When life’s irritations and frustrations build up, one can feel stressed or even experience some amount of anger. These can manifest immediately through one’s mood. The quality of mood is the ‘prevailing emotional tone or general attitude’ that can almost always dictate one’s day, and how he or she will relate to the activities of the day.
One always has the choice to change bad mood into a positive one. There are various ways to alter bad mood. One of these is through physical activity. Exercising to beat the blues has been quite effective for many people.
According to Elizabeth Scott, M.S., in her article ‘Exercise and Stress Relief: Using Exercise as a Stress Management Tool,’ exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever for several reasons: it is an outlet for frustrations, a means to decrease ‘stress hormones’ like cortisol, a way to increase endorphins (your body’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals that give your mood a natural boost), and a tactic of distraction.
More high-energy forms of exercise like boxing, martial arts or weight training can also provide an effective release of these negative emotions, turning these otherwise potentially unhealthy emotions into motivation for increased health and well-being. You will notice that a person who sulks is, more often than not, one who is physically stagnant.
