{"id":247429,"date":"2025-10-29T08:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T08:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/247429\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T08:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T08:03:08","slug":"stop-focusing-on-working-out-a-professor-says-you-should-follow-these-five-science-backed-steps-to-improve-your-wellness-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/247429\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cStop focusing on working out\u201d\u2014a professor says you should follow these five science-backed steps to improve your wellness instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people say they exercise, in part, because of the positive effect it has on their mental health, but a new book by Dr Susan Henney and Dr Justin Hackett, Mind-Body Wellness: A Science-Based Approach<\/a>, details the science that has uncovered the interdependent relationship between mind and body, and its effect on wellness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we exercise the mind, we are often relaxing the body,\u201d Henney tells Fit&Well. \u201cThis is an important piece of the wellness puzzle, as the body neither can nor should be \u2018on\u2019 all the time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen we exercise the body, we are often quieting the mind, which also has benefits in stress reduction and mental clarity. However, when we are successfully engaging in those activities that we most enjoy or through which we thrive, we most often expend both mental and physical energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Henney and Hackett shared with me their five-step science-backed guide to exercise the mind and body to improve overall wellness. Read on to find out how.<\/p>\n

Step one: Make movement fun<\/p>\n

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\"Senior\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images \/ SolStock)<\/p>\n

\u201cStop focusing on working out,\u201d says Hackett. \u201cInstead, just move with purpose and joy every single day\u2014walk, skip, play, dance, bowl, do yoga, desk-ercise at work. A sedentary lifestyle will increase your risk of chronic health problems, age your brain and body, and make you vulnerable to depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cMovement, not exercise, is the daily answer to avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. This can be as simple as walking up the steps at work rather than taking the elevator. Anything that provides us a chance to get our heart rate up is great.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019ve heard a lot about getting to 10,000 steps a day\u2014which can certainly be a great goal for some people\u2014recent work suggests 7,000 steps a day can significantly improve our health. Many people may find that working towards this many steps is less daunting and a more realistic goal than 10,000. On average, this is about 4.5-5.3 kilometers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Hackett says regular physical activity can improve heart health, reduce or slow cognitive decline and avoid metabolic syndrome\u2014a range of conditions that, combined, increase the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other chronic health issues.<\/p>\n

And walking can be particularly beneficial he says, adding: \u201cA study<\/a> of close to 85,000 people found that walking, particularly brisk walking, reduces all-cause mortality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step two: Be socially active<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining close personal relationships with our family and friends is an often overlooked aspect of our health,\u201d says Hackett. \u201cBut an influential study<\/a> by Julianne Holt-Lunstad found social connections were as important for our health as quitting smoking, and more critical than our weight and not exercising enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining these connections gives us the opportunity to check in on others, share our experiences and offer mutual support. But this does not mean you have to be with people only in person\u2014there are lots of ways to connect.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnological advances allow us to maintain consistent connections with close others. We can engage with others on social media\u2014although at times this can certainly impact us negatively\u2014or send our significant other a quick text to let them know we are thinking about them!<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining and being active in community groups can be another important way to be engaged socially. These groups allow us to pursue activities important to us and connect us with like-minded others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step three: Use mindfulness as a stress buster<\/p>\n

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Dr Justin Hackett says a few mindful breaths can help invoke our body\u2019s natural relaxation process.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images \/ andreswd)<\/p>\n

\u201cBalancing the demands of family, work and school can make it hard to escape stress, but science shows a mindful approach is quite effective at managing it,\u201d says Hackett.<\/p>\n

\u201cMindfulness does not need to be complicated. Taking a break from work and stretching at our desk, or if possible, taking a quick walk outside can make us feel better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, simply taking a few mindful breaths\u2014inhaling slowly through our nose and gently exhaling through our mouth\u2014can help invoke our body\u2019s natural relaxation process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step four: Be kind to yourself and others<\/p>\n

Hackett recommends trying a loving-kindness meditation. Spending just a few minutes a day repeating phrases such as \u201cmay I be happy\u201d has been shown to increase positive emotions and help manage depressive feelings, according to a study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPracticing kindness can make us feel better,\u201d says Hackett. \u201cSending a colleague a thank you note, or even simply holding a door for someone can have a positive impact. You never know what other people are dealing with or working through. A simple act like holding a door for someone and smiling at them can mean more to them than we realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother way to promote wellbeing is to focus on the good things in our lives. It\u2019s easy to allow negative events in our lives to consume us and bring us down. But appreciating positive moments in our lives makes us feel good and helps alleviate stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step five: Prioritize quality sleep<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people get busier, overcommitted, more sedentary or even depressed, one of the first things that suffers is sleep quality and\/or quantity,\u201d says Henney.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even moderate improvements in sleep can lead to better mental health and emotional stability<\/a> and improved memory<\/a>, while consistently bad sleep is associated with brain fog and cognitive decline<\/a>, particularly as we age, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many people say they exercise, in part, because of the positive effect it has on their mental health,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-247429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}