Have you ever tried a fitness class like Zumba, Yoga or something like it? I mean before the Covid-19 pandemic. There are so many different group fitness offerings to fit your personality and style. Some of my personal favorites included a variety of cardio activities and some muscle fitness. As a former PE teacher and group fitness instructor, you’ll read about some of my professional experiences in this blog as well as what science says about group fitness. If you stay to the end, I’ll share about a curriculum I designed.
#1 Essential: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Know what does it looks like to have depressed states or deep sadness and participate in a group fitness program.
According to Dr. Chekroud who works at The Lancet Psychiatry Journal, said the following: “Our finding that team sports are associated with the lowest mental health burden may indicate that social activities promote resilience and reduce depression by reducing social withdrawal and isolation, giving social sports an edge over other kinds.”
I love to workout, and overall it’s something that brings me joy, but especially when I’m with someone else. The reason being is because I’m not alone, and I have an easier time staying present when I’m with someone else, compared to when I’m alone.
The benefits of trying a workout with other people, whether it’s a group fitness class, a group of friends, or a team sport are too important not to at least try. Within the study mentioned above, the participants felt less mental health burdens, and an overall better outcome when compared to those exercising alone.
Have you ever tried group exercises? If you have, tweet us @MoveHappyTeam what you did to give some inspiration to others! We’ll retweet your words and give you writer’s credit.
#2 Essential: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 The main symptoms of deep sadness or a depressed state, are the low energy levels, the change in appetite, deep sadness, sleeping too much or too little, trouble getting motivated, and not enjoying the hobbies or activities that they once did.
One of the ways that exercise helps depression is that it gets your blood pumping while producing serotonin which is known to be correlated with happiness. Then when you add the benefits of a group and community for exercises, it can help to make you feel wanted, and important which can be difficult to remember when you’re feeling depressed.
This week, what is one exercise activity that you can do in a group? Maybe it’s going for a walk with your friends, or joining the exercise class at your gym that you’ve been wanting to. Whatever the activity is, I want to challenge you and myself to choose one of these activities and try it consistently for a month to see if it’s made a difference in your life.
Share what you’re doing to our instagram stories @TheRealMoveHappy and we’ll share to our community and give you a shoutout!
#3 Essential: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 In an article by Science Daily, they shared a quote from the The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, and it said the following: “Researchers found working out in a group lowers stress by 26 percent and significantly improves quality of life, while those who exercise individually put in more effort but experienced no significant changes in their stress level and a limited improvement to quality of life.”
When you workout with other people, it provides a sense of community, that often people with depression don’t feel like they have. I know that from experience, when you don’t feel like you have that group of friends or community, then it can be difficult, so this is a great way to get it!
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think working out in groups can provide a positive impact in the world of depression? Tweet us your thoughts to @MoveHappyTeam and we’ll Retweet and give you a shoutout!
#4 Essential: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Group exercising options come in all different forms depending on your preference. Whether you want to go on a walk with friends, do a gym class, a sports team, or even take a zumba or pilates class, you have the option to choose what works best for you and your body.
Emma, my head of creative shared with me, “I remember being on the basketball team growing up, it was one of the best times in my life. We had practice 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. Yes, it was hard work, but each year, the team became a family, and it was a community so many of us needed.”
Since we’re not able to go out in groups because of the coronavirus, tag some people from your group workouts to a tweet and tag us too @MoveHappyTeam!
Move Happy Updates:
The Move Happy Movement Podcast© is in full swing! Together we are bringing awareness to mental health, providing practical strategies to empower those with depressed states to move towards their own happiness and inspiring the joy of movement! Next Monday I’ll be releasing episode 57 with Dr. Ken Kaufman (if Zoom reaches back out with my deleted file 😩). He and I connected on LinkedIn. He is the Founder of Sports Med On Demand, the Team Doctor for the Baltimore Orioles, and Co-Founder and COO of Well Connected. The episode will be released Monday by 6p EST. We had a Zoom glitch and the file got deleted by accident. We’re waiting to hear back from Zoom on file retrieval (going on 3 weeks now 🥴, they must be busy!). I was 331 in line for tech support so hoping they return the email request soon! Make sure to give Dr. Kaufman a follow on LinkedIn (link above) and let him know you want to hear his story.
Follow the Move Happy Movement Podcast©️ wherever you listen (iTunes and Spotify) and Tweet us @MoveHappyTeam if you’d like it on a different platform. The last few weeks my computer has not been converting files which Spotify requires (#TechSupportNeeded). With that in mind, listen to current episodes on iTunes or straight from the distribution website here.
Once we have 10,000 listeners we’ll be offering a sweet giveaway! A private concert by me and my cool singer 🎶 friends! (Check my TikTok @TheRealMoveHappy for examples of my genre preference). You must be one of the monthly listeners to qualify and be active in commenting/liking/sharing/tweeting Move Happy®️ content on any and all social media platforms (and leaving iTunes reviews 😉😉😉). The more platforms you follow Move Happy®️, the easier it will be for us to remember your name when deciding on random giveaways 🙌. We’ll keep things updated from the distribution website below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
More Updates:
The World Health Organization estimates that $1 trillion dollars is lost annually due to lack of productivity from employees specifically diagnosed with depression and anxiety and not receiving adequate resources from their workplace. I designed a solution to help decrease this statistic. “Work Happy: The Practical Tools For Effective and Inclusive Workplaces©” is in beta.
Employees will benefit from this because the workshop is designed with you as the main focus in a positive manner. Employers will benefit from this because people that are cared for work harder and take less sick days, thus increasing your bottom line 💰. The workshop includes a follow up refresher (2 days total). Next 2 businesses/EAPs to sign up get prioritized scheduling. Email me “Work Happy Workshop Interest” here to set up your Work Happy Analysis©️.
If you need services from Move Happy®️that can be provided by my team, that will be first priority. If you absolutely need to chat with me personally, I only have time for 1 for VIP client. Specifically, you look like a mental health practitioner/employer wanting specialized training in resilience/positive psychology. If that be the case for you, pay my $7,500/mo retainer rate here and email me your time zone and 3 days/times that work best with your schedule: subject line “MOVE HAPPY VIP CLIENT SCHEDULE REQUEST” to prioritize your email to the top.
#5 Essential: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Have you been wanting to workout but don’t know where to start? Were you going to the gym, but can’t because of the coronavirus? Well, guess what!? You’re in luck, because I have something that’s perfect for you! Based on this week’s theme of working out, I wanted to talk about my Move Happy Facilitator Program. It provides you 14 weeks of pre-planned workouts, 1 week of ice breaker activities, and 1 week of a higher intensity of workouts.
This is a great option, for everyone and something that you can do with your family and friends once the coronavirus restrictions have been lifted. If you’re interested about the facilitator program that not only provides wellness but also mental health support through daily journal topics, make sure to check out my website to learn more!
40% of proceeds will go back to mental health organizations of YOUR choice and your local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters (Email me your receipt and charity requests to: erin@themovehappy. com)
So there you have it folks. Group fitness can be a game changer when it comes to wellbeing. You can participate online while this corona virus is going on. Once its safe to join in a group fitness class again, we highly suggest you pick something new you haven’t tried before and bring a friend. Make sure to tag us in it on LinkedIn @Move-Happy or TikTok @TheRealMoveHappy. The more stress and anxiety you feel, the more you should participate in fitness. We’d love to hear your ideas and more. Feel free to reach out if you have any fitness ideas we haven’t included.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today
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