Mental health is becoming more and more important, and rightly so! There are many different things which can have a positive effect on mental health, sport being one of them.
At Sport Structures we strongly believe that sport and physical activity can have endless positive effects on mental health such as improved mood, reducing stress, better self esteem and can also help to prevent anxiety and depression.
Exercise is a great way of improving self esteem, wethers its playing football with your mates, going for a run or a walk, exercise is great not only for your body but also your mind. Over time exercise can encourage the feeling of self worth and make your body and mind feel stronger and powerful. On top of that there is also the sense of achievement your mind gets from meeting a goal, whether thats beating your personal best or even shooting a basket. Last year some of the Sport Structures team took part in the Birmingham half marathon, while training and even more so after successfully completing the even they said they had an overwhelming feeling of achievement which led to an increase in self esteem.
As a result of having a good self esteem this also lead to having a better mood in general. At Sport Structures a large majority of our team exercise on a regular basis, whether thats through going to the gym, playing hockey or going on regular runs. One of the things we have noticed is that as a result of exercise our staff tend to be a lot happier and more energetic.
One of the biggest benefits of sport on mental health is the positive effects it can have on stress. Physical activity releases endorphins in the brain which help to relax the muscles and relieve tension in the brain which as a result leads to a decrease in stress. It is often referred to as medication in motion, you will often notice that after a game of football or a 5km run that you have forgotten about what previously you were stressed about.
Another great benefit of physical activity is that it can prevent anxiety and depression. Being depressed or anxious can often lead to a person feeling low on energy and having no willpower to do anything, this often leads to them doing none or very little physical activity. However one of the big benefits of regular exercise is that it leads to an increase in energy and therefore can help to boost a person's mood.
Of course there are many other ways mental health can be improved, many of which can be around work. At Sport Structures we are a strong believer in flexibility when it comes to working hours as well working from home, so whether it's just coming back from maternity leave, not feeling 100%, we try to be as flexible as possible. The last thing we want is for staff to get stressed out about things which might be going on around work, as a result we give all our staff flexible options when it comes to their working hours.
If you are struggling with mental health or know anyone who is please reach out and get some support. More information of mental health support can be found here.