There’s no question that exercise improves your physical health. And science shows that thanks to a release of feel-good endorphins, a good workout also bolsters your mental health, combating anxiety and depression.
But you don’t even have to get your heart thumping or work up a sweat to benefit from physical activity. By leading with your body, not your brain, you can forge a path to greater emotional well-being and authentic expression.
All it takes is a few simple changes to your daily routine to move in the direction of blissful creativity.
Jump for Joy
Health psychologist and author of The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal, has made a career out of studying the science of emotion. She also teaches fitness classes and noticed an interesting connection between her two disciplines: it’s not just the intensity or duration of movement that triggers blissful sensations — it’s the type of movement, too.
Researchers have identified several movements that are recognizable in many cultures as inspired by joy: reaching your arms up; swaying from side to side, like concertgoers losing themselves in the music; other rhythmic movements, such as bouncing to a beat; or taking up more space, like dancers, spinning, arms outstretched.
As McGonigal noted, these movements aren’t just expressions of joy — they can also create it. Try it out with her eight-and-a-half-minute Joy Workout. Bonus bliss points if you make these moves outside, with friends, or to music.
Creative Juice
Research also shows a link between exercise and creativity, with the theory being that the positive boost from endorphins provides the fuel necessary to get into a flow state. But not all of the benefits of physical movement happen in your brain — creativity is a whole-body experience.
In order to free our audacious creator, creativity must be taken out of its mental context. We have to stop thinking outside the box and start accessing the intelligence of our bodies.
While there are countless examples of creatives who famously moved their bodies to find clarity and inspiration — for example, Henry David Thoreau and Georgia O’Keefe walked, Ernest Hemingway boxed, and Haruki Murakami runs — you don’t have to be an artist to harness the power of movement.
Science shows that getting physical by playing, dancing, and making art can get you out of your head and into a creative state:
It gives us permission to use our senses in novel ways and even increases their receptivity. Through this multisensory rewiring, we find ways to arrive at our deep knowing, or our creative genius, without the usual “hard work.”
A sedentary lifestyle does more than just sink your health. It also drags down your creative spirit — all the more reason to make daily movement a non-negotiable habit by joining us for the 2023 MOVE Fitness Challenge in Well + Wealthy!
The Joy Workout (New York Times)
If you want to be more creative, train your body not your mind (Fast Company)
