The war in Ukraine has changed the lives of millions of people and it is understandable why. Citizens of more peaceful areas have feelings that they don’t deserve to have a normal life and refuse to live like ordinary people. Most of us are still stressed and don’t know how to move on. And, of course, we are ignoring sports and other physical activities. However, it is extremely important for our physical and mental health.
Scientists found that regular participation in aerobic exercise has been shown to decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep, and improve self-esteem. Even five minutes of aerobic exercise can stimulate anti-anxiety effects [1]. It doesn’t matter what kind of sports or physical activities you decide to do. It can be yoga, stretching, bicycling, aerobics, swimming, workout, dance, etc. Moreover, some of them help you to get more energy and increase your productivity.
When you focus on doing exercises your brain doesn’t think about problems or other things that are bothering you. You are fully concentrated on your body, breathing, and sometimes little pain. And as a result, if you do exercises regularly, you will receive strong stamina, a beautiful body, and a healthy mentality.
Dancing is one of the most popular physical activities. Lots of people have decided to visit dance classes since 24 February. They find this activity distracting from real life. When you dance you think only about moves, rhythm, and music (photo 1). In addition, dance helps you to show all of your emotions through the performance and at the same time to get rid of negative ones. So this is a great way to reduce the amount of stress and forget about some bad stuff from reality.
Photo 1
We have a lot of examples of gyms and dance clubs that work during the war in Ukraine. They host many people who have the desire to relax and reduce their stress. One of the examples is “Urban Play” – photo 2 [3].
Also, there is one more thing that is extremely important. Doing exercises with friends, teammates, or people who are with you during the dance classes. They may support you and be your motivation. Spending time together and doing sports is much funnier than alone, so it brings more positive emotions.
Photo 2
Scientists found that participation in team sports, such as basketball or football, compared to those who played no sport, was linked to less anxiety, depression, withdrawal, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, and rule-breaking behavior [2].
To conclude, sport is an important benefit for our physical and mental health. It has lots of useful features which people can not have without exercising. Selecting physical activities that are an appropriate for a person’s fitness level increases the desire to do it and decreases the willingness to quit it. Mental health absolutely depends on physical feelings, so we have to maintain appropriate state of our body and mood. And last, but not least – Ukrainians have to take care of their mind to be strong enough to resist the enemy’s actions.
References
1. Physical activity reduces stress. URL: https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/stress/physical-activity-reduces-st
2. Team Sport Participation Beneficial for Youth Mental Health by Annie Lennie. URL: https://www.labroots.com/trending/neuroscience/22911/team-sport-participation-beneficial-youth-mental-health/amp
3. Urban Play Dance School. Official Instagram. URL: https://instagram.com/berdychev_dance_urban?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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