NPR

Hope, Happiness, And Social Connection: Hidden Benefits Of Regular Exercise

A new book, The Joy of Movement, offers more motivation to exercise. It's not just about getting fit or looking good: Exercise can give you courage, pleasure, and better friendships.
In a new book <em>The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage, </em>author Kelly McGonigal argues that we should look beyond weight loss to the many social and emotional benefits of exercise.

If ever there was a time to up your fitness game, the arrival of the new year and the new decade is it. But after the allure of the new gym membership wears off, our sedentary habits, more often than not, consume our promise of daily workouts. It doesn't have to be this way, says health psychologist and author, Kelly McGonigal, PhD.

In her new book, the Stanford University lecturer offer new motivation to get moving that has less to do with how we look, or feeling duty-bound to exercise, and everything to do with how movement makes us feel. She shares with readers the often profound,

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