I will stay physically active to lower my depression symptoms

Exercise is good for your physical and emotional health. It is not completely clear how regular exercise helps to ease the symptoms of depression, but exercise has been show to help people relax and feel better — and exercise can help keep anxiety and depression from coming back.

How does exercise help depression and anxiety?

Exercise probably helps ease depression in a number of ways, which may include:

Releasing feel-good brain chemicals that may ease depression (neurotransmitters and endorphins)
Reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen depression
Increasing body temperature, which may have calming effects

Additionally, exercise has many emotional and psychological benefits:

Goal setting. Making exercise a priority and following through with the plan, feels good!
Building confidence. Regular exercise can help up you feel better about yourself and your appearance.
Exercise induced interaction. Help your mood by expressing friendly greetings as you walk.
Exercise induced distraction. Find an exercise that helps you take your mind off worries and negative thoughts. Focus on your form rather than your thoughts.
Increased social interaction: exercise may give you an opportunity to get out and meet other people and socialize.

Adapted from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043

How much exercise is needed to help with depression and anxiety?

Aim for doing 30 minutes or more of exercise a day for three to five days a week to improve depression symptoms. This can be an exercise program you do alone or a group exercise class done with others.

If 30 minutes is challenging, try smaller amounts of activity — as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time — can make a difference. Set a goal of working up to 30 minutes of moderate activity for the best mood boosting benefits.

See the My Physical Activity section for more ideas on exercises to try.