If something is your problem, then it’s not your solution!
Sounds obvious in theory, yet I rarely see this very basic idea used in health promotion. Still today, the majority of wellness programs – whether we’re talking about worksite wellness or wellness coaching – only address food and exercise. Since they are what most people struggle most with, why is it where we spend most of our energy? It’s really time we help wellness evolve a little.
I’m not denying that these 2 groups of habits are really important, nor suggesting that we should stop working on them altogether. But food and exercise are only a fraction of what we have to offer, and focusing solely on them is limiting – to participants’ progress and to the results we bring about. That’s why I feel that keeping the status quo is a large disservice to our clients, to our employers, and to the industry as a whole.
Those of you who know me know that I’m a proponent of adopting a strengths-based approach to wellbeing. Working on habits that most people don’t find as difficult as food and exercise, and exploring topics complementary to traditional wellness, can truly stimulate progress. I’ve written many articles on that topic, such as this one on a multi-disciplinary approach, that one on the role of purpose, this quite popular one on the health benefits of owning a dog, and this very recent one on what the arts can contribute to worksite wellness (to name just a few).
Today, I’d like us to explore yet another reason why complementary disciplines are helpful. More specifically, I want to look at the mood-exercise connection. Loyal to the SaS Health Promotion Model, I will do so by explaining some underlying biochemical activity.
Oxytocin Can Reduce Fear
Oxytocin is known as the “love hormone” because it promotes bonding as well as positive social and romantic relationships. I often equate it to a grandma, because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy.
A 2014 study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry found that oxytocin “inhibits the fear center in the brain and allows fear stimuli to subside more easily.” Says Dr. René Hurlemann, study director: “Oxytocin actually reinforces extinction: Under its influence, the expectation of recurrent fear subsequently abates to a greater extent than without this messenger.”
His study concludes that oxytocin may offer new avenues for enhancing extinction-based therapies for anxiety disorders.
Ways to boost oxytocin include cuddling, kissing, hugging or playing with a pet.
Fear Keeps Us Away From Exercise
A lot of people set aside their best exercise intentions because of recurrent fear, whether it is fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of pain, fear of injury or fear of running out of energy before the day is over. (Many will say it’s lack of time when in fact, they have plenty of time to watch TV. They just don’t want to admit their fears out loud – or even to themselves!)
New Mood-Exercise Connection
You probably see where I’m going with this by now. If oxytocin helps inhibit fear, and fear keeps us from exercise, can higher levels of oxytocin lead to more physical activity?
To Gert-Jan Pepping, researcher at the Center for Human Movement Sciences at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, and author of a new review of oxytocin and competition, the idea makes sense, especially in the context of team sports. His research shows that oxytocin can increase bonding between teammates, which in turn can boost physical performance.
That being said, I am unaware of research studying whether higher oxytocin levels can cause worksite wellness or wellness coaching participants to follow through with their exercise intentions directly. If you know of any, please share!
In the meantime, let me point out that this oxytocin-fear-suppression-exercise hypothesis isn’t the first nor the only mood-exercise connection I’ve ever discussed. It serves as a potential reinforcement to the SaS Health Promotion Model; but it isn’t the whole story.
Application for Health Promotion?
I realize that to some readers, the relationship between increased oxytocin and increased exercise may seem a little far-fetched, and I certainly don’t expect that very many will run to create formal oxytocin-boosting interventions to see what will happen to exercise habits of their participants. But isn’t the hypothesis worth experimenting with?
We will probably never see true research happen on the topic if we don’t try out the concept in the first place. I’m all for good research, but research follows good ideas. Those who wait for all the research to be out can scarcely be called innovators… Who among us will be the wellness leaders to step out of the food-exercise paradigm, and explore promising new solutions?
Sources:
Problem solving Chinese cookie picture courtesy of Tomasz Stasiuk
Castillo, S. (2015). Follow Your Dreams Without Fear: Oxytocin, Emotional Self-Regulation Turn Threat Into Opportunity. Medical Daily.
Eckstein, M., Becker, B., Scheele, D., Scholz, C. Preckel, K., Schlaepfer, T. E., Grinevich, V., Kendrick, K. M., Maier, W., & Hurlemann, R. (2014). Oxytocin facilitates the extinction of conditioned fear in humans. Biological Psychiatry. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.10.015. Abstract
Pepping, G.-J. & Timmermans, E. J. (2012). Oxytocin and the biopsychology of performance in team sports. The Scientific World Journal.
article
Reynolds, G. (2012, November 12). The ‘love’ hormone as sports enhancer. New York Times Blog, Phys Ed.
Shaar, M.-J. & Britton, K. (2011). Smarts and Stamina: The Busy Person’s Guide to Optimal Health and Performance. Philadelphia, PA: Positive Psychology Press.
Universität Bonn (2014, 13 November). Oxytocin helps to better overcome fear. Science Daily Press Release.
Zak, P. (2012). The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity. Dutton Adult.
Zhivotovskaya, E. (2012). Oxytocin: Go out and touch someone. Positive Psychology News.
