It took Lisa many months to admit that she was depressed. From an outside perspective, she had a great life--a husband who loved her, a successful career and many friends. Lisa, too, thought she should feel happy and peaceful, but instead she felt depressed.

"I felt like an actor. Acting the way I thought I should feel--friendly, happy and successful. But when I was at home alone or with my husband, I was emotional, often crying, exhausted and ­eventually found it difficult to get out of bed and function," she says.

Her depression worsened, despite counselling, and she didn't want to take medication. "All I felt like doing was reading or watching TV," she admits.  It wasn't until Lisa started to exercise that her moods lifted. "I purchased an energizing yoga DVD online and I'm so glad I did. It was exactly what I needed. It felt so good that I start each day by doing a session." Once she noticed the relaxation, stress relief and energy she gained from moving her body, she added some mid-day exercise to her routine in the form of a walk or bike ride.

Lisa is not alone in her ­observation of the power of exercise on depression. ­Increasing research tells us that even though exercising is often the last thing a depressed person feels like doing, it should be the first thing they try. In fact, exercise has been shown in a number of studies to be as helpful in reducing depression symptoms as antidepressants and various forms of therapy.

How much is enough?
A review by Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Boston University of dozens of clinical studies showed that patients reported less anxiety, depression and stress after working out for as little as 25 minutes (Health & Medicine, Mind & Brain, 2010).  "Exercise appears to affect, like an antidepressant, particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain, and it helps patients with depression re-establish positive behaviors," study ­co-author Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety ­Research and Treatment Program at SMU, said in a press release. The researchers are calling exercise a "magic drug."

"After just 25 minutes, your mood improves, you are less stressed, you have more energy--and you'll be motivated to exercise again tomorrow. A bad mood is no longer a barrier to exercise; it is the very reason to exercise," Smits says.

A team at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, reviewed 67 ­studies related to exercise and depression. Their findings, published in the journal ­Preventive Medicine (2008), focused on the amount of exercise required to affect ­depression. Evidence showed that even low doses of physical activity may ­protect against depression.

An earlier 2000 study in Health Psychology showed that improvement in mood begins after just 10 minutes of ­exercise and continues to improve for up to 20 minutes. While antidepressant drugs generally take at least two to three weeks to begin improving mood, another ­exercise and depression study found that depressed participants walked away from many of their symptoms after just 10 days of 30-minute walking sessions. More ­lasting change in mood was evident ­after study participants exercised for two to three weeks (Preventive ­Medicine, 2000).

Recent research shows how exercise affects the brain. Major depression has been associated with brain-derived ­neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We know that antidepressant drugs increase BDNF. A study earlier this year in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology showed that a significant increase of BDNF serum levels were seen in the subjects after a single 30-minute exercise period.

No pain no gain? No way
Exercise need not be challenging or uncomfortable to gain the benefit of a better mood and decrease in depression symptoms.

"Anything that gets you off the couch and moving is exercise that can help ­improve your mood," according to the Mayo Clinic. This includes gardening, washing your car, or strolling around the block and other non-intense activities.

Cat Dillon of Caterpillar Fitness and Nutritional Wellness in Vancouver (www.caterpillarfitness.com) agrees. "Moderate exercise offers the most benefits and regularity is important," she says.

Dillon says she can see a person's whole being and overall energy change during a fitness session. She attributes this to numerous factors, including increased breathing, stress relief, a regulation of hormones and the opportunity for the person to physically express what they're feeling. Some of Dillon's clients have, with the guidance of their doctors, been able to lower their depression medication due to their new exercise habits.

Choosing exercise that is enjoyable is very important. A study of 128 people aged 60 and above with no previous yoga experience concluded that after six months of yoga exercises the depression symptoms, as well as sleep quality and health status, of all the participants was improved (International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2009).

Elena Deljanin, who runs ­Healing Through Movement in North ­Vancouver (www.healing-moves.com), has found many enjoyable ways for her clients to ­exercise. As a qualified Shiatsu practitioner, she uses a combination of techniques, including ballroom and Flamenco dancing, to relieve the symptoms of depression as well as other physical and ­emotional conditions. "The main focus of my program is to develop healthy body ­movements and posture that will support a person's emotional and physical well-being," she says.

Deljanin believes that our posture ­affects our moods because it affects the endocrine (hormonal) system. For ­example, "Flamenco combines spatial dynamics principles and therapeutic qualities, which result in participants gaining proper body posture and vitality," she says.

In the fall and winter months, indoor exercise opportunities such as dance, swimming, bowling, aerobic classes or, as Lisa discovered, yoga, are great ways to ensure some movement. "Exercise has not solved my problems or the underlying issues that perhaps caused my depression," Lisa admits, "But it lifts my moods almost instantly and has given me a more positive outlook on life. I feel healthier, stronger, more in control and motivated to live my life instead of escape from it."


Sandra Tonn is a freelance writer and yoga instructor living in Powell River, BC.

Laughter Equal to Exercise
Repetitive laughter could have the same effects on the body as exercise, according to a new study from Loma Linda University. Researchers discovered that laughing not only enhances a positive mood, but it also lowers stress hormones, increases immune activity and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure--all effects that are similar to moderate physical exercise.

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