That's best idea.

Hey everyone, I'm Gretchen Reynolds, your guest host for the week.

Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday morning.

If you listened yesterday, you know that my work is all about the science of fitness,

and this week we're diving into how exercise can benefit your well-being.

So today, we're breaking down what happens to your brain when you work out,

and why exercise may even help you have a newfound sense of purpose.

One of the reasons that I personally keep exercising is because of the science about how

much effect exercise and physical movement can have on the brain.

Exercise can pretty quickly influence your sense of well-being.

It can influence your happiness.

It can influence creativity.

And it can have tremendous effects on mental health, particularly depression, anxiety, and stress.

What I have found over the years of writing a column about exercise is that I really need

to go for a workout before I start the column, because it clears my mind, and it doesn't

matter if I actually think about the writing while I go for the walk or the run.

In fact, it's probably better if I don't, and I come back in my ability to focus, my

ability to be creative is so much stronger.

So how does exercise affect the brain?

Immediately, if you even just get up, you improve blood flow to your brain, and that's

quite important.

Because your brain cells are then getting more oxygen, they're getting more food, they

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