Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Quotes

“A core feature of this chapter is the notion that thoughts don’t need to be true to have powerful effects on mood and motivation. Because of this, it is important to treat thoughts as guesses about the world, rather than facts.”
― Michael W. Otto, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being

“The process of mindfully shifting your attention among inputs may offer you mood benefits, in addition to the mood lift that exercise itself will bring you. Shifting attention in this way may well strengthen the part of your brain that acts to dampen down the ruminations that occur during depression. Shifting attention also makes you able to enjoy richer experiences. You can't lose—whether it is a useful brain exercise for fighting the ruminations of depression or simply a way to drink in joy while exerting yourself, guiding your attention mindfully has its benefits.”
― Michael W. Otto, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being

“Putting off a health behavior like exercise is also made easier by fantasies about the benefits. This is known as a fantasy effect. That is, fantasizing about the benefits of exercise (you know, things like, “I really will get in good shape. It will be easier to do things, I will look better in my clothes, I won’t have the health problems my brother-in-law has, and my abs will look like Brad Pitt’s in Troy”) can reduce the motivation for exercise. It is as if the fantasy is satisfying enough in its own right, so our inclination to actually do the work is reduced. In contrast, accurate planning about the steps needed to reach good health is linked to following through with activities.”
― Michael W. Otto, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being

“You have to have the vision of what it is you are going to achieve by the hard work, but more importantly, you have to find a way to make the hard work fun … every workout is a small competition within yourself. John “Big Jake” Carenza, 1972 Olympics – Soccer”
― Michael W. Otto, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being