physical activity have on wellbeing?

Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.^[10]

Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem ^[11] and can reduce stress and anxiety.^[12] It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems ^[13] and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.^[14]

Impact on our mood

Physical activity has been shown to have a positive impact on our mood.^[15] A study asked people to rate their mood immediately after periods of physical activity (e.g. going for a walk or doing housework), and periods of inactivity (e.g. reading a book or watching television). Researchers found that the participants felt more content, more awake and calmer after being physically active compared to after periods of inactivity. They also found that the effect of physical activity on mood was greatest when mood was initially low.^[16]

There are many studies looking at physical activity at different levels of intensity and its impact on people’s mood. Overall, research has found that low-intensity aerobic exercise – for 30–35 minutes, 3–5 days a week, for 10–12 weeks – was best at increasing positive moods (e.g. enthusiasm, alertness).^[17]

Impact on our stress

When events occur that make us feel threatened or that upset our balance in some way, our body’s defences cut in and create a stress response, which may make us feel a variety of uncomfortable physical symptoms and make us behave differently, and we may also experience emotions more intensely.^[18]

The most common physical signs of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, and loss of appetite.^[19] Symptoms like these are triggered by a rush of stress hormones in our body – otherwise known as the ‘fight or flight’ response. It is these hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which raise our blood pressure, increase our heart rate and increase the rate at which we perspire, preparing our body for an emergency response. They can also reduce blood flow to our skin and can reduce our stomach activity, while cortisol, another stress hormone, releases fat and sugar into the system to boost our energy.^[20]

Physical exercise can be very effective in relieving stress. Research on employed adults has found that highly active individuals tend to have lower stress rates compared to individuals who are less active.^[21]

Impact on our self-esteem

Exercise not only has a positive impact on our physical health, but it can also increase our self-esteem. Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth. It is a key indicator of our mental wellbeing and our ability to cope with life stressors.^[22]

Physical activity has been shown to have a positive influence on our self-esteem and self-worth. This relationship has been found in children, adolescents, young adults, adults and older people, and across both males and females.^[23]

Dementia and cognitive decline in older people

Improvements in healthcare have led to an increasing life expectancy and a growing population of people over 65 years.^[24] Alongside this increase in life expectancy, there has been an increase in the number of people living with dementia and in people with cognitive decline.^[25] The main symptom of dementia is memory loss; it is a progressive disease that results in people becoming more impaired over time.^[26] Decline in cognitive functions, such as attention and concentration, also occurs in older people, including those who do not develop dementia. Physical activity has been identified as a protective factor in studies that examined risk factors for dementia. For people who have already developed the disease, physical activity can help to delay further decline in functioning.^[27] Studies show that there is approximately a 20% to 30% lower risk of depression and dementia for adults participating in daily physical activity.^[28] Physical activity also seems to reduce the likelihood of experiencing cognitive decline in people who do not have dementia.^[29]

Impact on depression and anxiety

Physical activity can be an alternative treatment for depression.^[30] It can be used as a standalone treatment or in combination with medication and/or psychological therapy.^[31] It has few side effects and does not have the stigma that some people perceive to be attached to taking antidepressants or attending psychotherapy and counselling.

Physical activity can reduce levels of anxiety in people with mild symptoms ^[32] and may also be helpful for treating clinical anxiety.^[33] Physical activity is available to all, has few costs attached, and is an empowering approach that can support self-management.

For more details about how physical activity can help increase wellbeing and prevent or manage mental health problems, read our full report, or get more information about how exercise can improve your mental health on our website: www.mentalhealth.org.uk.

How much physical activity should I be doing?

We know all too well that that many people in the UK do not meet the current physical activity guidelines.

With an average of only 65.5% of men and 54% of women meeting the recommended physical activity levels in 2015,^[34] it is important that more people are given the knowledge and support they need to make physical activity a healthy yet enjoyable part of life.

The Department of Health recommends that adults should aim to be active daily and complete 2.5 hours of moderate intensity activity over a week – the equivalent of 30 minutes five times a week.^[35] It may sound like a lot, but it isn’t as daunting as it first appears, and we have lots of suggestions to help you get started.

Where do I start?

Once you have decided that you want to be more physically active, there are a few points worth thinking about. Apart from improving your physical and mental wellbeing, what else do you want to get out of being active?

Ask yourself whether you’d prefer being indoors or out, doing a group or individual activity, or trying a new sport. If you’re put off by sporty exercises, or feel uninspired at the thought of limiting yourself to just one activity, think outside the box and remember that going on a walk, doing housework, and gardening are all physical activities. Also, would you rather go it alone or do an activity with a friend? Social support is a great motivator, and sharing your experiences, goals and achievements will help you to keep focus and enthusiasm.

Overcoming barriers

It can be a bit scary making changes to your life, and most people get anxious about trying something new. Some common barriers, such as cost, injury or illness, lack of energy, fear of failure, or even the weather can hinder people from getting started; however, practical and emotional support from friends, family and experts really does help.

Body image can act as a barrier to participating in physical activity.^[36] People who are anxious about how their body will look to others while they are exercising may avoid exercise as a result. For women, attending a female-only exercise class or a ladies-only swimming session may help to overcome anxiety as a barrier to initially starting to exercise.

Exercising with a companion can also help to reduce anxiety about how your body looks to others, and may be particularly helpful during the first few exercise sessions. The environment can also influence how you feel; gyms with mirrored walls tend to heighten anxiety, as does exercising near a window or other space where you might feel ‘on show’.

Make time

What time do you have available for exercise? You may need to rejig commitments to make room for extra activities, or choose something that fits into your busy schedule.

Be practical

Will you need support from friends and family to complete your chosen activities, or is there a chance your active lifestyle will have an impact on others in your life? Find out how much it will cost and, if necessary, what you can do to make it affordable.

Right for you

What kind of activity would suit you best? Think about what parts of your body you want to exercise and whether you’d prefer to be active at home or whether you fancy a change of scenery and would prefer to exercise in a different environment, indoors or outdoors.

Making it part of daily life

Adopting a more active lifestyle can be as simple as doing daily tasks more energetically or making small changes to your routine, such as walking up a flight of stairs.

Start slowly

If physical activity is new to you, it’s best to build up your ability gradually. Focus on task goals, such as improving sport skills or stamina, rather than competition, and keep a record of your activity and review it to provide feedback on your progress. There are many apps and social networks accessible for free to help.

Goals

It’s really important to set goals to measure progress, which might motivate you. Try using a pedometer or an app on your smartphone to measure your speed and distance travelled, or add on an extra stomach crunch or swim an extra length at the end of your session.

Remember, you won’t see improvement from physical conditioning every day. Making the regular commitment to doing physical activity is an achievement in itself, and every activity session can improve your mood.

At home

There are lots of activities you can do without leaving your front door and that involve minimal cost. It can be as simple as pushing the mower with extra vigour, speeding up the housework, or doing an exercise DVD in the living room.

At work

Whether you’re on your feet, sat at a desk or sat behind the wheel during your working hours, there are many ways you can get more active. Try using the stairs for journeys fewer than four floors, walking or cycling a slightly longer route home, or using your lunch hour to take a brisk walk, do an exercise class or go for a swim. The change of scenery will do you good, too.

Out and about

Being out of doors is a prime time for boosting your activity levels, and research suggests that doing physical activity in an outdoor, ‘green’ environment has greater positive effects on wellbeing compared to physical activity indoors.

Making small changes, from leaving the car at home for short journeys or getting off the bus a stop earlier, to higher- intensity activities like joining in with your children’s football game or jogging with the dog, can help to boost your mood.

c. Fitness 4Mind4Body: Exercise

Staying active can benefit so many aspects of your health and can even prevent physical and mental health symptoms from worsening. It’s important to incorporate exercise daily to ensure your body and your mind are healthy.

Exercising Benefits Nearly All Aspects Of A Person’s Health

In addition to helping control weight, it can improve the chances of living longer, the strength of bones and muscles, and your mental health.1

When A Person Doesn’t Get Enough Exercise, They Are At Increased Risk For Health Problems

These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and metabolic syndrome.2

Exercise Increases A Variety Of Substances That Play An Important Role In Brain Function

DNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor) is a protein that creates and protects neurons (nerve cells) in the brain helps these cells to transmit messages more efficiently, and regulates depression-like behaviors.

Endorphins are a type of chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) that is released when we experience stress or pain to reduce their negative effects and increase pleasure throughout the body.5 Endorphins are also responsible for the euphoric feeling known as a “runner’s high” that happens after long periods of intense exercise.

Serotonin is another neurotransmitter that increases during exercise. It plays a role in sending messages about appetite, sleep, and mood.6 It is the target of medications known as SSRIs or SNRIs, which are used to treat anxiety and depression.

Dopamine is involved in controlling movement and the body’s reward response system. Due to its role in how the body perceives rewards, it is heavily involved with addictions. When amounts of this chemical messenger are low, it is linked to mental health conditions including depression, schizophrenia, and psychosis.7

Glutamate and GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) both act to regulate the activity of nerve cells in the parts of the brain that process visual information, determine heart rate, and affect emotions and the ability to think clearly.8 Low levels of GABA have been linked to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and mood disorders.9

Exercise Can Help Prevent Mental Illnesses And Is An Important Part Of Treatment

Just 1 hour of exercise a week is related to lower levels of mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.10 Among people in the U.S., those who make regular physical activity a part of their routines are less likely to have depression, panic disorder, and phobias (extreme fears).11

One study found that for people with anxiety, exercise had similar effects to cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing symptoms.12 For people with schizophrenia, yoga is the most effective form of exercise for reducing positive and negative symptoms associated with the disorder.13

How Much Exercise Should You Be Getting?

Exercise doesn’t have to be done for hours on end. Ten minutes of moderate or vigorous activity at a time, fifteen times a week will get you to the recommended amount.

Muscle strengthening activities should be incorporated into your exercise routine twice a week. This includes yoga, lifting weights, resistance band exercises, and things like push-ups and sit-ups. Your muscles should be tired by the time you are finished with your exercises, but make sure you aren’t trying to lift too much too soon, or you could injure yourself.

You don’t have to have a gym membership to make exercise a part of your life! Picking physical activities that are easy to incorporate into things you already do and having a strong social support system are important in incorporating exercise into your routine.

IV. Conclusion

Overall, studies provide support for the benefits of physical exercise in children and adolescents on executive function, brain activity, and depressive symptoms. According to Healthy People 2020, the target for physical activity in adolescents is 60 or more minutes of daily aerobic activity. It is unlikely that the majority of youths achieve this target. The importance of physical activity should be promoted in the school setting as well as in after school activities. Parents should also encourage their children to be involved in physical activities.

The research literature suggests that for many variables there is now ample evidence that a definite relationship exists between exercise and improved mental health. This is particularly evident in the case of a reduction of anxiety and depression. For these topics, there is now considerable evidence derived from over hundreds of studies with thousands of subjects to support the claim that “exercise is related to a relief in symptoms of depression and anxiety.” Obviously, more research is needed to determine if this overall relationship is “causal,” and there is also a need to examine further some of the variables that are believed to moderate the overall relationship.

For many of the other variables related to mental health, the initial meta-analyses have shown evidence that is promising. Compared to the area of depression and anxiety, however, there is either a need for more research on these topics or more quantitative reviews of the expansive research that already exists. For example, the relatively new research into the influence of exercise on positive mood states is in need of more research studies, whereas the area of exercise and self-esteem needs quantitative reviews of the expansive research literature that already exists. At the present time, it appears that aerobic exercise enhances physical self-concept and self-esteem, but more research needs to be done to confirm these initial findings. Exercise is related not only to a relief in symptoms of depression and anxiety but it also seems to be beneficial in enhancing self-esteem, producing more restful sleep, and helping people recover more quickly from psychosocial stressors. None of these relationships is the result of a single study. They are based on most, if not all, of the available research in the English language at the time the meta-analytic review was published. The overall positive patterns of the meta-analytic findings for these variables lends greater confidence that exercise has an important role to play in promoting sound mental health.

V. Definition of Terms

a. Exercise : Exercise is physical activity that is planned, structured and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning any part of the body used to improve health and maintain fitness.

b. Health : A state of physical, mental and social well-being in which disease and infirmity are absent.

c. Mental Health : the level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness.

d. Teenagers : a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood.

e. Affect : a concept used in psychology to describe the experience of feeling or emotion, the word "affect" as a noun being seldom used in other fields. In psychology, affect mediates an organism's interaction with stimuli.

f. ADHD : A chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

g. Depression : A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.

h. Anxiety : A mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities.

i. Activity : Something that is done for enjoyment, especially an organized event

j. Psychological : The science of behavior and mind. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as feeling and thought. It is an academic discipline of immense scope.