Previous | Next DOES THE BODY AFFECT THE MIND? There is little doubt any longer that the body has a great influence on the mind, and that participation in sports can affect mood if not behavior. Berger and Owen (1988) investigated the effects of swimming, body conditioning (weight lifting and running), hatha yoga (an eastern, non-martial art) and fencing (a non-eastern combat art) on stress reduction. The components of exercise which were thought to best facilitate psychological benefits, especially stress reduction, included: 1. an aerobic component, 2. a non-competitive aspect, (competition was assumed to be inherently stressful) 3. predictable elements, (so that the exerciser can tune out the environment), and 4. a rhythmical nature (again to encourage the mind to wander). The last two aspects were thought to provide a time out, which would, in itself, reduce stress. For instance, just sitting in a chair and relaxing reduces stress. Anxiety and depression both decline when the subject is engaged in hobbies and in exercise. In contrast, anger and fatigue are decreased only with exercise. Other factors involved in physical activities which reduce stress include: 1. frequency, (benefits from exercise are usually short term so one must exercise regularly) 2. intensity (moderate, not mild or intense) and 3. duration (at least 20 to 30 minutes, with 60 being better). The activity should also be pleasing and enjoyable since one is not likely to exercise if it is distasteful, and doing something one doesnt like is not usually relaxing. In the study, no long term effects (from the beginning to the end of a 14 week semester) were noted but low intensity exercise was found to improve mood during the class, as did high intensity exercise. Swimming has been associated with short term increases in vigor, and decreases in confusion, stress and anger. Contrary to expectations, swimming showed little effect on the subjects in this study, but the authors note that the swimmers were in a good mood before their exercise period began, thus masking any mood improvements. Body conditioning exercise served to increase feelings of fatigue, with no other mood effects. The authors speculate that this may have been due to the stress being intense and not moderate, and the running being interval training, a series of short, fast runs at 90% of maximal heart rate, rather than a long slow run (LSR) type. In other tests weight lifting was shown to enhance self concept and lower stress. Running (LSR) has been well documented as a method of stress relief. Information on the effects of breath control, and relaxation, especially as practiced in hatha yoga, is sparce. There are indications that the right and left nasal air passages are linked with right and left hemisphere activity. Breathing is also used in chronic pain control methods. The study showed that yoga was from the first class, a good method of reducing stress, so it would seem that there is no need for long practice of the skills before seeing the benefits. Yoga teaches breathing awareness, self regulation, conscious relaxation of muscles, and an internal awareness, skills common to many stress reduction programs. Abdominal breathing has been associated with regulation of the autonomic nervous system while shallow thoracic breathing is associated with stress. The researchers assumed that fencing would have no effects at all since it satisfied none of the main criteria for stress reduction. In fact few effects were seen but students did show more vigor after their classes. The authors concluded that exercise which encourages abdominal breathing, is noncompetitive, predictable, and rhythmical is stress reducing.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 10:30:41 +0000
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