Tools to support mental health when you can't exercise

Most people know the importance of exercise for their mental health. And as a Mental Health and Exercise Coach unsurprisingly, I am incredibly passionate about the benefits of exercise.

Alternatives to exercise for mental health

But what about when we cant exercise?

When we’re injured or ill. Or when the dark clouds descend and take away all motivation.

Suddenly the thing we most rely on to feel better is taken away just when we need it most.

This is something I see all the time in my coaching so I wanted to share some tools that have helped my clients and me.

The more we can build these into our everyday life, the better we can feel each day, and the easier we’ll find to apply them if things get bad. (If you feel overwhelmed by the list, make sure you read the note on creating change below!). 

A walk out in nature can help mental health

• Morning light – get outdoors for at least a few minutes as soon as you can in the morning, ideally for a bit longer if it’s cloudy. Natural light helps set your body clock and supports better sleep and mood.

  
  

• Time in nature – you don’t have to be hiking across the moors, notice what’s around you – trees, birdsong, blossom, even the weeds.

  
  

• Time with others – try building connection with people around you. Even if you don’t want to talk to others, try connecting through empathy.

  
  

• Movement – if you cant run, could you walk? Do some yoga? Dont compare it to your training session - instead just see it as a walk in its own right.

  
  

• Stress reduction – easy to say, much harder to do, but so important and effective. Try reducing perfectionism, keeping to boundaries, breathing practices, movement, mindfulness or meditation.

  
  

• Diet – a variety of wholefoods and healthy fats is proven to support our mental health. 

  
  

• Sleep is a key cornerstone of good mental health but can be really challenging to protect. Some things that can help: constant wake time, early morning daylight, eating and finishing work at least a few hours before bed, no mobile phones in bed, reducing stress through the day, reducing artificial light at night, a cool bedroom.

  
  

• Practicing gratitude - our minds are programmed to see the negatives because they’re always looking out for risk. And our subconscious saves energy by repeating previous thoughts. So it’s common to spend a lot of time thinking about negative things. But when we start deliberately finding things to be grateful for we can start to change this pattern and slowly rewire our thoughts to be more positive.

  
  

• Values – do you know what’s important to you? And are you living a life aligned to those values?

  
  

• Building our life beyond exercise - when training is everything it makes us really vulnerable if it’s taken away. Not only do we lose our mental health support, but often part of our identity and friendship group so try and build up your life beyond exercise. 

  
  

If things do get bad, please remember organisations like Mind and The Samaritans who can help.

How to create change and new habits

There’s a risk that when we see a list of tools like this we see it as an impossible list to complete and we give up. 

✅ Instead see it as a list of options or steps.

✅ Just choose one to work on at a time.

✅ Try and add it to an existing habit.

✅ Aim for little steps rather than great bounds. 

✅ And focus on the ones that you can do rather than worrying about what you can't. 

I hope you find a tool that helps you.

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Want some support to help make these changes ?

I'm a qualified Mental Health and Exercise Coach and Life Coach, as well as a triathlon coach. If you want a chat about how coaching could help you introduce some of these changes, book in a call here.