Running for Health...

Running makes you healthy, but can it also make you happy?
According to Avanti Kumar, author of the recently published The Science of Happiness, it can!“In these times of increasing turmoil, it’s crucial to make moments for both internal and external aerobics. The opportunity to do good things on both an inner and outer level needs to be grasped. While you run, your big dreams will come back to you.“Try to use your run as a session to meditate and you will find that while running, plans will form, even while the blood races around your body. When you’ve finished your run, put these plans into action,” says Kumar.The effect of happiness that running has on your body comes from endorphins, which are powerful hormone-like substances produced in the brain that function as the body’s own natural painkillers. During exercise, there is a release of endorphins in the body that are capable of producing feelings of euphoria and a general state of well-being. The feelings produced can be so powerful that they can actually mask pain.Proving the point, Newton Yap from Runners Malaysia says: “Running is intoxicating in a good way unlike alcohol or cigarette addiction. When the endorphins course through my veins, I get ‘high’ but without the hangover. Running calms and cleanses what even the best drug or sedative and soaps cannot get at – the mind, heart and soul. Satisfaction guaranteed almost every time I do it.
“Running keeps me sane in this insane world. Running makes me want to be a better person. Running is living.”