The link is clear. It’s also been demonstrated time and time again. Being physically active puts you into a better mood. Just why this happens is a little more complicated to explain, but read on and you’ll see how your brain reacts positively to exercise to manufacture "happy" natural chemicals that make you feel better.

There are four major brain chemicals that concern us here. With one of the major problems of contemporary life, whether personal or professional, being stress, our first chemical on the list is Norepinephrine, also known as the stress hormone. Its action in the brain is generally on those parts concerned with attention and responding. In particular, it is Norepinephrine which is a key element of the fight or flight response, a response that most living creatures have when face with a threatening situation. When Norepinephrine is lacking, the result is an inability to concentrate, restlessness or irritability.

Natural highs

The next one on the list is Serotonin, a neurotransmitter also connected with mood, and further to this, with aggression and anger, as well as sleep, appetite and sexuality. A lack of serotonin can make a person aggressive or depressive, or both at the same time. It’s presence affects your thought processes, as well as your emotions and your behavior. This is very important when you are trying to get on a self-improvement regiment.

Enough of these gloomy problems, let’s talk about Dopamine, which is intimately linked, with your perception of pleasure and of having fun. Dopamine as both a neurotransmitter and a hormone acts to increase motivation, proactivity and enjoyment, so any shortage of Dopamine gets translated into general unhappiness, or a snag in your personal development plan.

And just in case you have noticed yourself suffering from depressive symptoms during those long winter evenings, you might be able to point the finger at a lack of Melatonin. This is what helps you sleep better and feel better when there is more light around. If you don’t have enough, the "seasonal affective disorder" or SAD will be your lot, together with headaches.

Fast, easy and natural

As these four substances all seem to be a good idea, how do you get more of them? Forget about pills, powders or serums. Go and work out. This is your depression self help plan. Exercise taken regularly will do far more for you and leave you far healthier. Make sure you consult your physician before launching into anything too energetic, although there are many non-strenuous activities that can safeguard your health while boosting your fitness at the same time. Exercise will be particularly good for increasing the levels of serotonin and dopamine, helping you sleep better and making you more motivated to go and do more exercise.

The more you exercise, the more of these healthy brain chemicals will be produced and you’ll quickly make the association between keeping fit and feeling good. This is a very healthy link to make, because you’ll then want to exercise for the benefits that you implicitly know that you will get. For some people, a beneficial reflex sets in where upon feeling out of sorts, unduly tired or unable to focus, they automatically turn to their favorite sport in order to shake it off and get back to their usual level of high performance.