We all know how exercise and fitness can impact and improve our physical health. But, what about what it can do for your mind? Your brain? Your experience of anxiety, depression, stress and more? Your relationships? Your ability to experience peace and ease?
Movement can be an astonishingly powerful prescription for the all-too-often heaviness and complexity of life. So, why is it so difficult sometimes to get up and move, even when we know what good it'll do for us? Turns out, our bodies and brains do this fascinating dance that sometimes supports us, and other times shuts us down, even when we know, rationally, we’d feel better making different choices. It makes me wonder what if the solution to start moving more isn't based on a doctor's orders or creating a rigorous workout plan but, instead, listening to our bodies and responding accordingly with movement in a way that brings all systems online? That's what we're talking about today with my guest, Dr. Jennifer Heisz.
She's an expert in brain health and the author of Move The Body, Heal The Mind: Overcome Anxiety, Depression, and Dementia and Improve Focus, Creativity, and Sleep. Dr. Hesiz is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Brain Health and Aging at McMaster University, where she directs the NeuroFit lab. Her award-winning research examines the intersections of physical and emotional health and how exercise helps ward off or treat depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health conditions.
Her new book explores her own research and the latest findings on how fitness and exercise can combat mental health conditions such as anxiety, dementia, ADHD, and depression, while improving productivity, creativity, and sleep. Get ready to hear us dive deeper into the relationships between fitness and mental health, creativity, and sleep and explore different strategies and approaches that anyone — with all levels of ability or disability, motivated or unmotivated — can tap to incorporate movement into their lives in a way that feels good. So excited to share this conversation with you.
You can find Jennifer at: Website | Instagram
If you LOVED this episode you’ll also love the conversations we had with Bessel van der Kolk, MD about the relationship between our minds and our bodies and how we need to harness both to unwind the mind, especially in the context of trauma.
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