We are all affected by stress, anxiety and trauma in our lives, from major incidents to the daily stress of life.  I know from my own experience what a profound affect stress can have on the body and mind.  I can remember when my mom passed away, and how I felt i was on auto-pilot up until the funeral, but then felt so sad, drained and confused. I ached from head to toe, and had palpitations. These feelings came in waves for months afterwards too.  These are all normal reactions to difficult and upsetting situations we have to cope with in our busy lives. In my classes I really do care about the well-being of everyone, so i thought i would write a little about signs and signals to look out for when diagnosing stress and how exercise can really help the mood and well being of the body.

When you are stressed your nervous system responds by releasing hormones, this encourage the body into emergency action. Your heart may pound faster, muscles tighten and blood pressure can rise, ready for the 'fight or flight' mode. Our body and mind will be affected in all kinds of ways from this, which may include, memory loss, aches and pains, nausea and dizziness, chest pain and rapid heart beat, and general moodiness, and depression.  These feelings do vary from person to person, but are all very normal responses to difficult or upsetting times we are going through. 

I found out for myself how exercise can improve the mood and help relieve symptons of stress and sadness, it really has helped me through some difficult times. Exercise for starters increases your sense of well-being by increasing the production or endorphins, which makes us feel happy. Coming to an exercise class is also a social event, to mix other people, workout, dance and enjoy the music.  Also regular exercise can increase your self confidence, it can relax you and is known to reduce symptons associated with mild depression and anxiety.  I really do understand sometimes it is so hard to motivate ourselves to get to a class when we feel so down and sad, but exercise really can improve your mood and overall feeling.  So many clients have said again and again in our classes, that the dancing and music, in particular has lifted their spirits and encouraged them to get moving and keep moving!  I got up this Monday morning, feeling i could have stayed in bed, and so many of us feel the same way.  I do know though by my own previous experience and feedback from classes, I will feel so much better tonight after our Zumba class. The chance to let loose for an hour, forget about outside stresses and worries if only for an hour, and not forgetting the positive benefits of working out has on the body.