Exercise + Meditation Beat Depression

Yes, exercise has been known to stave off depression–that’s not exactly news, but now comes research from Rutgers University indicating that exercise combined with meditation twice a week for only two months – reduced the symptoms of depression for a group of students by 40 percent. Rutgers Today reports that the men and women in the Rutgers study who completed the eight-week program – 22 suffering with depression and 30 mentally healthy students  –  reported fewer depressive symptoms and said they did not spend as much time worrying about negative situations taking place in their lives as they did before the study began. The participants began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing – enabling those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention.