Clinical psychologist Diana Hill and movement specialist Katy Bowman are the authors of I Know I Should Exercise But … 44 Reasons We Don't Move and How to Get Over Them.
When you're stressed or tired, it's too easy to escape into your phone and start scrolling. But scanning through news headlines or arguments on social media may just stress you out more. Plus, more scrolling time is also more sedentary time, which can quickly compound feeling low.
What if instead, you could retrain your brain to crave physical activity for stress relief and a mood boost?
Scrolling and using social media can feel good in the short-term because they activate the brain's reward pathways, leading to dopamine release and contributing to feelings of pleasure or reinforcement. However, once that spike subsides, dopamine levels dip below baseline, leaving you feeling badly again, prompting you to go back for more.
In contrast, physical activity triggers a more gradual release of dopamine alongside other mood-boosting and stress-busting neurochemicals that ease stress, depression, anxiety and cognitive overload. Minutes spent moving can also reduce fatigue, improve concentration and boost creativity.
Movement gives more than it takes, you just have to learn to choose it.
The concept of psychological flexibility can help you build a new habit of reaching for movement instead of your phone. It comes from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT, a type of therapy that's been shown to be effective for health behavior change. It's the skill of opening up to uncomfortable emotions, thoughts and feelings and taking value-oriented action even in the face of inner obstacles.
Here are six ways to try it.
1. 'Surf' the urge to scroll
The first step to moving more is training your brain to be emotionally flexible. If you want to stop acting impulsively every time you have an urge to grab the phone, start by noticing the urge and taking a pause.
Urge surfing is a mindfulness tool used to help people with addictions cope with cravings without acting on them. Developed by smoking researcher Alan Marlatt, it involves staying present with your urge, noticing it rise and fall like a wave, without acting on it.
Think of yourself as a flexible surfer, nimbly riding a wave of craving — as it grows, it peaks, and it comes back down again. No matter how big the wave is, it will always come back down. And the more you practice urge surfing, the better you get at staying with it. Here's how to do it:
Notice the urge. Next time you want to hop on your phone for a news binge, choose to wait it out a little longer. Pay attention to the feeling of craving in your body. What is the sensation of the urge like? Is it a rising feeling? A tingling feeling? A gnawing feeling? Where do you feel it in your body? Your chest? Belly? Head?
Stay with it. Ride out the urge, observing it grow or get stronger. What happens to the sensation if you don't act on it? Watch it change like a wave. Don't fight it.
Don't add a story. Stay with the pure level of sensation without adding a story to it like "this feeling will never end" or "I can't handle this discomfort." If you notice a story like that, go back to paying attention to the sensation in your body again and ride it, like a surfer on a wave.
Every urge you surf you train your brain to get better at tolerating discomfort—the precursor to getting yourself to move.
2. Stretch, squat, or dance while you surf
What can you do during the minute or two you're riding the wave of phone craving? Practice a simple movement challenge! Research shows that going outside of your comfort zone (also called "behavioral stretching") boosts life satisfaction—especially for people who are relatively less happy to start with. So stretching yourself to get active will give you an extra mood boost when you are low.
The farther outside your comfort zone the dynamic activity is, the more life enhancing it can be, so go for the silly, skill-building, or challenging moves. Surfers don't just stand on their board, they carve, snap, and cut back through waves.
Try it now: Next time you're surfing the urge to use your phone—trying to stand on one leg for thirty seconds. Or do 5 squats and feel your muscles activate. Or, close your eyes, reach your arms overhead and lift up on the tippy toes of both feet. Try a big standing or seated backbend, raising the arms and arching back as far as you can.
Or, pick a song from your playlist for a 3-minute dance session that leaves you a little out of breath.
3. Savor your favorite activities
When you intentionally savor things you value — like fun, adventure, community, or creative expression, —you can train your brain to want them more. This works for movement too. Athletes who focus on the good feelings of their sport report lower levels of burnout and a healthier overall engagement.
Start by identifying types of physical activity you find pleasurable, exciting, or stimulating, that are more satisfying and engaging than phone time. Playing pingpong or Pickleball? Zooming around on a bike? Stretching on an aerial silk? Having a dance party? Taking a walk or run with your friends?
Next, take a few moments to savor the activity, before, during or after the experience. Shift your attention to and linger on the good feelings movement creates.
Pay attention to things like the joy you get from a bout of play with your kid, the way your tissues feel as they are getting stronger after a workout, or the sound of laughter as you throw a frisbee with friends. Humans are wired to see the difficulty in things before spotting the good (an effect called the negativity bias), so give yourself a little time.
Spend 10-15 seconds savoring each of the positive aspects of the experience so it can be encoded into your nervous system. With a little repetition, the practice of savoring will train your brain to want to get out there and move.
Try it now: Practice savoring now with this shoulder stretch: Reach your hands behind you and clasp them, pulling your shoulder blades together while letting your head nod forward. Then notice what you enjoy about it: Does it feel good on the neck or chest? Relax your breathing or rest your eyes? Create peaceful feelings? Linger on each discovery!
4. Give familiar movements a makeover
The brain has evolved to seek out novelty. This wiring propelled humans out exploring across the globe but it also makes it hard to step away from an endless series of social media videos. If you already have movement modalities you enjoy (perhaps plain old walking or biking is your preference because it's a cheap and convenient exercise), but they keep losing out to the phone, make them more appealing by adding novelty.
Try it now: Do you take the same walk day after day? Get flexible with your behavior and change up your route. Take a walk in a location with built-in surprises like a new coffee shop, a sunset, or street with your favorite spring blooms. Add friends or meet-ups: Make taking a walk your first date, your planning meeting meetup, or your parent association gathering.
Then add some fresh challenges like a weighted backpack, some push-ups every quarter mile, or some sprints to the end of the block.
5. Turn worry into compassionate action
You can't solve the world's problems by passively absorbing bad news. If you're scrolling because you care, because you want to stay informed and engaged, then let that care move you toward actively participating in solutions. Research indicates that transforming worry into compassionate action benefits both the people you help and your own well-being. The issues that weigh on you the most reflect what matters most in your heart. Instead of staying stuck in worry, ask yourself:
- What topics in the news pull at me the most?
- What values do they threaten?
- How can I turn my concern into meaningful action?
Let your answers guide you toward doing something—taking physical action that moves your body and aligns with what you care about most.
Try it now: Think of creative – and physical – ways to act on issues you care about. Worried about the environment? Try walking, biking or other human-powered transportation; work in a community garden; or join local restoration projects. If you care about children or families, consider volunteering at an afterschool sports program, or lifting boxes at your foodbank. The weight of the world's global conflicts can be eased by starting a community walking group to discuss global issues or organize a fundraising walk.
When you transform the heaviness of the world into physical action, you feel less powerless.
6. Take the news to-go
When it seems like your values are in conflict—"I value staying informed" and "I value moving my body well," it only means you haven't yet discovered where these values can overlap. You might be turning to the phone because life feels uncertain, and being informed makes you feel grounded. But research shows there's another place to head: outside to move. Combining movement with nature can offer you the respite you've been looking for. As the kids say, "touch grass."
Try it now: Step outside, take off your shoes, feel the ground beneath you, savor the greenery. And you don't always have to leave the phone behind. Simply mix up your behavior and choose to walk or roll while listening to quality discussions with longer formats, soothing voices, that offer stepwise solutions. Let the act of moving your body in nature remind you that you are part of the world that you are worried about, and that your physical activity can be part of taking action.
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