Their body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, and mood were measured (and the latter observed) at the end. It was found that not only was there a significant difference in all these variables, but also that the stamina and energy of the students in the experimental study were significantly higher than those in the control group. Although other conditions may have impacted mood, a significant mass of research leads to conclusive evidence of the effects of exercise on mood. Rope jumping raises heartbeat that has a consequent positive effect on emotions. As reduction of stress levels, therefore, a curriculum or rope jumping is heartily recommended.
Mountain / Outdoors and Mood
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy." (John Muir, 1901, p. 56)
Poets and literary figures have extolled the outdoors for centuries as providing vitality and vigor as well as healthful effects on mood and researchers (e.g. (Plante, Cage, Clements, & Stover, 2006) have agreed.
The Attention restoration theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1995) suggests that environmental regions such as mountains and rivers have this stimulating effect due to their novel and divers we offering of stimuli. Viewing images of natural vs. built environments has often been found to elevate moods and being in an outdoor setting for even a short while diminishes stress, lowers fatigue and elevates mood. However effects of outdoor settings may be confounded by effects of social interaction and physical exercise that also raises mood. To that end, therefore, Ryan et al. (2010) excluded those variables in a set of five studies and found that the element of nature alone was sufficient to conduce an enhanced state of invigoration an elevated mood. All five methodologically varied studies showed definite associations between the outdoor environment and subjective vitality and all of this was produced by natural elements in the setting alone.
Whether or not focusing on negative emotions hinders decision-making skills and reduces happiness levels is a complex subject that largely depends on the context and intensity to which this introspection occurs as well as other details.
A thorough review...
Feldman and Kokinov (2009) tested their assumptions and found that individuals in a high state of anxiety were indeed impeded from thinking clearly and tended to be more rigid and focused on a limited domain of interest lacking the ability to widely and freely explore more options. Other studies on anxious moods showed that subjects were constrained in their thinking ability and tended to make more errors thereby aggravating their mood.
Sources
Blanchette, I. & Richards, A (2010) The influence of affect on higher level cognition: A review of research on interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning, Cognition & Emotion, 24, 561-595
Bravo JA, Forsythe P, Chew MV et al. (2011) Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve. PNAS, 24, 55-63
Feldman, V. & Kokinov, B. (2009) Anxiety restricts the analogical search in an analogy generation task, Central and East European Center for Cognitive Science,
Lee, F. (2010) The effects of 4 weeks jumping rope exercise intervention on physical fitness of elementary school students.
Etd.npu.edu.tw.
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1995). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective.
Ann Arbor, MI: Ulrich's Bookstore.
Plante, T.G., Cage, C., Clements, S., & Stover, A. (2006). Psychological benefits of exercise paired with virtual reality: outdoor exercise energizes while indoor virtual exercise relaxes. International Journal of Stress Management, 13, 108 -- 117.
Ryan, RM et al.(2010) Vitalizing effects of being outdoors and in nature
Journal of Environmental Psychology 30-159 -- 168
