53. Feel Better Fast: Tiny Movement Shifts That Boost Mood and Energy

This week on The Nurse’s Break Room with Jenny Lytle, RN, we’re ditching perfection and talking practical, real-life ways to move your body—without guilt, expensive memberships, or hours at the gym. Whether it’s 10 wall pushups or a one-song dance party, these tiny shifts can improve your mood, boost your energy, and strengthen your body and mind. Learn how movement impacts both physical and mental health, and discover ways to make it doable—even during your busiest days.

Why it matters:

• Movement reduces anxiety, stress, and depression
• Short bursts of strength and cardio protect your heart, bones, and balance
• You don’t need a gym—just creativity and a little consistency

Takeaways / Action Steps:
✔ Choose movement you enjoy—it’ll stick
✔ Try “habit stacking”: 10 squats after bathroom breaks, counter pushups while cooking
✔ Use bodyweight exercises—planks, lunges, squats—no equipment needed
✔ Get outside: a 5-minute post-meal walk is a natural mood booster
✔ Start small, be kind to yourself, and build from there

Remember: You’ll almost never regret choosing movement—only not starting.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Nurse's Break Room
• 1:35 Types of Exercise That Matter
• 4:03 Incorporating Micro-Bursts of Movement
• 8:20 Self-Care Isn't Selfish

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurse's Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN. So this week we are going to focus on movement and how important it is to fit little bits of exercise and movement that we enjoy into our lives. And so it's commonly recommended that we get 30 minutes of moderate exercise so getting our heart rate up a bit five days a week, and that ends up being 150 minutes a week, and that's something that can help protect us cardiovascularly and just improve our overall health and well being. And it's not only a physical thing when it comes to exercise and movement, but it really has such an impact on our mental health too, when it comes to depression and anxiety, that exercise, the endorphins that come along with it and so many different things biochemically can really have a huge impact on how we're feeling, on how we're feeling. And so today we're just going to talk a little bit about like why, why it's important to figure out what it is that we enjoy doing and then how to figure out little ways to incorporate that into our day to day lives. And so it doesn't have to be a big long production. It doesn't have to be a group fitness class, although by all means. If that's something you enjoy, that's wonderful. You get a lot of benefits from that as well, in addition to just the physical ones. That that being in a group is something that's very helpful. But if you're somebody who wants to do things a little more solo, or maybe you're on a budget or a time crunch then doing simple things at home whether that be pulling up a YouTube video or some reels from somebody that you know maybe is credible, and making sure, of course, that before you're doing anything, that you're cleared by your doctor to exercise, that you're paying attention to your body and you're not doing anything that's going to be too much for you.

Speaker 1: 2:39

But then finding things that you like to do and getting aerobic activity is important. Cardiovascular things, where we're breathing a little bit harder, and that's something that helps to work our heart and our lungs, and that's important. But that's definitely not the only type of exercise that we need to be doing, especially as we get older, because strength training is hugely important. That's the type of exercise that helps to build our muscles, that helps to protect us and make us stronger, and, especially as we age, we need to be considering things like balance and our bone strength and our stability, and so strength training is something that can really help a lot with that, and there are plenty of specific workouts that you can do for things like that. There's weights and all of that at the gym or maybe something that you have at home, but there are plenty of things that also just use body weight that can be very beneficial. So things like squats and push ups and planks and lunges those are just a few examples of things that can be super helpful. If you're wanting to be able to do things at home without any equipment, then those are great options, especially if you're just looking to start incorporating some of that into your day-to-day life.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Stretching is another thing that can really help us to feel better, move better, and it's not like it used to be Way back when, when I was in school, we always started with stretching before we did anything else, and now the science says that we need to be more warmed up before we start stretching so that we don't end up hurting ourselves. So jumping out of bed and doing some big stretches might not be the best idea, but once you've walked around a bit and your muscles are a little bit warmer, then it's fine generally to go ahead and jump into those kinds of things, but being able to stretch and just feel the way that our bodies move and really pay attention to how different things feel for us and any areas of tightness, that maybe we have, any areas where things feel stuck or just uncomfortable. Maybe that's something that we need to look at. The way that we're sitting or doing certain things, can we do those in a way that is more comfortable? And I know for me and you've probably heard me talk about this massages are an important part of my self care and like my overall wellness plan. However, this year I have done some things that have helped me to stay in a better state overall. But I also know that I have waited way too long to go get a massage, and I'm actually going this afternoon. I have that planned and I know it's going to be uncomfortable because I've waited so long and I know that I've got knots and muscles that are really tight and so she's going to have to work hard.

Speaker 1: 5:52

I'm going to be a little uncomfortable, but it's so important to be able to do those kinds of things and get our muscles working at their best, and so it's not about having a lot of time or a perfect plan, being able to just get in these little micro bursts of exercise, even if it's hey, I'm just going to stop and do 10 squats or 10 pushups when I'm in this particular place. Maybe if I'm by one wall in my kitchen, then I'll stop and do 10 wall pushups or go for a five or 10 minute walk Right after a meal. I did that last week on my lunch break. I was in orientation and I ate and I had driven to a park and I just ate and then got out and walked for a few minutes and it was wonderful to be able to be out in nature and just take that time to decompress and breathe the fresh air, move my body and just just reset a little bit.

Speaker 1: 6:59

So the most important takeaways here are think about ways that you enjoy moving. What are things that you enjoy? And maybe that's turning on your favorite song and having a one song dance party in your living room. In your living room Maybe it's going for a short walk or going for a run with a friend. Figure out what it is that you like and maybe come up with a couple of times when you could fit that in.

Speaker 1: 7:30

Okay, when I go to the bathroom, I will stop and do 10 squats while I'm in there.

Speaker 1: 7:34

Stop and do 10 squats while I'm in there or when I'm getting ready to make supper. I will do some counter pushups then and just start slowly and sprinkle those little things in. And that's something that I've been doing, and some days I'm better about it than others. But I found that the more that I do, the more I want to do, and it's often that way with the healthy things that we're doing for ourselves, the things that we know make us feel better when we do them, then we want to do them more, and it's rare that when you do something like this for yourself, when you take the time to do something that you know is going to help you feel better and be a better version of you, you may have a hard time getting yourself to do it in the first place, but chances are really good that you're not going to regret having done it. So until next time, remember self-care isn't selfish. It's essential if we want to continue to care for others and live our best lives. Have a great week.