With the Stress awareness month coming up in April with thought we can show you how cycling can help your mental health. Ideally stress, and mental health is not something to think about from time to time. You need to consider your well being all year round and not just when the campaigns are on.
Physical Activity Reduces Stress
It’s well known that regular exercise has numerous positive health outcomes for the body, such as strengthening the muscles, bones, heart, and lungs and helping to prevent certain diseases.
When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine thus making you feel better.
Cycling Helps With Anxiety
Anxiety is that moment when you worry or fear something out of the blue, it can be a completely irrational thought that you have no control over. It is suspected that everyone in their lifetime has a bout of anxiety, it’s just how you deal with it. A common way to deal with anxiety is to distract the mind onto something else more rational. Aerobic activity can significantly reduce feelings of anxiety, potentially preventing anxiousness from developing into full-blown panic attacks.
What could be more rational than taking in the beautiful countryside as you ride your bike along the lane. Or to hear your heart beating a little harder as you try to get to the summit of the hill. The wind washing over your face as you descend down the other side of the hill. If you ride a bike for any distance you know that feeling of being total immersed in just turning those pedals. Here are some of the best cycling destinations in Europe & cycling Europe on a budget.
Winding The Wheels & Winding Down Mentally
The regular, uniform movement of cycling has a relaxing effect on the brain. This then stabilise both physical and mental function. Cycling encourages new thought patterns that stimulate feelings of calm and wellbeing. It can be a great way to get lost in that moment, like a near mediative state.
Any physical activity that has repetition involved will have a similar effect as cycling does. It is important that you do a physical active that you enjoy so you keep up the activity. You may even loose weight cycling and enhance your healthy lifestyle.
Cycling Is Social
When it comes to riding a bike, you have the choice between whether you want to go solo or make it a social activity. You can cycle with your family and friends or you could join a cycling club. Conversation along with social contact is good for mental health and cognitive thinking.
Nothing could be more social than a cycling holiday with friends. Get you bike packed into our bike box and jump on a plane, here is a handy guide on flying with your bike. If you don’t own a cycle at the moment you may be wondering how much you should spend on a bike?
Cleaning Your Bike Can Relive Stress
Yes for some people cleaning does relive stress, who likes to see a messy muddy bike. Whether you think of cleaning as a meditative task, or an energetic throw yourself into it task. Either way, any form of exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins send messages to your brain that changes your perception of pain and will trigger positive emotions in your body.
Regular exercise has been proven to reduce stress and reduce anxiety, along with preventing depression. Cleaning will also have these effects on your body and mental health as long as these chores require some physical exertion and they last for at least 30 minutes. More on cleaning and mental health.
