"Go away!" was the response my sister gave when asked to state a phrase to describe how she feels in the morning. Most people can relate and understand this concept, and we have a name for people who feel the same way: a non-morning person. I actually can't quite relate to this since I'm what most would call a morning person. While I'm still tired I also tend to be in a better mood in the morning than most. But from what I've heard some people don't end up fully being in their usual mood for 2, 3, 4 hours after they've woken up. Or some people are just grouchy all day and when you ask them what's up they respond with, "I didn't get any sleep last night". While this could of been true that they didn't get enough sleep, it could also be something else. And I would know since these last couple months I thought that I was super tired and not in my very best mood because of lack of sleep. But when I really thought about it I was getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night. So what was the problem? Well I've finally figured it out!!! But before I share the solution I came to I must give you a little background about myself. To start I have to tell you I'm a very athletic person, I do sports all year around with running in the summer, spring, and fall. And in the winter I Nordic and Downhill ski. Really as long as it's outside and I'm sweating then it's my kind of thing. But this past August I've had a knee injury as well as a surgery, so I had to take off all of fall and now most of winter. So for a long time I wasn't able to walk let alone do anything active. While I have to say I've been fairly positive, but it's still pretty hard. And since I've started Physical Therapy I find myself becoming in better and better moods. Today after a hard workout I came out feeling great. Now if you haven't caught on to what I figured out it's that when I was living a sedentary lifestyle I wasn't as complacent as I am now that I've began to exercise again. On a more scientific level, when we exercise our body release lots of neurotransmitters including endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, and GABA. And all of these things make us feel good and improve our overall mood. Not just that but when you exercise your heart beats faster increasing your blood flow. Which in turn can make you feel more focused by promoting the growth of new brain cells, especially in the hippocampus or the part of your brain that is mainly associated with memory. So the next time you think feel enervated when you feel there's no reason for it try going for a run, to the gym, or just on a bike ride. And you may start to feel those crazy awesome neurotransmitters being disseminated throughout your hippocampus! (Sorry I geeked out there a little bit).
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AuthorChloe Miller is an athletic girl who loves running and Nordic skiing. She also enjoys playing Uno and hanging out with her family. Archives
December 2016
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