Mood and Movement: Why Mental Health and Physical Activity Are Deeply Connected
Why Movement Feels Hard
Everyone knows that exercise is important. It’s been firmly established that as a society we should be moving our bodies more. Most of us understand the health benefits of exercise, its importance for weight management, and so on. It’s not like we need convincing. And yet, despite feeling like we should move more, we often just can’t. Why? Because of the mind–body loop: the two-way relationship where mood affects motivation for movement, and movement affects mood.
You are not lazy and not broken: you are a human with a body and a mind, which are deeply connected, and if you struggle with either or both, I’ll show you how to break the cycle of low mood, inactivity, and negative-self-talk. Mapping out the mind-body connection when it comes to movement is crucial because without it, self-judgement starts to creep in. If you’ve ever felt guilty for your seeming inability to fix ‘the fitness problem’ in your life, or helpless and at the mercy of your ever-fluctuating moods, then this post is for you.
We’ll be focusing on movement here, which is one piece of the wellbeing puzzle. For a deeper dive into how counselling and psychotherapy can help with mood, confidence, and clarity, check out my Ultimate Guide to Therapy.
How Mood Affects Motivation to Move
What is it that stops us from moving, and what happens to us when we do? The answer to the first question is the cycle that is sometimes called the mind–body loop: when mood dips, energy and motivation drop too, and when we stop moving, mood sinks further. To illustrate how body and mind are intertwined in this process, here’s an excerpt from my imaginary diary, written in my 20s:
“It’s Sunday morning. I had brunch planned with a friend but she’s just cancelled. It’s just as well cos it’s been a crazy busy week and I’ve had zero time for chores. So it’s convenient, I guess… but it means I have a lot to do but nothing specific to get up for, and nothing much to look forward to. To my horror, I find that getting out of bed actually feels impossible. My limbs are made of lead. My brain is mush. I can’t face the thought of making breakfast, or repeatedly bending over to load the dishwasher. The five-minute walk to the corner shop is a challenge akin to climbing Mount Everest, never mind the half-hour walk to the big supermarket. I’m scrolling on my phone, hoping for a mood boost. I decide to put on a Netflix show and watch three episodes back-to-back. It is now 12pm. I feel increasingly physically uncomfortable, and guilty that I’ve wasted a whole morning that has been neither joyful nor productive.
But I feel. So. Tired. I search for an explanation. Maybe last weekend’s hike took so much out of me that I’m still recovering? What did I do yesterday? Not much movement-wise, although sitting through the big family gathering and tolerating Uncle Jack’s racist jokes certainly felt effortful. This is getting a bit silly. Am I lazy? I should pull myself together. I’ve been lying in bed all morning, like I’m sick, but I have no excuse to feel that tired. It doesn’t make sense, this isn’t how I want to live my life, and now I feel like a bad person. All I want is a distraction to stop me from feeling like this. I put on another episode.”
I used to encounter a version of this scenario fairly regularly. Notice the vicious cycle of stuckness/tiredness → confusion → self-criticism → stuckness. It wasn’t a happy place for young Anikó (although I’m conscious of the privilege of a Sunday lie-in, even though it wasn’t much fun at the time). How do we make sense of experiences like this, and what can we do about them?
The Science of the Mind-Body Loop
You see, when your mood dips, your body chemistry changes too. Stress and low mood often increase cortisol (the stress hormone) and lower levels of serotonin and dopamine (the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters). That chemical shift leaves you feeling flat, tired, and less motivated. At the same time, your nervous system is wired for protection. If your brain senses ‘threat’, whether from stress, grief, or ongoing anxiety, it prioritises shutting down energy use, keeping you in a kind of low-power mode. Movement feels harder, not because you’re weak, but because your body is literally conserving energy, and can make loading the dishwasher seem like an insurmountable task, and going out for a jog the stuff of superhero comics. In other words,
When mood dips → cortisol rises, serotonin and dopamine fall → fatigue, low motivation.
When stressed → the nervous system conserves energy, making everyday tasks feel impossible.
When we move → endorphins release, circulation improves, and the brain receives a “safety” signal.
Luckily for us, the loop goes both ways. So if we can get to a place where we’re able to do something – whether it’s a few stretches, loading the dishwasher, or a five-minute walk – we can release endorphins and tell our brain, “I’m safe, I’m moving, energy is available again.” This way, we can create a different cycle: better mood → more energy → more movement → better mood again.
Small Steps to Create a New Cycle
To make that possible, we start with a reframe. So that we can muster enough energy to take that first step that is often the hardest, we must first stop fighting against ourself. This is where self-compassion and curiousity enter the picture. See if you can observe your experience without judgement. Set aside assumptions about what you should and shouldn’t be feeling. Instead of telling yourself that you have no reason to feel tired, explore the tiredness with curiosity. What kind of tiredness is it? Where does it live? What other feelings and sensations do you notice? Acknowledge the judgement that does pop up, and try to soften it: how would you talk to a tired friend? You wouldn’t call them lazy.
If you can turn to your experience with self-compassion and curiousity, you are doing two things at the same time: practising acceptance while laying the groundwork for change. So instead of berating yourself for your lack of discipline, you can validate your experience (“It’s hard for me right now”) and do the smallest thing that feels possible, if hard, to initiate the cascade of change described above. Here’s how that might look in practice:
Practise micro-movements (stretch, short walk, 5-min yoga flow).
Pair music with movement to boost mood.
Reframe goals (“fresh air” instead of “getting steps in”; “relieve your body” instead of “getting a workout in”).
Dance to one song and see if you want to keep going.
Any and all of these things have the power to shift your experience and your perspective, so that movement will feel not only less daunting but like a joyful, cherished component of your day. Armed with this understanding, you can turn the connection between mood and movement to your advantage: use movement to lift your mood, and capitalise on good mood to inspire movement.
In short, movement and mood are not separate: they form a loop. By starting small, you can shift that loop from draining to energising. If you’d like to go deeper into the physical side of emotions — why your chest tightens with anxiety or why sadness feels heavy — read my post Emotions Live in the Body: Understanding the Science of Felt Experience. And if you struggle with that shift from self-blame to curiosity and self-compassion, consider giving therapy a try. I’ve written a comprehensive guide to how therapy works to help get you started.
Body and Mind Intertwined
Of course, there is much more to explore around the interconnection of the mental and the physical. In future posts, we’ll look at related topics such as how emotions show up in the body, why self-compassion is a powerful tool for both fitness and therapy, and how true wellbeing needs consideration of you as a whole person, mind and body.
This holistic view is the foundation of my practice. As a therapist, personal trainer and yoga teacher, I’m always thinking about the whole person, even when at first glance the task at hand pertains to one domain or the other, such as building muscle (‘physical’) or processing trauma (‘mental’). So whatever you need help with, if you decide to work with me, you can trust that I will hold the detail of your personal ambition as well as the big picture stuff in mind at all times. Feel free to get in touch to find out more.