How Important Is It for Your Mental Well-being to Practice a Sport?
You’ve probably always had that one person in your life that keeps pushing you towards practicing sports, praising how well it would make you feel, both inside and outside. The media is also filled with advice such as this one – to the point where you just want to close the tab or shut down the TV. So you may feel like this is an empty cliche that die-hard athletes have come up with and that doesn’t really apply to regular people.
Well, this is one cliche that you shouldn’t ignore. It’s true, practicing some type of sport does not only help you maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it also help you consolidate positive emotions and cultivate mindful thinking. Let’s break it down and see how you can benefit if you start to regularly practice a sport:
1. Your Mood Improves Considerably
What comes as a surprise to sedentary people when they take up a sport is the immediate mood shift they notice. Sport is magical this way. In fact, any type of physical activity is – the brain starts releasing endorphins which in turn helps you feel more relaxed and happier. Your heart starts beating faster, the circulation improves and before you know it that two-hour basketball or jogging session relieves your mind of any residual anxiety and stress. On top of that, most types of physical activities are really fun, to begin with – you’ll be kept away from depression and you’ll want to pursue positive living.
2. Your Sleep Quality Will Go Up
Has it ever happened to you to fall asleep easier after a rewarding workout or a sports game? As long as you don’t engage in physical activities too close to your bedtime, being so tired will only make you enjoy better, deeper sleep until the morning comes. This, in turn, will help your mind function better, will boost your creativity and will generally help you become more mindful and grateful in your day-to-day life.
3. You’ll Benefit From Extra Socialization
By taking up a team sport, you’ll not only get to have fun but also socialize more. You’ll need to come up with strategies together with your teammates, you’ll become more responsible by owning up to your mistakes and will learn to be more forgiving when the others have dropped the ball. Quite literally. A sports team is like a microcosmos that functions by following its own rules have a hierarchy and specific reward systems. Consider taking up soccer, volleyball, basketball or any other team sport and you’ll soon reconfigure your brain to become more confident, altruistic and positive.
4. You’ll Become a More Confident Person
Competition is always built on goals and it’s at the core of any sport you can think of. Although it doesn’t require you to shed tears and blood, a sport will encourage you to set goals and motivate you to reach them. By setting these goals and pushing your limits, you become more powerful and confident in your own abilities. The best part about it is that confidence won’t remain on the court waiting for you to come back for another session, but it will follow you in every other aspect of your life as well. It will help you make better choices, reach the financial prosperity you’ve dreamed of and heave healthier relationships.
5. Your Concentration Will Improve
Most sports require you to make split-time decisions, not leaving you any time to ponder and take all factors into consideration. You need to jump quickly to catch that ball, you need to run as fast as you can to win the much-needed point and you need to decide where you’d like your shot to go in the opponent’s field. Your mind will gradually adapt to this fast-paced thinking rhythm and it will automatically become more focused. Ultimately the brain is a muscle and the more you work it, the more you can benefit from its strength throughout all areas of your life. Don’t forget – it’s been proven that sports can prevent the onset of cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s or ADHD.
As you can see, there are a myriad of reasons why you should take up a sport if you care about your well-being. Pick one that suits you most in terms of technical experience, effort level and socializing needs and dive right into it. Be confident that things will start changing for the better, there’s no other way but up. You just need to have a bit of dedication and push through the initial discomfort.
About the Author
‘Claudia Spataru is a free spirit located in Bucharest, Romania and always in search of answers to life’s greatest questions. She loves to understand how people work, what makes them tick and find ways to help them reach higher grounds. She adores the sea, traveling and laughing.’
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