In recent years, we have begun to better understand the connections between body and mind. Increased expert knowledge has strengthened our understanding of the vital link between physical activity and embodiment to our mental wellbeing. At the same time, the fragmentation of everyday life, information overload, hurry, and stress have increased concerns about the functioning and wellbeing of our brains.

Wellbeing from movement

Anders Hansen, chief physician at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, has been researching the brain's wellbeing for years and has also written non-fiction books on the subject. Hansen notes that numerous studies emphasize the protective benefits of exercise against mental illnesses, also extending life expectancy and boosting energy levels. In the book The Real Happy Pill, Hansen states that exercising is the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our brain.

The wellbeing of the mind and brain is also associated with memory difficulties and attention and concentration disorders, including neuropsychological symptoms of varying degrees. Physical activity can also help with these challenges. For example, according to research, exercising before a study session or workday can significantly increase the ability to concentrate as well as improve memory.

Researchers at the University of Southern Australia (UniSA) have reached the same conclusion in their recent literature review. They looked into exercise as a treatment for mental health issues and found that exercise has such a great impact on our wellbeing that it could treat anxiety and depression even better than therapy and medicine. The researchers emphasize that exercise should be part of the primary, not just complementary, forms of treatment. Also, the current national guidelines for healthcare in Finland (Käypä Hoito) list exercise as part of the prevention and treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

Exercise as medicine?

How should we then train? What kind of exercise would best support our mental wellbeing? According to the researchers at UniSA, different kinds of sports have different physiological and psychosocial effects. For example, yoga relieves anxiety and gym workout eases symptoms of depression. Since the studies have been carried out in different ways, comparing them is challenging. Thus, perhaps the most important thing is just to start moving!

Does this mean that we all now need to start working out at the gym, join a sports club or buy running shoes to keep our brain healthy? Not exactly. 

People tend to have a rather stereotypical idea of what movement and exercise means. Sometimes exercising is recommended as a treatment in a way that might even increase anxiety instead of encouraging one to start moving. Exercising is undeniably healthy, and it's for sure only positive if a new pair of sneakers or working out in a group encourages you to get moving. However, even a small amount of movement can stimulate the brain and enrich thinking.

If the threshold to begin, or the goal of the exercise, is set too high or doesn’t provide any intrinsic motivation it can be discouraging rather than encouraging and even lead to giving up on exercise. The UKK Institute's physical activity recommendation for adults also considers light movement, taking breaks, and sleeping as relevant activities. All movement is beneficial for health. Physical activity can also promote health by supporting social and mental wellbeing. Quality of life can improve, for example, through self-expression, mastering skills, and social interaction made possible by exercise. When a particular way of moving feels good to you, it is a wellness act in itself - whether it's a morning jog, a five-minute stretching session, or a relaxing trip to nature.

It is time to start thinking about physical activity in a broader sense. Exercising can mean much more than simply doing sports. Perhaps listing goals, challenges, and demands for yourself is actually not the best way to increase wellbeing. Instead, physical activity and embodiment could be part of our daily lives in many ways. Why not think about how movement could be part of, say, a typical work meeting? Of course, it should be included in ways that make no-one feel embarrassed. And how could embodiment be made a regular part of lectures and learning?

Embodied learning as part of the university life

Embodied learning is an interesting theoretical point of view, but its potential is still unrecognized and underutilized in higher education. Embodied learning can be broadly defined as learning in which learners are holistically engaged and intertwined with their material and social environment. Physical movement is an essential part of this learning approach. 

In practice, this could mean both orchestrated and naturally occurring embodied learning in teaching situations. Movement can be encouraged through the use of various technological tools, arts-based activities, drama, images, or music. In primary schools today, the spectrum of learning methods is already quite broad, but in universities and among adult learners embodied learning could be used much more.

Aalto University has joined the Students on the Move program and the Mobile University Member projects. The goal of these is to increase resilience and to improve study capacity, as well as to create stronger inclusion and a closer sense of community at the university. This would also support better learning results. New services have been developed, including local joint exercise breaks, the Break Pro break exercise application, live stream sessions, as well as break exercise videos. 

The Aalto community offers a wide array of services on campus that encourage physical activity. The newest of these is the Wellbeing Route. This path invites people to let go for a moment and focus on the walk and the themes that emerge on it: observing emotions, fostering the relationship with nature, physicality, calmness, and moderation.

The plasticity of the brain

Along with the traditional (certainly important) services emphasizing physical activity, a more innovative approach is needed to bring embodiment to lectures and meetings. Learning situations are often conventional and static: people tend to sit during lectures. How could we change this?

Technology could help to increase the amount of movement. Bringing versatile embodiment practices into educational settings could support wellbeing in many ways. In addition to supporting learning and deepening knowledge, embodiment can link together emotions, the physical body, experiences, and creativity.

Fascinating things happen in our brains when we move. According to Anders Hansen, the brain material softens and brings plasticity to the brain. In addition, new brain cells are born. Brain scientist Minna Huotilainen sometimes holds brain lectures in spinning halls. This makes one wonder why we still keep on sitting tight in lecture halls and meeting rooms all around the world – while we are supposed to learn and create new things.

References

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^{Anttila, E. 2018. The potential of dance as embodied learning. In Proceedings of a body of knowledge – _embodied cognition and the arts conference, USA (Vols. 1–8).} 

^{Christiansen, L., Beck, M. M., Bilenberg, N., Wienecke, J., Astrup, A., & Lundbye-Jensen, J. 2019. Effects of exercise on cognitive performance in children and adolescents with ADHD: potential mechanisms and evidence-based recommendations. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(6), 841.}

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^{Hansen, A. 2017. The real happy pill - Power up your brain by moving your body. Skyhorse publishing.}

^{Jusslin, S., Korpinen, K., Lilja, N., Martin, R., Lehtinen-Schnabel, J., & Anttila, E. 2022. Embodied learning and teaching approaches in language education: A mixed studies review. Educational Research Review, 100480.}

^{Liikkumalla terveyttä – askel kerrallaan. 2019. Viikoittainen liikkumisen suositus 18–64-vuotiaille. Helsinki: UKK-instituutti, 2019. Accessed: 25.10.2024.} 

^{Loland, S. (2017). The exercise pill: should we replace exercise with pharmaceutical means? Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 11(1), 63–74.}

^{Schuch, F. B., Vancampfort, D., Firth, J., Rosenbaum, S., Ward, P. B., Silva, E. S., Hallgren, M., Ponce De Leon, A., Dunn, A. L. & Deslandes, A. C. 2018. Physical activity and incident depression: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. American Journal of Psychiatry 175 (7), 631–648.}

^{Singh, B., Olds, T., Curtis, R., Dumuid, D., Virgara, R., Watson, A., ... & Maher, C. 2023. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine.}